One of the great joys social media apps have brought to my life is the ability to connect with smart and witty people and I am very grateful for that, despite all of the disruptive, annoying and even dangerous stuff that has flourished in these apps. I'm part of a privileged group of people who doesn't have to deal with nearly as much crap as other people do when they use the socials so my experience is usually less unpleasant than others. Despite all of that, the socials do fill some void in many lives but definitely less satisfyingly at times than others.
It's interesting that you seem to be plagued by what some call the paradox of choice: too many options can create paralysis and actually inhibit us from doing things because we have to weigh more factors in our decision making.
And sometimes we just need a break. I get that.
Anyway, if you keep posting, I'll keep reading and occasionally smiling to myself and shake my head, but in the best way.
Coincidentally, you posted this just after I deactivated my personal Twitter account. I'm glad you are on Threads, and I'm happy Mark is there too, for I missed him after he left Twitter. I've always enjoyed your posts, and of course, interacting with you, Mark and many others.
If you're old enough to remember using websites that didn't have an hr/trust & safety dept, then you know why this is happening. The internet you miss was only allowed to happen as a means of embedding it into everyday life. With that now accomplished, we're quietly locked into our silos where our every need is supplied via subscription, all our actions monitored and monetized... and all done under the guise of "safety" and "convenience". Now you're under control of a worldwide authority... don't forget to take your phone with you ;)
Very relatable, Alison! When I show up on social media it’s just as myself. No trying for the algorithm or prof development- if it happens, great. If not, fine. And I can’t really tolerate all that’s happening- threads, Twitter, this , that. I get on Instagram and LinkedIn and that’s about it.
I’m only algorithmically driven when it comes to extracting search results. For self-promotion? Meh. Whatever. But places I have genuinely enjoyed and gotten a lot out of are...blah these days.
"Do I miss the internet when it was for fun and games, because I had no responsibility? Or do I miss the internet because the one we have now has strayed so far from this, and part of that is the consequence of having all-encompassing social media applications."
I also wonder if I'm seeing my teenager years through coloured lenses, or if it was actually better. But I do feel it was chiller and saner.
My main point is that it was much less serious and curated on the early days. We would write on our friend's Facebook timeline, "hey, meet you at the movies at 8?", an inside joke from a party we went, and other pretty private things. Our online life was just a tool to better reach friends. It was called social networks and then it became social media and everything changed. It's a media app, for broadcasting, for performance...It became work, it now served a function, it is not play and fun anymore. I'm not posting whatever comes to my mind to connect, every post has to have a purpose and go with my "personal brand". I just saw today someone making a post on "how to best post on Notes"! Honestly, it's exhausting. It's never ending hustle culture.
I think you’ve hit on the central problem: social media was originally outside of hustle culture, which has intensified and also become part of social media. I don’t want to have a brand! (I joke about my brand, but my brand is literally my personality.) I don’t want to ~optimize~! It’s exhausting to even look at that stuff.
All we want to do is exactly that: shitpost with friends. And maybe share some snaps. I don't want advertising, and data scraping, and "People You Might Know" who are most certainly people I do know but do not want to associate with. Nor do I want life coaches on LinkedIn or delusional people on FB/Twitter spewing vitriol about being woke. And influencers can go to hell.
I just want to find pockets of people with like interests, people I would genuinely want to meet in the meat space. Substack is like that for me, and I hope maybe Bluesky can provide windows into art and science to satisfy those needs.
I think, for me, it used to be carefree and without thought, whether I joined or posted, and now the structures dictate that I need to be mindful of the purpose of engagement. Which takes the fun out of shitposting.
LinkedIn was such a nightmare that I deleted that. If that’s a problem for some MBA, so be it. I don’t care.
That’s a great point too! It’s now so much work for something that is theoretically a leisure or even just an auxiliary space. Who do I want to reach? Why am I posting? Who caaaaaares.
