To jumpstart the comments on this, I will share what I shared on Notes. I already shared about when and how and why I quit. These are the ~dozen Social Media platforms I check with some regularity, organized in order of how often they get checked:
1. Instagram - I keep this to read memes from my wife primarily, but always get distracted.
2. Reddit - Local news and niche topics
3. TikTok - Recipes and mindless scrolling
4. Twitter - This used to be networking and audience building but it's now mindless outrage scrolling
5. Substack Notes - Talking shit about writing
6. Warpcast - Just started using this and enjoy it but people on there talk about it as if it's going to implode any minute now
7. Discord - Communities around writing, AI art, drawing and other niche topics
8. Facebook - Seeing what people from high school and my parents' friends are doing
9. LinkedIn - Work, publicizing what we do at work
10. Campfire - Small Bets (entrepreneurship) community
11. Threads - Literally just to open the occasional interesting thread I scroll by on Instagram
...best decision i ever made was killing facebook a decade ago...quiet quitting twitter six months ago...substack might be next on the list sadly the notesification of it all is really trying...
I deleted all my social media in 2018 and stayed off until I started sharing my podcast and writing online in 2022. I really never regretted being offline. Whenever I peeked into the social media world again I was horrified to see what it had turned into. Now I’m like you in that “creating” has made me believe I need to be on social media again. Even though I’ve started to hate Twitter, I *still* think there’s a good way to do it and I should figure it out despite the fact that Substack is active and to be honest I should figure out writing online, launching a couple products ideas first before tweeting. I think a lot of creators online are struggling with the same thing. I wrote a piece “The Creator Consumer Paradox” when I was starting out to help decide if I should jump back in and while I’m thrilled at the community I’ve found online, idk if I’m better off sticking to social media. For writing, I think I’m curious in general about your thoughts here and specifically if you feel the same dilemma about being on social media to “promote” you work or “find creators” vs actually doing the art piece.
This resonates a lot. The dilemma of wanting to do it for creative work but also recognizing that it brings a lot of baggage that’s very difficult to avoid.
Honestly, I've never really understood these social networks. There was a time, around 2010, when I was quite active on Twitter. Back then, it wasn't as bad as it is today. But I guess it depends on the circle of people you follow, those who follow you, the community, and the country. I then deleted my twitter account maybe in 2012 and started a brand new one a little before attending WOP, which I then deleted maybe a year ago, or even more. I also used to have a facebook account, I'd had it for many years but then deactivated it some five years ago as the environment over there was getting dumber and dumber, IMO. Today I'm only on Instagram and Substack, and I check them NOT regularly (I deactivated notifications etc). Many of the others you mention I don't even know what they are lol. I'm also very, very bad at self-promotion. So I guess I'm an atypical SN user.
This is a timely note, Charlie. Amongst writers I care for there's a gradual ebbing of enthusiasm for SocMedia. Publishers love authors active on Twitter / X *et al* because the producers of the 'content' (horrid word!) can generate their own commercial PR / publicity machine. Good or bad.
One writer withdrew from the mindless Twitter and is happier. Why engage with negativity? It's hard enough writing without wasting creative energy on crits or trolls or other creatures who lurk there.
I was on LinkedIn, but its torrent of irrelevant emails put me off. ('Fraid Substack's going the same way. Too many communications?)
While I briefly flirted with FB, it's never been for me.
Everything else, inc. Insta, Tiktok, Snapchat, WhatsApp (?sp) -- zilch. I don't possess a smartphone, so don't participate in the world of apps. (*Is* there a "meaningful cohort who would pay a premium for cellphone-free spaces"? Sign me up!)
I still use texts. Even emails are dwindling. Currently toying with how little I need to put onto a new 'card' -- AND, as my printer's not functioning, even thinking about resurrecting a fountain pen. How last century is that!
I quit Facebook back in 2010 and had basically no social media for over a decade. Around 2019 I started thinking that there would be benefits to being on some platform - seemed like some people found Twitter really useful for business and intellectual pursuits and for meeting people with similar interests.
I finally joined in 2023. I’m glad I spent a long time off social media, but I’m glad I joined Twitter. The worst part is being aware of what “everybody’s talking about” when some juicy story/news/drama goes around (I liked being blissfully ignorant) but I think there are a lot of net positives.
I’ve made some neat connections, and it’s fun trying to express things in brief/creative ways - this is good practice for me.
1. Twitter is the one I check more often, by far. Notes on here maybe once a week, IG and FB mayb 2-4 times a month. No TikTok
2. I've never posted on IG and only opened it because I sometimes need to check restaurants or something utilitarian like that. Don't plan to become active
3. Many, but mainly that I have a love/hate relationship with them. On a positive note, it's the reason it has me here writing this and how I met you (via Twitter -> David Perell -> WoP). The niche I eventually based steered my whole agency towards I found on Twitter (B2B cold email). Plus many other connections and learnings. But I've also wasted countless hours in them and have gotten anxiety from certain posts or rabbit holes it leads me to. The ideal for me would be to have a hard stop after maybe 10min daily on Twitter, but it's relatively easy to get out of hands. In my specific case, it's just like alcohol: moderation would be the ideal, but I find it really easy to overstep.
