My Social Media Life - What Stayed, What Didn’t
There was a time when I had accounts everywhere. Facebook, Twitter (yes, back when it was still Twitter), Instagram, and a few others that have long since faded into the digital ether. I was busy being social online — liking, sharing, scrolling, posting. And you know what? I was exhausted.
These days, my social media footprint looks very different. And honestly? I’m at peace with that.
👋 The Ones I Left Behind
Let’s start with Facebook. I left years ago, and I’ve never once felt the urge to go back. The joy had gone out of it long before I walked away — replaced by adverts, arguments, and people I vaguely knew from school sharing questionable news articles.
Then there’s X — formerly Twitter, of course. I tried going back. I really did. But it just doesn’t work for me anymore. The atmosphere feels off, and no amount of goodwill on my part could change that.
Bluesky was supposed to be the Twitter fix that Twitter needed. Maybe it is, for some people. But I found myself asking: do you even hear about it anymore? The buzz faded almost as quickly as it arrived, at least in my world.
And Mastodon — now here’s one I genuinely liked. The community felt warmer, more intentional. But I stopped using it for the most mundane reason imaginable: it was eating my time. Not because it was bad. Just because it was.
🎯 The Ones That Stuck
I still pop into Instagram occasionally. It’s a dip-in, dip-out relationship — I don’t live there, and I think that’s healthy. It scratches a particular itch when I fancy a scroll, but I’m not tied to it.
TikTok is where things get interesting. I actually make content there — videos about investing — which gives me a genuine reason to be on the platform. But let’s be honest: TikTok is a masterclass in algorithmic mischief. One minute you’re posting a thoughtful take on ISAs, the next you’ve somehow spent twenty minutes watching people do things you can’t explain to anyone over 40. The scroll is real. The rubbish is plentiful.
Then there’s YouTube. And yes, before you ask — I do consider it social media, or at least something adjacent to it. It has creators, communities, comments, and all the hallmarks of the genre. But it feels different to me. More purposeful. I go there to watch something specific, rather than to mindlessly wander. Most of the time, anyway.
🤔 So What Does This All Mean?
I’m not going to tell you to delete everything and go live in a log cabin (tempting as that sometimes sounds). Social media genuinely has value — for connecting, creating, learning, and laughing at cats doing ridiculous things.
But I do think there’s something to be said for being a bit more deliberate about it. The platforms that stuck around in my life are the ones where I either create something or consume something worthwhile. The ones that just hoovered up my attention without giving much back? They’re gone.
Here’s what I’ve learned from my own slightly chaotic journey through the social media landscape:
- You don’t have to be everywhere. One or two platforms used well beats five platforms used badly.
- Creating beats scrolling. When you make content, you have a purpose. Mindless scrolling rarely has one.
- Quitting something that doesn’t serve you isn’t failure. It’s just common sense.
The internet is vast, and your time is genuinely finite. Use it on the stuff that matters — or at the very least, the stuff that makes you smile.
The rest? It can wait. Or more likely, it can disappear entirely.