During the last couple of weeks, I have been pondering: Is social media for me? I've never been super active on either network I've joined, whether that be Twitter, app.net, Mastodon, or anything else. I have enjoyed reading posts from like-minded people, though, and tried to add to conversations when I thought I had something meaningful to contribute. In the last couple of months, though, I haven't even had a look at my Mastodon feed. Too many times did I have to read about some person or another screwing the world up, blaming someone else for their faults, or some other negative crap. Gone are the days that I could read about something that interests me personally; instead, I only got posts from people complaining about this or that, fighting with each other, or other negative things. This in and of itself is normal human behavior; in the end, no one only has good days in their lives. But when the bad news and vibes take over, I lose all interest in opening up my favorite social media app to see what's going on in the world.
So, today I sat on my balcony with a cold beer and a smoke and thought about what I could do to change that. I couldn't keep up with what was going on; that much was sure. I also couldn't hope that overnight things would change and I would only get good news in my timeline. So, the only thing I can do to make me feel better is quit, I suppose.
It's something I thought about a couple of times already, to be honest. I never felt like I belonged; I never had much to say, and only looking at other people’s posts felt kind of like stalking. On the other hand, I could have just rambled about some things I like, such as sim racing, card and board games, movies, journaling, but I never thought someone would want to read that. Not that I'm looking for some kind of arbitrary follower count, but when all I have to say disappears into the void anyway, I can also just put it on my blog (plus I don't have to stick to some arbitrary character count).
I must say that I have met some great people online, and that is something that I definitely will miss. But it's time to think about myself, my mental health, and the things that are around me. Too often do I see people living their lives in social media. Instead of having a nice family dinner at a restaurant, they're constantly on their phones, discussing their latest posts, taking pictures, and posting them online. I miss the days when the family got together and no one had a phone to look at. Time just felt easier back then, less depressing and more interactive. I remember a time when we were sitting together for hours, just talking, making jokes, and laughing our asses off without having to look up this or that meme on a phone. It's times like these I want to live again, times when being together really meant being together. I want my son to live in a world where people talk to each other when they're in the same room, not stare at some other rando's pictures online.
Now that I think about it, maybe we should call it anti-social media. The media that connects us to people living on the other side of the world, actually keeps us from connecting to people that are right in front of us. It's a sad thing to think.
Anyway, I don't want this post to be some kind of wakening call or something for you. I also think that, if you enjoy social media to its fullest, and you have a great circle of people you follow, then don't listen to anything I have to say. This is a personal thing, everyone thinks and reacts differently to these kinds of topics, and these are just my two cents. Social media isn't for me anymore, and instead of trying to fit in, I'm going to look for something where I truly fit in.
I know that my family will thank me for it.