Every once in a while I let up on my self induced social media restrictions. I regret it nearly every time. There are some people I care about a lot that are only available through social media, but that still doesn’t make social media a great way to interact with people. I prefer face to face interaction rather than sending memes to each other or having drawn out, asynchronous conversations that never have a firm stopping point.

When I hang out with people I like it to stop at some point with a definite point of ending – usually a fist bump or a hug. I hate how social media conversations are perpetual, they just ebb and flow over time, seemingly forever or just ending without any real sense of conclusion.

I hate that messages are limited to 1000 characters and that it gives you too much time to think about your response. I like things off the cuff but I’m an over thinker as well. I hate that you can’t see the other person’s face while talking or hear their voice. It’s very impersonal, it contains the absolute worst parts of writing an actual letter and none of the personalization or length.

Over time most people stop posting, they stop replying, they stop engaging. They are so inundated with ads and suggested reels that they get used to purely consuming content.

I think I’ll leave my account up for a while and check in periodically just to make sure I haven’t missed anything but I’m not going to be a daily user for a long time.