I've also had many failed attempts at stopping being a lurker and become active and post regularly on them to try and have an audience of like-minded people, and would still like to, but that's another topic
1. I use Instagram (separate accounts for personal and writing, painting), Facebook (currently share new writing and the occasional loose network shout out i.e. apartment hunting). I own a Twitter account but haven't used it since the pandemic. Oh and LinkedIn for work updates. 2. I have contemplated deactivating IG and FB but mostly chose to simply let them mothball. I have wanted to figure out where works for building an audience, but decided the writing practice was most important. 3. I'd recommend Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. I liked the way he suggested to schedule low quality digital down time. Good luck in your process!
- Notes, daily, because I'm bored. Sorry to be mean but it's true, I never use Notes when I have something better to do.
- Cara daily to upload Ambient Geometries pictures
- Instagram almost daily because my wife sends me a lot of Reels there. Recently I've been following more comics than art.
- I check Facebook about once a week to see if anyone's attempting to reach me there. I used to use it semi-frequently out of boredom. I was a latecomer there and only ever joined it to network (semi-successfully)
- Technically I have a LinkedIn account I guess. I'd've forgotten by now if they didn't send so many fucking emails.
2: I want to quit but I feel like you have to be very privileged to these days. In the creative world people network through social media for more than exchange emails, phone numbers, and cards, sadly.
I've always been an information addict / we're all addicted so I'm attached more than I like.
3: I think schools, workplaces, certain venues like movies, concerts, fine dining etc, and more public spaces should have outright cellphone bans. Commercial spaces will struggle with it more than nonprofit or public spaces, but there is some meaningful cohort of consumer who would pay a premium for cellphone-free spaces. If they existed widely I'd bet my wife and I would go all the time, just to detox, without doing the full Kabuki theatre of "a digital detox"
the only social media that aligns with my interest or format is twitter where we engage with people who more intellectually simulating to me than on any other platform.
I use Facebook and LinkedIn. No desire to quit. FB messaging is a good way to communicate with some friends, and LinkedIn offers valuable insights into what many of my former students are doing and following.
1. Currently, LinkedIn and Pinterest and mostly passive (one directional) Patreon, Substack, Reddit.
2. I woke up to the news of Trump being shot, started seeing memes about it, and decided we are in the "Bad Place" and immediately deleted the Instagram app off my phone (previously was a multi-daily user) in order to "reconnect with the good and the green". I have since deactivated my account and am aiming for at least a month away and then a reevaluation, probably a purge of following - I still see its use as an archive and a platform for inspiration, but have definitely seen how I was clinging to false validation and faux connection from it. As a single person who lives alone, there's a great anxiety that I'm missing out or that my opportunities to meet people are limited now, even if the connections I was making before were seldom translating into real life relationships anyway. Similarly, had found myself in some pretty harmful patterns of requiring validation that I was (smart/funny/interesting/hot) on a "quantity over quality" basis, and losing the ability to self efficate these characteristics.
3. Free sites are platforms for advertising, not for actually building community, despite what they say. Their models, algorithms etc are there to support that, and will dangle the required dopamine, validation or connection to keep you there for that. The love of your life is (probably) not one Reel away.
I haven't deleted social media but I have notifications for them all turned off, which really helps. TikTok also doesn't exist where I am and I am forever thankful for that.
Substack is the only social media that I use now, and sometimes reddit- but sparingly. I have no plans to restart my usage of any other social media. Their detriment on my mental health and my lifestyle were profound. I was fixated on marketing my art to no avail, 5 years of content creation and tireless advertising, experimenting with my different marketing avenues on many platforms, I never had any success. Honestly, it made me feel so unseen, unheard, and then I came to the conclusion that it was all useless. Algorithm’s don’t care about talent. They care about trends. They care about whats popular, what has the most likes and who has the biggest following, that is the content they elevate. It is superficial, and it is rigged in favor of sell-out content to trending sounds and trending topics. Not to mention, I was somehow addicted to the platforms, especially twitter. But all I saw on there was conflict, drama, and useless venting and trauma dumping. I came to believe that social media is an ego-riddled cesspool driven by conflict, a popularity contest. You will make the most harmless comment and before you know it some stranger is calling you degrading names and trying to pick a fight simply because they disagree with your opinion. Its toxic. It breeds a lack of empathy.
I have been 5 months clean, and pray that I will never get back into the regular habit. My life has been so much healthier, and my mental health has improved significantly.
*Facebook. Mostly because I have groups there that used to be Yahoo groups (remember those?) for various interests and hobbies. My mother also follows me there, so....
*Instagram. Primary used for friends and family, although I have gotten sucked into long form ads now and then (Need better discipline).
Twitter/X. Mostly for sharing my writing and keeping up with fast changing news and NASCAR when I can't watch a race.
Linked In. Sharing my writing.