One of the great joys social media apps have brought to my life is the ability to connect with smart and witty people and I am very grateful for that, despite all of the disruptive, annoying and even dangerous stuff that has flourished in these apps. I'm part of a privileged group of people who doesn't have to deal with nearly as much crap as other people do when they use the socials so my experience is usually less unpleasant than others. Despite all of that, the socials do fill some void in many lives but definitely less satisfyingly at times than others.
It's interesting that you seem to be plagued by what some call the paradox of choice: too many options can create paralysis and actually inhibit us from doing things because we have to weigh more factors in our decision making.
And sometimes we just need a break. I get that.
Anyway, if you keep posting, I'll keep reading and occasionally smiling to myself and shake my head, but in the best way.
Me and the paradox of choice do go way back, it’s true. I just want to skip this part! Let’s all just go to one place!
But the owners...
I know. They all suck.
Coincidentally, you posted this just after I deactivated my personal Twitter account. I'm glad you are on Threads, and I'm happy Mark is there too, for I missed him after he left Twitter. I've always enjoyed your posts, and of course, interacting with you, Mark and many others.
I did a lot of professional development via Twitter so I’m loath to let it go, even if it’s dwindled noticeably lately.
If you're old enough to remember using websites that didn't have an hr/trust & safety dept, then you know why this is happening. The internet you miss was only allowed to happen as a means of embedding it into everyday life. With that now accomplished, we're quietly locked into our silos where our every need is supplied via subscription, all our actions monitored and monetized... and all done under the guise of "safety" and "convenience". Now you're under control of a worldwide authority... don't forget to take your phone with you ;)
Very relatable, Alison! When I show up on social media it’s just as myself. No trying for the algorithm or prof development- if it happens, great. If not, fine. And I can’t really tolerate all that’s happening- threads, Twitter, this , that. I get on Instagram and LinkedIn and that’s about it.
I’m only algorithmically driven when it comes to extracting search results. For self-promotion? Meh. Whatever. But places I have genuinely enjoyed and gotten a lot out of are...blah these days.
I am inclined to agree 😊
"Do I miss the internet when it was for fun and games, because I had no responsibility? Or do I miss the internet because the one we have now has strayed so far from this, and part of that is the consequence of having all-encompassing social media applications."
I also wonder if I'm seeing my teenager years through coloured lenses, or if it was actually better. But I do feel it was chiller and saner.
My main point is that it was much less serious and curated on the early days. We would write on our friend's Facebook timeline, "hey, meet you at the movies at 8?", an inside joke from a party we went, and other pretty private things. Our online life was just a tool to better reach friends. It was called social networks and then it became social media and everything changed. It's a media app, for broadcasting, for performance...It became work, it now served a function, it is not play and fun anymore. I'm not posting whatever comes to my mind to connect, every post has to have a purpose and go with my "personal brand". I just saw today someone making a post on "how to best post on Notes"! Honestly, it's exhausting. It's never ending hustle culture.
I think you’ve hit on the central problem: social media was originally outside of hustle culture, which has intensified and also become part of social media. I don’t want to have a brand! (I joke about my brand, but my brand is literally my personality.) I don’t want to ~optimize~! It’s exhausting to even look at that stuff.
All we want to do is exactly that: shitpost with friends. And maybe share some snaps. I don't want advertising, and data scraping, and "People You Might Know" who are most certainly people I do know but do not want to associate with. Nor do I want life coaches on LinkedIn or delusional people on FB/Twitter spewing vitriol about being woke. And influencers can go to hell.
I just want to find pockets of people with like interests, people I would genuinely want to meet in the meat space. Substack is like that for me, and I hope maybe Bluesky can provide windows into art and science to satisfy those needs.
I think, for me, it used to be carefree and without thought, whether I joined or posted, and now the structures dictate that I need to be mindful of the purpose of engagement. Which takes the fun out of shitposting.
LinkedIn was such a nightmare that I deleted that. If that’s a problem for some MBA, so be it. I don’t care.
That’s a great point too! It’s now so much work for something that is theoretically a leisure or even just an auxiliary space. Who do I want to reach? Why am I posting? Who caaaaaares.
I signed up for TikTok and quit immediately. Too much of a rabbit hole for me.