sunsetting (my socmedia thoughts)
This entry is a bit train of thought/rambly but oh well.
I follow Wakako’s (of Baum-kuchen) substack in email/newsletter format and recently read her post about leaving instagram. In her words she describes it as feeling like her “season with Instagram was nearing its end”. I like the phrase/mindset that she wrote.
I also agree that the early years of IG had more of a focus on the visual storytelling and connecting with your followers in your posts (especially as the feeds were cleaner and it was easier to see who you were following, etc). Nowadays even if you follow your friends you are forced to see other things.
(also data/privacy/meta being gross about AI/etc ETC ETC.)
I also liked reading this post about spotify wrapped and the obsession (on social media) of how people are perceived. Almost everything on mainstream/commercialized soc media is pretty performative… and even worse, more platforms created their own “wrapped”. I also find it really addictive to see what my friends have on their wrapped/etc and there's just so much temptation to curate your list to feel that it is a true reflection of who you are. But even that becomes manufactured if you take it too far...
Unfortunately I don’t see myself fully leaving social media just yet - IG still continues to be a primary hub of where I can stay in touch with my newer artist friends (and also still plays a role in how I network for jobs).
My private/personal acct is also how I still stay in touch with my IRL friends. By IRL I mean the people that played a huge role in one of my “seasons” of life, even if we aren’t in touch regularly anymore. I still love seeing posts from my old roommate from college (a 16 year old friendship at this point) and my old coworker that used to feel very “work fam” even if we haven’t been colleagues for 3+ yrs now. I have cousins/family members from the Philippines that I also follow.
I did take the time today to archive posts from my two public IGs. One got a full wipe and the other one just got a bit of curated archiving…
I’ve mostly left twt (but haven’t deleted) as I have a few good online friends that are still on there. My question is…. WHY THO. I know twt offers “private” accounts so there’s the FOMO feeling of not following your friends inner/private thoughts. I used to have a private twt but found that having that anonymity made me post negative twts frequently. (For the record, the main thing I follow on twt is game news for HSR).
Now I’m more active on bluesky. I feel like I actively check it but my posting is more sporadic. I really try not to be too complain-y on it as it really isn’t productive for me. I also feel lucky that my main friend group is more active on bsky so it stops the temptation to return to twt.
A lot of these thoughts also line up with my reading of Atomic Habits (I finished reading Ch 9 over my lunch break). Part of the reason why I’m reading in small chunks is so that I give myself time to process each chapter.
Ch 9 goes over the role of Family/Friends in shaping habits - especially that tendency to be attracted to things that feel “normal” to the community that is around us.
I definitely see that applying to how I post on social media (bsky) - all of my close friends have joined me in mainly posting on bsky so that feels like my social media “normal”. On the other hand, most of those friends are also on clock site (which I am not on) so I work harder to avoid my FOMO by make it extra inconvenient to try to visit that site.
I'll write more in-depth thoughts on habits I want to implement in my life when I finish reading.
One other extremely fun!!!!! exciting!!! thing ... is that I get to have a small winter break at the last 2 weeks of the year. I'll be spending some days visiting my parents but most of the break will be at home.
I hope to do some fun relaxing crafts (I am so ready!!) as well as clean/set aside things to donate.