Social media
I don't really like it. That's all.
I don't really like to be out there. I mean I was on these platforms during the 2010 - 2014 period and was crazy about all of it. But I lost the rhythm due to several factors.
I use LinkedIn (for professional reasons) and Instagram (for memes and educational purposes). If I had a chance I would have avoided the phone too. But unfortunately, I can't do that. I normally don't prefer long-time phone calls. Here I tried to list out some of the reasons behind my choice.
All the below problems
Maybe I’m old school or I don't have much to share with everyone or even closed circles.
First of all, I don't want to know what’s happening in everyone's life day to day. This also means I don't want to be connected with people I don't like and people who don’t like me.
I see fake engagements everywhere. I don't like the idea of doing something just to share on these platforms.
I now prefer to avoid unnecessary problems like questioning why someone unfriended, why they haven't accepted a friend request, why they unfollowed, or why they still haven't followed back, why blocked, why unblocked!!! What’s the point of all these?
I don't want to chat with everyone, if avoided, people will think I’m rude. Why? And for what exactly?
I like to be off the grid at times and most importantly I don't like to be a dataset for their future projects.
Where is the privacy? A locked account != privacy.
I don't want to be influenced by so-called influencers. People will do anything to be an influencer these days. And I don't want to be in any bubble.
The negativity, hate speech, propaganda, and conspiracy theories. It’s difficult to filter accounts from this many angles. Because it’s all running on algorithms that are designed only for engagement rates.
I don’t want to see an online persona of anyone I know.
It’s only a place for your ups. Nobody will post something that makes them look bad. I don't want to see a half side of anyone.
I don’t want to be attached to an idea of someone that doesn't exist in real life.
The excitement of seeing someone after a long time is gone - forever.
This article is why I’m thinking about all this now. Social media is kind of dying or its importance is lost. They are constantly begging for our attention. A few perfect examples are stories and short videos.
I believe they rolled out these features because at some point people might have left or simply engagement ratios declined. Without engagement they can't place an ad if not ad people need to spend money every month on a subscription - let’s be real who is going to do this? Only people with a big income will spend money on things like this, or it should be their business model. Reminder: Most people still don't subscribe to OTT.
So, after effects of these are our attention span graph declined. Everyone wants everything in short and to the point. If you are confused think about why YouTube introduced a graph on the timeline. And they are also giving the exact time frame of a video when we google something. And besides all this, they removed the dislike button too. They want people to spend time on this but they don't want to show a collective response toward the content.
What I prefer
I still believe a casual email is a beautiful form of communication between old friends and colleagues. Because a messaging platform is a personal space.
I like blogging on platforms where I have control of the content and audience. Right now Substack is the best example.
RCS-supported messages are best for short messages or use Telegram.
YouTube is the best place to share creative or hobby works.
Google Photos is the best option to share personal photos and videos with the people we really like.
Learning, unlearning, and relearning
There was a time when I was the worst in my character and behavior. Every day I try to change that. This blogging is part of that.