Social Media

4/7/25

Social Media... I hate it. My OCD gets stuck in loops of what to post, where to post, how personal, what name to use, who to include, etc. etc. etc. to the point I never benefit from any of it. I end up scrolling or watching pointless videos and losing more motivation than I gain inspiration. My phone is a huge contributor so I’d like to stay off of it more in general. I want it to be more off a tool I use when away from my house and not what I do when sitting on the couch.

How am I going to optimize the internet for myself? Well, instead of putting restrictions on myself, I wanted to set expectations for social media:

• I want to share all of my thoughts/writings/photos in one place.
• I want to make friends with similar interests and chat with them regularly.
• I want to speak freely without caring about judgment.
• I want to be personal.
• I want to be safe.
• I don’t want to be isolated.
• I don’t want to be paranoid.
• I don’t want to care about fomo.

What about media consumption in general?

• I want to see things that inspire me.
• I want to find new content by human recommendation.
• I want to stay up to date.
• I want to keep seeing things I know make me actually feel good.
• I don’t want to get sucked into trends pushed by influencers.
• I don’t need to see every remake of every classic media.

What media do I consume?

Music, books, art, movies/shows, podcasts/ essay, youtube, games, meaningful politics (not rage watching).

With all of this in mind – HOW?

After a lot of thought, trial and error, and overthinking, I have come to a point I feel comfortable.

Pintrest I have mainly recipes, fashion, and crochet. I really feel like I get a lot from this site because of its organizational and saving ability. I frequently use it for referencing all of those things. My saving grace here is I do not follow anyone, I do not scroll unless I use the search first, and it is private.

Bluesky I have the account attached to my site. I find this to be an extension of my site as I am able to link directly to it. It is the best way I am able to reliably see information worth being spread. The personal tabs also make it so I can choose what topics I’m taking in. The discover feed is at the veryyyyy end of the page for me, but even then its reserved for sitting on the toilet.

Twitch is the only accessible live streaming platform it seems. I have many friends who stream and one day I would maybe like to try it out, too. I get notified in discord, so I don’t really need the app or bookmark.

Youtube seems to be the only video platform. I turn notifications off my phone and easily make it so my bookmarked tab is of my subscriptions only, but I need to be careful not to use it as simply a distraction. This helps me find music, fashion, food, inspiration, etc from people I already follow.

Snapchat is now the primary social media / communication method I have with people that aren’t as online. Thankfully I have been able to completely divert from Meta this way. The ads and profiles they try to push are so brain rot at times I have no trouble ignoring them.

Discord I have for gaming with friends, niche community and joining more local community. I use it daily for many reasons and get so many good recommendations there. If I had to delete everything but one “social media” it would be Discord.

Neocities/DecomDiatom is where I am going to post my real stuff. Status cafe and Cbox have enabled me to communicate directly from my site so I’m hoping to utilize this more so than any others. I have many favorites that give me good recommendations and keep me inspired.

Through word of mouth (/of all those I follow in the above methods) is how I will find future media, not through algorithms. I will only consume based off of what I already own, find organically irl, or through pre-established channels. No streaming services pushing their fake top 10. I hope for this to keep me only consuming things that matter to me and keep me from consuming instead of creating

When listening to music I will mainly be using my mp3 player so I don’t get bombarded with ads or swayed in what energy I’m taking in at any given moment. Staying up to date with my favorites will be more of an effort, but more rewarding when I find they’ve released something. Bandcamp will useful. The shuffle on my player is also a lot less curated and I end up hearing songs from albums I usually wouldn't from artists I already have. The biggest thing I will miss is Spotify Wrapped (which may be shown in future music shrines), but even they have become dependent on AI, so I don’t feel too bad.

I own enough books. I have Kafka, The Appeal, Midnight Circus, Lobizona, and SO many more ready for me that I’ve put off. If I really need more that I hear of I can go to the library, Thriftbooks.com, Bookstore.com, Archive.org, or a local shop. My mp3 or partners tablet can display E or audio books, but I prefer physical. I thought about using The Storygraph, but I like the idea of putting book reviews on my site as well.

As for movies and shows, I have enough still in wrapping from sales or from thrift stores that I still haven’t watched. Again, the library is applicable here. Even then, there are so many resources to find them free online!

Podcasts/Essays are easy as I know of enough to fill hours upon hours of time. Sticking to my subscriber tab and inboxed stories will help me actually see these when they are relevant. I can download them if needed onto my MP3.

Games are abundant in my life. I have so many childhood games that I can replay, and the only place I see them advertised are Steam. My to be played is expansive enough with all the good Indie recs I get. I am good at not even looking at whats new in the store unless there is a big sale, then I mostly go through to see if I have heard of any of them. With the upcoming price of new switch games, abstaining from their pull really is a cake walk. Mobile games have fallen off my phone altogether.

We all know how easily politics are spread lately IRL. I will stick to looking on a specific Bluesky tab when needed, but I cannot keep following it directly, particularly on Youtube. I will do my best and stay updated, but when EVERY video is hate clickbate (which is laughably easy), I can no longer function at all. Hate watching becomes doom scrolling becomes misery day becomes severe depression.

I hope nobody who already knows me got TOO annoyed with me figuring this out in real time, but I need to do what makes me feel good. I know what I like best, I’ve just let outside influences shove things in my face that I really don’t care about when things are said and done. There are simply better and more fulfilling ways I can consume, create, and spend time.

I don’t expect anyone to be invested in my online life, this for keeping myself accountable and to look back on later.