How do you use social media?
Community Thread
In this week’s Community Thread we’re discussing our social media usage. I’ve written a lot about my experimentation with cutting social media out of my life, but going cold turkey is not a strategy that appeals to everyone! That’s why I love this week’s question submitted by reader
:How do you make social media a positive experience? Do you have any boundaries that are helpful? Do you stay off social media completely, or what platforms do you use?
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I have all notifications off apart from direct messaging so my use of any platform is always intentional and often purposeful.
Facebook - I've had this since it started but this is now mostly used for marketplace and groups for information purposes. It takes effort to curate your feed on Facebook now with all the ads/links to the wider Meta offering - this is where Meta is clever as it's made it more work over the years to filter and sort the ads and non-personal content as opposed to originally only being personal/friend content.
Instagram - I have 4 accounts, they have different purposes and therefore have different feeds but I've always found staying off explore page and mostly away from reels is good. My feeds are curated by what I follow and choose to interact with which is also intentional. I've had Instagram since it's early days when it was a photography platform (way before meta bought it), everyone was there for a purpose and it was led by static content unlike today - I do miss the community and focused idea of the original. You would collaborate with people and it wasn't filled with 'influencers' or content for contents sake. But I have found I'm able to manage and keep my experience limited by being intentional with what I follow and what parts I use.
YouTube - intentional use for handful of channels, for some how to videos, and podcast videos. Very rare engagement or use of comments.
Tiktok - never downloaded it and refuse to. Only way I interact with tiktok content is if it's been reshared/repurposed on Instagram/Facebook reels but even then I prefer static content.
I cut social media out of my life a few years ago when I became sober. It was life altering in the best way possible. My friendships are genuine now and I am less affected by others. I do have YouTube but to minimize exposure to extra unwanted content I have turned off my browsing history and now I only see content from people I subscribe to. The only shorts I have access to are those same subscriptions. I spend less time on YouTube while still being able to enjoy content from my favies♥️