This was a fascinating read that really made me look at the social media ecosystem from a different perspective. Thanks! I generally ignore LinkedIn, but you've made me curious to head on over there and see what's shakin'. As you experienced, it might be a nice change of pace from the usual FB fare. Also - thanks for the heads up on Creature Preacher! I just watched the teaser video on her website, and subscribed on Spotify. Looking forward to tuning in! :)
"My point is that ultimately we can choose how and when we connect."
I loved reading this detailed reasoning for WHY you're choosing one platform over another right now...emphasis on the "right now". It's so easy to go into all-or-nothing mode, or to feel like "Well, everyone else is leaving Instagram so I guess I should too" or even "That person is criticizing Substack so should I feel weird about being here?"
Looking back over the last 15-16 years, I have flowed in and out of platforms as they've worked for me. I was all-in on Twitter, then started to get bored by it. Moved to Facebook, eventually got bored with that and moved on. Was active on LinkedIn for a bit but as my professional goals shifted it started to feel less relevant and I wandered away. Got really into Instagram for a while, but...well, see above. And by the way, does anyone else remember Google+?
What's striking to me is that I used to make these decisions without a lot of angst...they weren't even "decisions" so much; they just happened. I think something has shifted over the past few years, where time and effort put into a platform feels like a reason in and of itself to stay, like an investment; we second-guess stepping away from certain platforms, at the same time reading about other people finding "freedom" by leaving those same platforms. "Deciding" whether to stay on IG or invest time here on Substack was starting to feel so fraught, and for what reason? At the end of the day, these are just tech platforms. They aren't our spouses or children or religions or our entire professional and personal pasts and futures. Whether we are, or aren't, on them doesn't define us.
I have been mostly off Insta for the past month and a half or so, and I'm treating my absence very lightly this time around. I got kinda bored and I wandered away. It happens. I'm not interested in investing much emotional energy in my "decision" or what it might mean in the future - I'll either go back, or I won't; and THAT feels like freedom to me.
This was a fascinating read that really made me look at the social media ecosystem from a different perspective. Thanks! I generally ignore LinkedIn, but you've made me curious to head on over there and see what's shakin'. As you experienced, it might be a nice change of pace from the usual FB fare. Also - thanks for the heads up on Creature Preacher! I just watched the teaser video on her website, and subscribed on Spotify. Looking forward to tuning in! :)
"My point is that ultimately we can choose how and when we connect."
I loved reading this detailed reasoning for WHY you're choosing one platform over another right now...emphasis on the "right now". It's so easy to go into all-or-nothing mode, or to feel like "Well, everyone else is leaving Instagram so I guess I should too" or even "That person is criticizing Substack so should I feel weird about being here?"
Looking back over the last 15-16 years, I have flowed in and out of platforms as they've worked for me. I was all-in on Twitter, then started to get bored by it. Moved to Facebook, eventually got bored with that and moved on. Was active on LinkedIn for a bit but as my professional goals shifted it started to feel less relevant and I wandered away. Got really into Instagram for a while, but...well, see above. And by the way, does anyone else remember Google+?
What's striking to me is that I used to make these decisions without a lot of angst...they weren't even "decisions" so much; they just happened. I think something has shifted over the past few years, where time and effort put into a platform feels like a reason in and of itself to stay, like an investment; we second-guess stepping away from certain platforms, at the same time reading about other people finding "freedom" by leaving those same platforms. "Deciding" whether to stay on IG or invest time here on Substack was starting to feel so fraught, and for what reason? At the end of the day, these are just tech platforms. They aren't our spouses or children or religions or our entire professional and personal pasts and futures. Whether we are, or aren't, on them doesn't define us.
I have been mostly off Insta for the past month and a half or so, and I'm treating my absence very lightly this time around. I got kinda bored and I wandered away. It happens. I'm not interested in investing much emotional energy in my "decision" or what it might mean in the future - I'll either go back, or I won't; and THAT feels like freedom to me.