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Stone Rollers versus Moss Gatherers
I'm gradually sliding out of Facebook, ever since Mark Zuckerberg decided it would help his bottom line to make it open season on people like me. But a small haven has always been the Moss Appreciation Society, where I occasionally look at and even more occasionally upload pictures of that most calming plant - such as the one below, which I took in Oldbury Court Estate the other day while walking with Rei and Tani, who were in town for a visit.
The Moss Appreciation Society has never had much controversy. The nearest it came to fisticuffs was in the recurrent battle about whether or not to allow pictures of lichens. So, I was surprised on going there yesterday to find that it had become a hotbed of exhortations to follow Jesus, anti-vax nonsense and LGBTQ hatred.
One of the few remaining moss-orientated members told me that the admin had died (whether metaphorically or not I'm unclear) and the place had been invaded by bots, which is certainly how it looked. Seeing a dead Facebook group overtaken in this way was, oddly, not unlike watching the creep of moss over a rotting stump, and had its own fascination. But apparently alternative Moss Appreciation Societies had fruited elsewhere! There was Moss Appreciation Society 2.0, The Real Moss Appreciation Society, The Moss Appreciation Society with a little picture of a mushroom next to the name, etc. At least one of these is genuinely devoted to the appreciation of moss, but I don't have the heart to throw myself into any of them right now. The whole thing seems too much like a microcosm of what's recently happened to social media, and indeed society, as a whole.
The Moss Appreciation Society has never had much controversy. The nearest it came to fisticuffs was in the recurrent battle about whether or not to allow pictures of lichens. So, I was surprised on going there yesterday to find that it had become a hotbed of exhortations to follow Jesus, anti-vax nonsense and LGBTQ hatred.
One of the few remaining moss-orientated members told me that the admin had died (whether metaphorically or not I'm unclear) and the place had been invaded by bots, which is certainly how it looked. Seeing a dead Facebook group overtaken in this way was, oddly, not unlike watching the creep of moss over a rotting stump, and had its own fascination. But apparently alternative Moss Appreciation Societies had fruited elsewhere! There was Moss Appreciation Society 2.0, The Real Moss Appreciation Society, The Moss Appreciation Society with a little picture of a mushroom next to the name, etc. At least one of these is genuinely devoted to the appreciation of moss, but I don't have the heart to throw myself into any of them right now. The whole thing seems too much like a microcosm of what's recently happened to social media, and indeed society, as a whole.
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Surfing by, this is indeed a sad microcosm of current society, but you have described it beautifully.
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My blood pressure goes down a little if I just imagine a soft blanket of moss spreading inexorably across the stacks in the world's giant server farms.
I closed my Twitter account when it became X. Most of the archaeology and wildlife accounts I subscribed to were still running at that point, but it didn't feel like the same place anymore.
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I am so sorry a moss appreciation group has fallen, but on the bright side, moss and lichen will hopefully eventually grow on the rotted stump of what it once was. I can always appreciate a good moss. I am the person who stops every 2 minutes on a hike because there's new moss to take a picture of.
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I am sorry they have so metonymically deteriorated, but your moss photo is gorgeous.
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