Social Media Musing

I totally unplugged from social media for two months, enjoying a good break from it. Now I’ve resumed — mostly Mastodon, a bit of Threads — for sharing links to my blog posts. I’m also drawn into the social aspect and by the behaviorally addictive mechanics. So moderation should be the name of the game, but that’s easier said than done.

Socializing online

Unlike other websites and blogs, social media really does feel like a place where lots of people are just kind of casually hanging out — many faces with names, sharing links and comments. It’s all listed in a continuously scrolling and constantly updating stream of interactive “multi-consciousness.”

Like, comment, share…we all know what social media is by now…I’m just saying that after a two month break, experiencing it with fresh eyes helps me see and feel how different it is from other websites. It’s kinda fun to socialize with others, though I’ll say scrolling past noise to find the signal isn’t great.

Behavioral Addiction

Social Media sites tend to optimize for user interaction and “time on site." So there are ways such companies make sites and apps behaviorally addictive — they know how to push our human buttons to get us to push their inhuman buttons. And scroll (why is doomscrolling a thing but joyscrolling is never mentioned? Hmmmm…).

While I like the socializing parts of social media, I must moderate my usage and keep it in check lest I become overwhelmed by unhealthy behavioral addiction.

I have three ways to keep social media in check:

1. Limit its access to me

2. Limit my access to it

3. Limit usage altogether

To limit social media’s access to me, I disable all notifications on all my devices from all social media. It is not allowed to “ping” me anytime it wants. Nothing is ever urgent; I don’t need to be notified. I will check it when I want, not when it wants.

To limit my access to social media, I sometimes reign things in by deleting all apps from my phone and tablet and deleting all shortcuts on my laptop. That way, when I want to access social media, I must manually navigate to it in a browser. This bit of friction and “inconvenience” slows me down and helps keep my behavioral usage in check.

When the above options are not enough, I limit my usage altogether by taking breaks like the two month one I recently ended. I will totally unplug, log off, and sign out of all social media and not touch it for a while. It helps me reframe or reset my behavioral patterns.

Summary

I like social media enough to continue using it in moderation; I try to not like it too much. Sometimes I still think we would all be better off without social media. But we’re all social creatures to varying degrees. People are gonna socialize, be it analog or digital.