Join social media, they said...

2025.01.19

Song of the day:

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Join social media, they said…it’ll be fun, they said…

And it has been, for the most part. Facebook started being sketchy a number of years ago, with misinformation running rampant through the app. I kept my account but stopped posting as much. I enjoyed Instagram and become a huge fan of TikTok (watching but not creating) during the pandemic. But since Elon Musk bought and destroyed Twitter, making it something hateful and awful, things have been fairly bleak. I got off that platform shortly after he bought it. Meta created Threads which seemed like a good substitute for Twitter, and I’ve enjoyed it, but now that Mark Zuckerberg has gone down a path of darkness and eliminated fact-checking and numerous other policies, it’s no longer what it was. I’ll be reducing how much I use the Meta apps (Facebook, Instagram, Threads) or possibly getting rid of them altogether. But I thought I’d still have TikTok. I thought that even with the threat of the ban something would happen to ensure that didn’t happen. But last night, I got these messages within about 30 minutes of each other. Really don’t love that they’re pandering to our incoming President in hopes of a save. That makes me not want to stay even if it does come back to life.

I’m glad I created a BlueSky account a little while back, as it seems to be what Twitter and Threads once were. It’s not run by a billionaire wanting to cater to other billionaires, for one, and it has good policies, better security, and easy ways to block accounts. I’ve seen a huge increase in people joining recently so maybe it has a shot. We’ll see how it goes, but maybe what I’m learning is that I need to reduce the amount of time I spend on social media overall. To start, I’m taking a week-long hiatus from the Meta apps, and then I’ll decide if I want to keep them and for how long. I just don’t think I trust any aspect of Meta at this point.

I’m still enjoying Substack, which I suppose is another form of social media. I like that it’s more blog or newsletter in nature, and that a lot of interesting people use it. Maybe I’ll spend more time here, I don’t know, we shall see.

Anyway…I’m super bummed about TikTok right now because I’ve learned a lot from so many creators, especially those from marginalized communities. I’ve also found a lot of highly entertaining people who make me laugh, and some very cute dogs to follow. So I hope I can find them elsewhere on the internet - many are on YouTube - but I feel terrible for all the small business owners who have been thriving on the app. I actually made my first TikTok shop purchase the other day, and now wish I’d found more to buy to help support those creators. I hope they are able to find new ways to sell their wares.

Anyone else rethinking their social media habits? Here’s an interesting article about Meta and what they may be doing with your data. I highly encourage you to read it and check all your settings if you intend to keep using their apps. Like anything online, you should, of course, be cautious about what you post and share. Once it’s out there, even if you delete it later, it’s a permanent fixture in cyberspace. It’s always good to review your security settings on your apps regularly, so maybe now’s a good time to start doing that if nothing else.

In other news, we got a few inches of snow overnight Friday night, and it’s been super cold. Like below zero cold. So we’re staying in and watching movies this weekend - and a little football.

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend!

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Videos of the day:

I’mma need to find this Uber…