Being on social media is a catch-22.
It's fun and addictive. Insightful and hateful. Authentic and inauthentic. Brutal and uplifting. Informative and oversaturated. Caring and predatory.
It's a whirlwind of overwhelm and my brain feels like mush.
The irony is I'm building something that may require me to spend more time online. But lately I've been wondering if I can lean back into old-school methods—real conversations, in-person connections, wandering into places instead of endlessly scrolling through them.
Granted, those have their own challenges too.
I just feel like everything is so wide open on social media and in your face.
Like, everything!
The good. The bad. And everything in between.
I love expressing where I am without attaching a niche to every thought.
But today's social media seems to take some of the fun out of simply creating and sharing.
Even when we're being authentic, the algorithm can make you question your own organic nature.
Am I being myself in a way people will engage with?
Did I say that in the right way?
Was the hook strong enough?
Was the video too long?
Should I have added text?
Should I have posted at a different time?
And let's cut the crap: we all want to be seen. Especially when we show up on these rush platforms and put our time, energy, and creativity into making something.
We create the post, write the caption, edit the video, take the photo, share the thought, only for the social media roulette wheel to spin and say:
"Aww. Try again."
And I think that's what frustrates me.
I miss when social media was simply social.
As a recent commenter said on a post about a possible MySpace revamp:
I miss when socials were simply that, socials. Not this chase for glitter while waiting for the algorithmic guru to choose you as a highlight for the day.
Oof.
Sometimes it feels like part of my brain has a cavity. Like there's a hole that shouldn't be there, and it's taking in air.
I love sharing my thoughts in these spaces, definitely invigorating and I don't think that will change.
But I do think my relationship with being online needs to.
I'm starting to wonder if the answer isn't disappearing from social media per say
...but becoming much more intentional about how I use it.