Algorithm Anxiety
Social media is becoming a bit much.
This, coming from someone who majored in it, studied it, constantly researches it and has a career in it.
I really miss having three or so different social media that did three different things for three different audiences. The launch of Facebook stories was a final straw for me, as I've been really bummed that all our platforms are morphing into the exact same thing...but we're still expected to keep up with ALL of them?
While I'm busy decluttering my home, I've also been doing a bit of a social media cleansing lately. I've been feeling as though I don't get a whole lot accomplished on a daily basis and it's because I'm busy watching other people's lives unfold on a screen. Other people being brands, friends, family, companies, acquaintances, strangers, celebrities, and on and on and on...
SNAPCHAT
As much as I hate that Instagram Stories are a blatant ripoff of Snapchat, I have found myself snapping less and story-ing more. Honestly, with every update Snapchat seems to gets slower and slower on my phone. The facial filters have lost my interest and it's just not worth it for me to spend time on anymore. I still have my account, but I removed any celebrities I followed and I've deleted the app altogether for the time being. *Cue slight FOMO*
TIP: If it doesn't bring you joy or some value every single day. Delete it.
Remember that one time I was locked out of Instagram for a year and ended up with two accounts? It's turned into a good thing! Once I got my original account back, I decided to make @SavannahSmiled the place that I follow blogs, photogs and other artists, while my other account is really just for my family and closest friends. That way, the people I know on a personal level don't get lost in the feed of the other and I can actually SEE their photos again. Since that account is private, it's where I can post silly selfies, group photos and true, raw snapshots of my life without feeling like I'm sharing those private moments with the entire world. @SavannahSmiled is for the prettier, curated moments of my life that I'm more comfortable sharing to a broader audience.
TIP: Use that "mute stories" button! I've reluctantly gotten on board with Instagram Stories recently. Mainly because boomerangs are just so dang fun, ammiright? However, the "mute" button has become really important on my public account. I follow nearly 1,000 creatives (I know, I know. I'm cutting down) and I would probably have to spend 8 hours a day just keeping up with all their stories. It makes me anxious just thinking about it! Now, if someone overposts or posts things I don't really want to watch on a daily basis, I just mute their story. You do this by holding your finger on their little round profile picture in the stories bar.
I miss OG Twitter so much. More than any change in social media, this one has been the most hurtful. This isn't anything the company has done necessarily, it's just the growth of users and the changes that has created. Back in its heyday, brands weren't there, politicians weren't there and your entire distant family members certainly weren't there. You had the chance of actually having a conversation with a celebrity and you and your friends were in constant 140-character communication. It became a way that, no matter where we were in the world, we'd all watch the same shows and pop culture events "together" and tweet our little fingers off about it. I'm still logging in every day to @SavannahSmiled for news, current events and retweeting from other creatives, but it's much more of a means of information for me than a two-way conversation anymore.
TIP: I've been using Manage Flitter a lot to reduce the amount of accounts I follow. It's really helped me clean up users that are inactive, don't follow me back or still haven't uploaded a profile photo (RIP Twitter Egg).
My eyes probably rolled out of my head the morning they introduced Facebook Stories. We all knew it was coming, but still! Would a lot of people see my story? Yes. Are there cool graphics and filters? Sure. Will I allow all those acquaintances to see every waking moment of my life? No.
I made the mistake a long time ago of becoming Facebook friends with every single person I ever met. This has been helpful in a few instances, but mainly it has just been a nuisance. I'm not bold enough to delete people (it seems so mean to me). No matter how many people I hide, it never seems to reduce the uselessness in my feed. I miss important moments from real friends and I just get lost watching videos for hours. It's really just a black hole of wasting time and algorithm changes have made it even worse. If I could delete everyone who I haven't spoken to (in person) within the last year and disable both Stories and Messenger, I would in a heartbeat. I don't share much here anymore, especially when anything I post on my Savannah Smiled Page is rarely ever seen. Like, by anyone.
TIP: Hide, hide and hide some more. You don't need all that negativity in your life.
I completely deleted this app when algorithms changed and we no longer saw posts from the people we chose to follow, just a whole lot of "suggested for you." I was really frustrated and just let it go for a while.
I came back eventually and peruse it maybe once a week now. It is nice that it basically guesses which board you want to pin to. Pretty convenient, for sure. I also finally have my boards separated and arranged in a way I'm really loving. It's basically the most organized place in my life!
TIP: Only pin what you truly love-love, not just 'like.' That way, your feed is continually filled with more things you absolutely love!
TUMBLR
Unlike the others, I can always count on this little hidden corner of the internet. No matter how long it's been since I've logged on, I can still expect the same humorous, entertaining, authentic, educating, humanitarian, enticing and beautiful posts rolling through my tumblr feed. It may have more advertisements now, but I can't shame them for making some money. Tumblr never seemed to catch on to the greater general public and maybe that's why it's still so amazing.
My Tumblr account is like my digital collection of hoarded internet goodness. My pre-Pinterest Pinterest. My occasional little safe haven since 2010. Stay cool, Tumblr. Stay cool.
Sorry friends. This turned into an unnecessary soap box that you didn't need in your life today. I'm just a little fed up with the expectation of constant social media interaction on platforms that are just continually copying one another and bombarding me with ads and product pushes. Plus , the anxiety of knowing everyone's problems, hearing their political rants and reading horrific arguments has just been really heavy on me lately. It's exhausting.
I'm hoping a few of you can relate! How do you cope and balance it all? I don't see myself throwing away my phone anytime soon, but I think I'll continue reducing the time I spend on these apps and hiding/muting the unnecessary within them.
