Give Up Social Media?

Thanks to a recent post from Kev, I’m replying by blog. He asked a simple question that may or may not have a simple answer: “Could you give up social media?” As a good blog post can do, it got me thinking.

Yes.

That’s my answer, but there’s more to it.

I know I could quit social media; I’ve deleted my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter more than once. But like a repeat smoker, I find staying quit harder than the quitting. To stay quit, I’d really have to give it up, just like Kev’s question asks, “Could you give up…?”

Kev’s answer is a good one that I agree or relate with, yet I won’t spoil it; go see his post. But I do want to add a bit more.

Social media isn’t what it used to be. Twitter is dead and gone. Facebook is…defunct? I tried Threads; it has some upsides but also some downsides. So to simplify and focus on my main investment, I decided a few months ago to only use Mastodon.

But, in fact, I was already seriously considering the idea of finally and totally giving up social media altogether, like for real. Why? Because even Mastodon has some downsides. And also because I wouldn’t be giving up on the social web altogether. Leaving Mastodon behind would let me lean into the blogosphere with my blog.

Maybe you recall the early blogosphere. Before native comment systems, people would reply to other people’s blog posts via their own blog. They’d simply link to them — love those hyperlinks. Basically, that’s what I’m doing in this post, replying to Kev’s post. I do plan to cheat a little, though, by sharing a link of my post on Mastodon and then @mentioning Kev so he can see my reply. And since it’s on the open web, anyone can see it.

Will I give up Mastodon or social media altogether? Maybe. It’s much more within the realm of plausibility than ever before. Oh, and add to that the fact that some inspiring folks have never had a social media account yet are successful. Case in point: Cal Newport.

Recently, I blogged that if I had to choose between blogging and social media, the choice was easy: blogging I’d keep, social media I’d let go. So I guess time will tell.