[Reblog] how to actually use spacehey

[OP User] https://blog.spacehey.com/itskiko

yapathon (the philisophical rant part):

I don't make this to seem high and mighty. or in a "im right, you're wrong" kind of way. I just almost always see a blog or two surface every week on top blogs about other users. but mainly theyre always complaining about whats on top blogs. 

and yes, I have been guilty of complaining about it too i understand the hypocrisy shhh dw 

I think the main thing people fail to realize when they browse the top blog page is that it isn't made for them. you have to actually try to look for topics and blogs that interests you. you're not being fed things that interests you, or what an algorithm thinks you would be interested in. you have to do that hunting yourself. don't expect to find community or a place you feel comfortable in when you haven't even made the effort to seek it out. don't expect a list of how much of a saint you are to do all the work for you. 

and I find that the notion scares people off. especially to younger people. growing up in a world where convenience and efficiency is pushed onto you so all of your time is dedicated to working yourself to death discourages people from doing anything tedious like curating your internet experience. crazy, right? 

but no yeah, lets get too political here. there is a problem and it is the reason why people can't bother to stay on spacehey for more than week. its hard for people to realize that nobody is going to cater to them and that they have to serve themselves what they want. this site isn't filled with "drama" or negativity. (theres definitely not as much as it was before i'll tell you that) people have just been conditioned to think that because nobody actually searches for the experience they want. 

the "what about me?" effect, or in other words "the bean soup theory", best explains SpaceHey's user base as a whole. it's especially apparent in new users. when people come on to SpaceHey expecting to be fed content that interests them and they aren't immediately hit with the rush that they were expecting, they complain about it. which makes it very telling they don't understand how the site works. Probably expecting another tiktok or instagram repeat with some pretty customizable profiles instead.

when people first log into SpaceHey and make their account, they are immediately hit with the fact that they don't know what to do. sure, that can be overwhelming and I feel sympathy. but then it's likely they'll spend about 10 minutes here each day after figuring out how to use layouts (it's probably the only reason they're even on the site) and then come to the conclusion SpaceHey is boring. then have the audacity to bitch about it on their blog while having no other posts or interactions besides that. yes this is very aimed.

the point of this website is to find your own community, your niche. there's no real popularity here. nobody cares how much friends you have. and I want people to realize that because it's such a great way to run social media. we crave small tight knitted communities, not the millions of followers people aim for. I want everyone to have a good experience here, and I want people to appreciate older web formats more because it is indefinitely more fun in my opinion. 

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how to actually use this site and make your experience way more enjoyable!

Use the website(more of a joke entry):

so I'm biased as heck but I know for a fact SpaceHey is better on the website than it is on the app. it gives the old internet scene way better than an app will ever give. If I want to use SpaceHey on my phone, I go onto a browser and look it up and use it there. I also think having an app pretty much defeats the whole purpose of SpaceHey. it sends those pattern recognition signals that "yes I'm going to get a quick dopamine rush.” and then when it doesn't happen it makes people think spacehey is boring.

 Profiles also look infinitely more better on laptop/the website than they do on the app so it’s just a non negotiable.

Keep it low-key:

SpaceHey should be either a low-key thing that you are on about one a day for an hour and then log off or a sort of personal website to personalize and make into your own little community. in both scenarios you work for the content that you consume and even create content that you may be passionate about or are interested in. You do not have to be on spacehey every day, posting a blog every second, making a bulletin every 20 minutes. there should be a disconnect. Spacehey is a testimony to what myspace was and myspace was the era where the internet and reality were two separate worlds. 

I’m not asking for you to role-play as if this was the 2000s, that’s stupid. But treating a version of the old internet like it's modern social media and then getting upset when it doesn’t turn out to be enjoyable is kind of silly. 

Learn css/html:

No, you don’t have to start making your own websites from scratch. i don't even expect you to start making your own layouts from scratch. BUT knowing things like how the syntax works, what each spacehey container is, and how to manipulate it will make customizing your layout so much easier and freeing. its better than copy and pasting an entire layout when you can build off of multiples and even tweak it yourself. 

I think the customization of your profiles is one of the most memorable things that was on myspace and obviously spacehey. though it may have sounded like it, i am not against making your layout look cute. I think knowing how to use css is actually the best thing you can gain from from using spacehey. Learning a computer language for customization is a form of arts and craft. It’s creative, its fun. there is nothing to complain about when people are being creative and artsy.

