When I meet new people. Here is how the conversation goes:
Person 1: What's your ig handle?
Me: I don't have an Instagram account.
Person 2: Can I add you on snap then?
Me: Don't use it either
Person 2: Okay, can I have your whatsapp number?
Me: Sure, but I'm mostly inactive,
Person 1 & 2: Okay, chill! What social media platform do you use?
Me: Quora, and twitter mostly.
Person 2: And what if one needs to reach you quickly?
Me: Just call me. Unlike a lot of people, I prefer phone calls.
It always comes as a surprise to a lot of people when they find out that I do not have an Instagram account, never signed up on TikTok, deactivated my Facebook account a long time ago and i do not use snapchat (Not a weirdo!) I am sure there are a lot more people like me.
When did I begin to lose interest in Social Media?
Honestly! I don’t know. I can’t give a particular date. It was not a sudden realization one morning that "Hey! Not a social media person"
It was gradual, and it's been years.
Why ?
There is the big question right there... Why?
Firstly, twitter is the only social media platform I use. Oh! I almost forgot that I was forced into signing up on Linkedin for professional/career reasons. However, till date, I am yet to set the account up properly, talk more of optimising it.
I have been with people that wake up in the morning, and the first thing they do is camp on TikTok. I have been around people who, at the slightest free moment of their time; they are surfing through twitter and Instagram, and I am very convinced that is not how I want to live my life.
Besides pretending to be too serious in life, call me a weirdo, but social media barely interest me (I make an exception for twitter which has served as my personal blog over the years) I use my twitter to check out trending news, so I am not totally shut out of the world socially.
I would have been very conversant on WhatsApp, being an instant messaging platform. However, I find the status update feature very distracting. Therefore, more often than not, I leave my WhatsApp dormant for days/weeks depending on my mood or boredom, until I am ready to chat with someone who I can only reach on WhatsApp, or check an important group message. As for pending/unread chats in my dm, I have to respect you a lot, or have a thing for you (perhaps I'm in love with you) before I respond.
It is often mistaken for pride, but in all honestly, I believe it’s laziness, and my inclination to getting bored easily. Hear me out. I am not a fan of small talks, unfortunately, not everybody understands that, and I don’t blame them or try to explain myself (except you are worth the explanation)
I also avoid social media because I understand how addicting it can be, I do not ever want to get to that point. It is quite irritating to watch in other people.
In addition, though there are a lot of motivating contents on the internet,on the other hand, there are a lot of fake lifestyle, fake news, false projections, oppressions, e.t.c that can directly or indirectly affect us and our beliefs.
And because I am an anxious person, these elements are things I can live without to ease myself of unnecessary thoughts. I should also add that most of these activities puts off the realist in me (I don't know how best to explain that).
Is there any disadvantage to this?
Of course there is! I suck at communication,networking, and I am not exaggerating, even virtual interactions (If it’s not physical, it didn’t happen).
People bore me easily (not everybody though). I have met really interesting people.
I am quite sure there are other disadvantages, but this right here is the only one that sort of bothers me. I am fine with every other disadvantage.
Is there anything I want to do differently?
Honestly?? For now? I am good!
So, what do I do in my free time?
There is barely free time for me because , there is school, in between academic activities, there is career and personal development.
Free time?
Yeah... I code, pick up a book (definitely not self help), sometimes binge watch a new series (I know this sounds boring ÅF, but I swear it's quite fun 😀😂)
In conclusion
I can't say if social media has done more harm than good, or otherwise. In all honesty, to me, it proves the yin-yang theory.
What is your social media life like?
Are you worse than I am or you are a better person?
Did you ever become addicted to any social media platform?
How did you fight through? Or you are still stuck?
Tell me all about it.
Thanks for reading.
No shame of not having any social media. I didn't have it for quite a while and only having it because I am feeling like getting connected to people and friends I met a long the way. Otherwise, I'd have no time for it, at all.
Thank you for being in my club... Feels good.
