So Long, Social Media
After a nearly 20 year run, I have deleted the last of my social media accounts. I dabbled in MySpace a bit early in my early teens, but really started in earnest with Facebook my senior year in high school when I received my college email address (back then FB required a .edu to create an account). At first, it was fun to friend new people I met at college parties, post funny statuses, and "poke" the cute girls (ask your parents, kids).
I was a bit late to the Instagram party and joined around 2013. That too was fun at the start. I worked in the service industry, so I used the app as a way to find the cool new bars and restaurants, or post updates about what I was doing at my coffee shop. I got a real sense of community out of those interactions over shared interests, and the early creators were fun to watch grow. Online personas weren't a business yet, it was just people having fun posting about cool stuff in their lives.
Over the next few years I watched from a distance as other platforms would pop up and fizzle out (RIP, Vine), or blow up into the propaganda juggernauts we know them as today (Twitter, Reddit). I never took my posting seriously, or had delusions of making money off it, but I enjoyed seeing what other people had to share.
During all this time, accounts turned into personal brands for some and engagement became the commodity. Posts became formulaic in an attempt to ride the algorithm. It got shitty. Plenty of post-mortems have been written about the death of social media and I'm not here to add to the heap. This post is merely my own autobiographical eulogy for my own social media days.
At the end of 2024 I dumped Instagram and Facebook, after not really using either for a few years. I had a Twitter, but never posted or read anything on it and deleted it ages ago. I made the jump to the Fediverse through Mastodon and Pixelfed, but microblogging just isn't my jam, and posting my photos on an app just doesn't butter my biscuit anymore. I don't want to read or write sub-500 character takes on the state of whatever, and glancing at someone's photos for a fraction of a second as they fly by with the help of my finger by isn't fulfilling. Now, I realize these are "me" problems and not problems with the platforms themselves, but I think that gets to the heart of why I'm dumping social media.
What I want from the internet has changed.
I realize that social media is not the entire internet, but it does make up a large part of how I interact with the internet. On microblog platforms, nearly every post is an argument for or against something. I find it mentally exhausting, yet I willingly invite those opinions into my life through the glowing portal I carry in my pocket. On photo-sharing apps, it's difficult for me to build an appreciation for the art I see when it's the size of a playing card in my hand. I take all of the amazing creativity I see for granted because it's right there at my beck and call. Neither of these scenarios, I feel, are adding value to my life experiences and, ultimately, that value is what I want from the internet.
I also can't deny the fact that I have changed quite a bit as a person. Through nearly a decade of sobriety and almost four years of therapy, I'm finding internal validation rather than seeking it from other people. I've done a lot of work on myself and like the person I've become. Social media just doesn't add to or enhance those positive feelings for me anymore like it used to, which is OK. I existed and thrived before I had social media accounts, and I will exist and thrive now that I don't have them anymore. I look forward to exploring new (to me) corners of the internet, learning new skills, and engaging with people through places like Bear.
And, if you still have social media and are enjoying it, good on you! We need more things that bring us joy in these uncertain times.
:)