Join spacehey groups:

I bet you didn't even know there was groups on spacehey hehe. i think this is the first step in creating community. whether you make your own group or join an older, bigger group. i'm in a few groups, and though i find that i don't post mush stuff there, I will poke around and see who's active, who has the same interests, how they interact with community, ect ect. it's one way that i find friends on here. by clicking on the number of group members you can go through the list and sift through and see who's interesting enough to friend.

i actually suggest making your own group (i'm about to take my own advice.) it'll be a way to build your own community rather than joining one yourself. building your own group can make socializing on spacehey feel less scary or limiting especially in groups that are catered to one thing. For example, talking in a group about fashion will be harder than talking in a group for teenagers. because in one group there is only one topic that is "acceptable" to talk about and in a group for teenagers you can talk about a range of topics instead of just one!

Be picky on who you friend:

this may sound silly or stingy or pretentious but it's not. i'm usually the one receiving friend requests rather than the other way around and i go through many, and i mean so many friend requests. and for each and every single one, i do a deep dive of their profile. most friend requests i get are declined because i don't accept requests from people who don't have a blog. it's one of the first things i look for actually. if there isn't a blog i decline immediately even if they seem like a cool person. to me, no blogs is a sign they are new on the platform and i don't friend new people because they tend to disappear off of the face of the earth after a week. (i wonder why) or it could mean that they aren't active and are just searching for friends to collect. i'm not interested in either of these scenarios!

and yes, that has worked pretty well for me because my friends on here are some of the most interesting people on this platform. shout out to my friends, ya'll are awesome sauce!! i actually interact with most of my friends on the daily because i have curated my community in a way which makes it fun to go through bulletins and see what these goobers are up to. if i had accepted willy nilly i would have way more inactive people in my friends who have never interacted with me and has no care in the world that they're my friend.

it doesnt take as much time, you just actually have to read people's profiles, even if it's just a skim. i have a byf list on my profile so if someone who has qualities on that list have friended me, i find it reasonable to decline because it's obvious that they didn't take the time to get to read my profile. so how would i know they actually want to interact with me if they can't even take time out of their day to know who they're friending? Ya know?

Subscribe to blogs:

blogs are the forefront of spacehey besides profile customization. you either customize your profile or make/read blogs and forums. 

i've said it before and i'll say it again: the top blogs is not made for you. but the subscription page is made for you, by you. it is your own curated experience. it is blogs made by people who you find interesting and want to hear more from. and even though there might not be something new every second like in the recent blogs tab, that's the joy in having a low-key social media like this one. you log in hoping to find something new made by people you enjoy listening to. whether that be daily diary entries or commentary about the state of the world. 

• to subscribe to someones blog all you have to do is go to someones blog page and press the big blue letters that say subscribe to blog. there is a page for all of your blog subscriptions when you click on the blog tab. every new blog that is posted by your subscribers will be posted there. 
  

i personally am obsessed with blog subscriptions because i curate my own experience in every website I'm on. I make sure i take the time to make the content I see what i want it to see.  i have found that when i let an algorithm do that for me—they sprinkle in some crap that makes me angry. then i get sucked up in a loop of anger and successfully get rage baited. i am a naturally sensitive person so rage bait is easier to work for me and i will interact with a post that gets me angry. I'm also very passionate about my beliefs so it just does't work well for a calm well rounded experience. 

comment on blogs and bulletins: 

did you think just reading a blog and leaving kudos was enough? that defeats the whole social part of social media. duhh you gotta talk to people to be social. that's how you make friends, that how you get interactions, thats how you get traction towards yourself. 

if you don't know what to comment on a blog, you can say "+2" or "+1" indicating the amount kudos you left on the blog so they know that you were the one who left the kudos and that you enjoyed reading it! it encourages op to keep blogging and posting and it can be a great sentence starter if you do it right.

but in general just try. say what you would want people to comment on a blog that you created. maybe even share your own experiences an stories. just please, be social. you can't make friends if you can't talk to people.

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hehe silly banner. okay but yeah!!, if you have more suggestions to put here, i will add them, i just haven't because well like........... i don't know any more. so yeah, if my small peanut brain does think of more things to add, i will!! soon. ehehe. i just wanted to get this out sooner than later because if not now then it will never get done. 

oki baii xoxo

Edit; made the blog more readable because omg this got onto top blogs!!! Eeekk!! So happy, I genuinely want this to be acknowledged forever and not just for the few days it will be up because people need to know how to use spacehey!