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<table><tr><td><img src="https://images.hive.blog/60x70/http://hivebuzz.me/@drama.queen/posts.png?202304250413" /><td>You published more than 10 posts.<br />Your next target is to reach 20 posts. <p dir="auto"><sub><em>You can view your badges on <a href="https://hivebuzz.me/@drama.queen" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link">your board and compare yourself to others in the <a href="https://hivebuzz.me/ranking" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link">Ranking<br /> <sub><em>If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word <code>STOP <p dir="auto">To support your work, I also upvoted your post! <p dir="auto"><strong>Check out our last posts: <table><tr><td><a href="/hive-139531/@hivebuzz/proposal-2324"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/64x128/https://i.imgur.com/RNIZ1N6.png" /><td><a href="/hive-139531/@hivebuzz/proposal-2324">The Hive Gamification Proposal <h6>Support the HiveBuzz project. <a href="https://hivesigner.com/sign/update_proposal_votes?proposal_ids=%5B%22248%22%5D&approve=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link">Vote for <a href="https://peakd.com/me/proposals/248" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link">our proposal!Absolutely admire the shit out of you. But damn I love Instagram (mainly coz images/gaming the algorithm/meeting people IRL with same likes and interests), can't do without Instagram messaging as all my friends/fam use it plus social groups I run, etc etc. Damn it's a time waster. But I've always loved it, and like HIVE, I just can't step away.
I just can't seem to get enough.
I guess it is what it is 😂
You brought up some great points about social media. For sure as hell it can be addictive. Even for those peeps that don't have the hang towards addictions. Myself, I subscribed to most of the early bird social media when they emerged, or just after they emerged, like Facebook, Twitter, Insta...and HIVE...well, the one with the Blue colours back in 2016, the end of that year (so I guess I was like 9 months late to be right at the start). Until then, I mostly consumed content on Facebook. Hardly been actively posting. Since my HIVE years, I didn't change my behaviours with Facebook, still consuming a bit. Mostly check what some of my friends and acquaintances are doing, mostly on the music side of things, their music lives I mean. Events they intent to attend, and after-event reports. Twitter, I tried when it launched. Then I didn't do anything with it until I suppose a few years ago. Mostly for the crypto side of things now. Insta, I kinda like, but hardly open the app. When I do, I usually try and find some artsy pictures in my camera roll to upload and check some of those in my feed.
But but but HIVE eats my time. Years ago it ate much of my time being quite active posting and engaging. These days am much slower in posting. Maybe also in engaging. Though still spend an hour on curation every single day (minus a few days a year when somehow am not able to spend that hour).
Recently, I started to use Threads, our own microblogging service on the HIVE chain. Quite nice to have this service. Not too many users though and the content isn't up to the levels I like it to be. Anyways, they just started and it needs time to bring some great microbloggers to Threads.
Must admit, I miss the time I used to have to read actual books. Have tons of them, since I seem to continue to buy books, but rarely read one. The pile is becoming higher and higher though. Well, four piles by now 😂
You have got the experience I see. You are definitely in the right position to present a masterclass on social media usage. I will certainly attend.
About books, you should probably take one weekend off to remove one book from the pile. You won't regret it!
Not sure about a master class on social media! But who knows, maybe? I'll let you know when that happens 😉 But don't wait for it, may take another few decades before such happens 😂😂😂
Book: You are absolutely right. I shall spend less time behind my screens, and more time behind paper books. The thing is, I ordered this book about blockchains by the CEO of LCX exchange, thinking he write a nice book. But am struggling with that one, since its more like a dictionary with no new information that I already know. But I set out the task to finish that book, and have this faint idea to write my first book review in HIVE. However, the latter I may not do since I think I can only burn this book to the ground. Anyways, let's see, first finish reading the book 😉
Thanks for the advice 😉
Social media is a drug, and people abuse it. I do too, sometimes. A place like TikTok is a soul stealer. I left—even though I almost wanted to be a creator—when I felt I was loosing grip of myself.
The only places I like to be are Hive—because people are being intelligently intentional here—and Discord (because that's where most of us on Hive live). WhatsApp has now become a leech for me. I only keep it because of the "groups" I need and those I can only communicate with there.
PS: What's wrong with self-help books? 🙂
I also think Hive is a pretty interesting place, gives me Quora vibe sometimes. I am sure I am yet to fully explore. Maybe show me around in your free time?
And Discord/Slack is majorly for work/official purpose. So, it is more like a necessity, nothing unofficial in my businesses there.
About self help books 😂. I blogged my opinion, you can read it here - https://peakd.com/hive-196233/@drama.queen/self-help-books-or-fictions
Good for you! The only social media I use is honestly hive at this point. I have a LinkedIn account for business but that’s just business, nothing social. It’s far better to minimize the crap we expose ourselves to and make people have good old fashioned conversations with us! Hell these days I prefer face to face conversations that way I know things aren’t bullshit! Lol