General

Social Media Was a Mistake

After 21 years, it’s become clear that social media was a mistake. The original idea of keeping up with your friends and sharing interests is no longer the focus. While still possible in 2024, it comes with advertising, sponsored content, and doomscrolling. There are large groups of people that only take part to tear others down. Not to mention, social media is now a handy tool to spread disinformation.

I gave up on Facebook in 2016. I’ve given up on Twitter in 2024. If I had my way, I would avoid Meta altogether. Yet, I’m still hanging on to Instagram. I am optimistic about Bluesky, but we’ve been down this road before.

I want to keep up with a small group of people and that’s it. There is no current business model for social media that allows that. There should be no need to mute, block, or fight an algorithm. I don’t want personalized ads catered to my interests. The only alternative is to opt out.