Losing the Fun of Social Media
I just don’t enjoy it anymore.
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I was in the wave of people who joined Facebook in 2004–2005, back when it was only open to college students. You could mark what classes you were in and post on each other’s pages and that was about it.
It quickly became the Myspace/Livejournal alternative, and within a few years, everyone was on it — including our mothers.
Hell, my 80-something grandmother is on Facebook.
In the beginning, each new social media was an opportunity to learn, explore, and be entertained.
I pinned jokes and how-tos and blog posts on Pinterest. I played with the filters on Snapchat. I even met my husband on a dating app (OKCupid) in 2010!
These days, I mostly use social media for my business. I have an author/public figure page, I have a signup link for my mailing list. I post when I have a new book coming out or an interesting article.
I doggedly wish people happy birthday and occasionally answer questions in freelancing groups.
I “like” all the baby and pet pictures.
I even have clients who prefer to communicate via Facebook Messenger.
But these days, I rarely post anything personal. Sometimes I’ll write something for an anniversary or my mom’s birthday, and I used to post vacation pictures in the before times. (FB is a great place for free photo storage!)
I never remember to put anything on Instagram and I never, ever browse it anymore. It’s just full of ads and stuff I don’t care about.
I deleted Snapchat a couple of years ago.
I don’t remember the last time I pinned something on Pinterest. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago when I was planning my wedding? Maybe a blog post or two over the years?
The only social media I actually use regularly for entertainment is Tiktok, which I only got into during the boredom that was lockdown.
I am a Millennial.
I grew up as the generation that invented and proliferated the use of social media.
And the absolutely positive effects of the social media boom cannot be denied. Social media has made the…
