I am not a fan of social media. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and the lot:
- Make us feel bad about ourselves.
- Divide us.
- Make it easy to be mean to each other.
- Celebrate materialism.
- Encourage consumption.
- Manipulate our opinions.
- Invade our privacy.
- Leverage our intellectual property for profit.
- Are owned by some of the biggest assholes on the planet.
I could rant for hours about just how awful social media is, on the whole, for the human experience. That said, I admit that social media can:
- Democratize creativity.
- Spread important news quickly.
- Connect distant friends and family.
- Provide a global meeting place for shared-interest groups.
If someone creates a social app that does the good without the bad, I’ll consider joining. Recently, I did, in fact, join Bluesky. If it can replace Twitter/X without, er, becoming Twitter/X, that would be something. But I’m not holding my breath.
I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. I also know it’s one thing to know it’s bad for us and another thing to avoid it completely, especially if your livelihood requires an online presence.
I’ve chosen to be true to my value that these platforms do more harm than good. But I certainly don’t judge anyone who uses them.