I’m, to say the least, ambivalent about social media, and I’ve probably been on both sides of the scale, from being an avid consumer of content and a sporadic content creator to an absolutist who has not only stopped using it, uninstalled the apps, but also completely unregistered my accounts.

To some extent, it has to do with that inertia that is difficult to manage. The dopamine rush that comes from scrolling endlessly and constantly believing (feeling) that there will soon be something that is actually worth seeing and that is worth my time. (Something I’m still waiting to happen.)

I started like so many others by just following friends, acquaintances, colleagues and other people I’ve come across in various contexts. Then I tried to take the path of cleaning up. Slim down the feed to the people who just actually mean something to me. Noticing that it got a bit boring and quite spartan since most people, like me, are not super active content creators, but rather consumers. So then I tried the way to fill it with content from creators who actually interest me. Follow hashtags, accounts with a certain focus, all to make just my feed and my flow as interesting and rewarding for me as possible.

But still. I didn’t feel like it gave anything. So then I left completely. And to be honest, I’ve done that many times. But then I also have my creation, my desire to reach out.

So now I’ve landed somewhere in the middle. I don’t want to consume (but I still do, now and then, the addict brain has a hard time resisting – and every time I feel it as a failure because a lot of time (everything from a few minutes to hours) has slipped out of my hands without me really getting anything for them).

I try (among other things by not having the app installed on my phone + blocking the actual internet addresses) to only create content and publish it when I’m sitting in front of a computer. Now and then I check if there has been any reaction. (Yes, it is an active choice in an evaluation perspective – does it give any desired effect, or do I just reach out to my friends and acquaintances?) The idea of trying to create rewarding consumable content that is suitable to consume in a flow, but which can also create curiosity to leave the flow and go to some of the other sources of content. Music. Blog posts. Books. Whatever it may be. Drive traffic from social media to something else, by using social media as a billboard to give someone the opportunity to switch to something that maybe (hopefully) is more rewarding to spend time on.

Maybe a hopeless struggle. Maybe I ”save” someone. So far, I feel unsure if it is actually a long-term strategy and something I want to continue doing, or if even this attempt will result in me leaving social media. (Maybe for good?)

Time will tell. Right now, at least, I am on both Instagram, Threads and YouTube. Left X after Musk got delusions of grandeur and allied himself with Trump.

//N

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