Discord. Rarely visit the AI and art groups there
Threads. Rarely, but I still have it.
Substack notes--biggest time consumer of my social media exploits.
I use Facebook and Twitter and have never used anything else.
I've never quit them but I'm thinking it's about time for me to do so.
As someone who's fallen into the trap of "I need to be online to promote my work, build a presence, etc." I really hate it and would prefer to do business/promoting/community building in the real world.
To jumpstart the comments on this, I will share what I shared on Notes. I already shared about when and how and why I quit. These are the ~dozen Social Media platforms I check with some regularity, organized in order of how often they get checked:
1. Instagram - I keep this to read memes from my wife primarily, but always get distracted.
2. Reddit - Local news and niche topics
3. TikTok - Recipes and mindless scrolling
4. Twitter - This used to be networking and audience building but it's now mindless outrage scrolling
5. Substack Notes - Talking shit about writing
6. Warpcast - Just started using this and enjoy it but people on there talk about it as if it's going to implode any minute now
7. Discord - Communities around writing, AI art, drawing and other niche topics
8. Facebook - Seeing what people from high school and my parents' friends are doing
9. LinkedIn - Work, publicizing what we do at work
10. Campfire - Small Bets (entrepreneurship) community
11. Threads - Literally just to open the occasional interesting thread I scroll by on Instagram
12. Circle - Writing communities
...best decision i ever made was killing facebook a decade ago...quiet quitting twitter six months ago...substack might be next on the list sadly the notesification of it all is really trying...
I deleted all my social media in 2018 and stayed off until I started sharing my podcast and writing online in 2022. I really never regretted being offline. Whenever I peeked into the social media world again I was horrified to see what it had turned into. Now I’m like you in that “creating” has made me believe I need to be on social media again. Even though I’ve started to hate Twitter, I *still* think there’s a good way to do it and I should figure it out despite the fact that Substack is active and to be honest I should figure out writing online, launching a couple products ideas first before tweeting. I think a lot of creators online are struggling with the same thing. I wrote a piece “The Creator Consumer Paradox” when I was starting out to help decide if I should jump back in and while I’m thrilled at the community I’ve found online, idk if I’m better off sticking to social media. For writing, I think I’m curious in general about your thoughts here and specifically if you feel the same dilemma about being on social media to “promote” you work or “find creators” vs actually doing the art piece.
This resonates a lot. The dilemma of wanting to do it for creative work but also recognizing that it brings a lot of baggage that’s very difficult to avoid.
Honestly, I've never really understood these social networks. There was a time, around 2010, when I was quite active on Twitter. Back then, it wasn't as bad as it is today. But I guess it depends on the circle of people you follow, those who follow you, the community, and the country. I then deleted my twitter account maybe in 2012 and started a brand new one a little before attending WOP, which I then deleted maybe a year ago, or even more. I also used to have a facebook account, I'd had it for many years but then deactivated it some five years ago as the environment over there was getting dumber and dumber, IMO. Today I'm only on Instagram and Substack, and I check them NOT regularly (I deactivated notifications etc). Many of the others you mention I don't even know what they are lol. I'm also very, very bad at self-promotion. So I guess I'm an atypical SN user.
This is a timely note, Charlie. Amongst writers I care for there's a gradual ebbing of enthusiasm for SocMedia. Publishers love authors active on Twitter / X *et al* because the producers of the 'content' (horrid word!) can generate their own commercial PR / publicity machine. Good or bad.
One writer withdrew from the mindless Twitter and is happier. Why engage with negativity? It's hard enough writing without wasting creative energy on crits or trolls or other creatures who lurk there.
I was on LinkedIn, but its torrent of irrelevant emails put me off. ('Fraid Substack's going the same way. Too many communications?)
While I briefly flirted with FB, it's never been for me.
Everything else, inc. Insta, Tiktok, Snapchat, WhatsApp (?sp) -- zilch. I don't possess a smartphone, so don't participate in the world of apps. (*Is* there a "meaningful cohort who would pay a premium for cellphone-free spaces"? Sign me up!)
I still use texts. Even emails are dwindling. Currently toying with how little I need to put onto a new 'card' -- AND, as my printer's not functioning, even thinking about resurrecting a fountain pen. How last century is that!
I quit Facebook back in 2010 and had basically no social media for over a decade. Around 2019 I started thinking that there would be benefits to being on some platform - seemed like some people found Twitter really useful for business and intellectual pursuits and for meeting people with similar interests.
I finally joined in 2023. I’m glad I spent a long time off social media, but I’m glad I joined Twitter. The worst part is being aware of what “everybody’s talking about” when some juicy story/news/drama goes around (I liked being blissfully ignorant) but I think there are a lot of net positives.
I’ve made some neat connections, and it’s fun trying to express things in brief/creative ways - this is good practice for me.
1. Twitter is the one I check more often, by far. Notes on here maybe once a week, IG and FB mayb 2-4 times a month. No TikTok
2. I've never posted on IG and only opened it because I sometimes need to check restaurants or something utilitarian like that. Don't plan to become active
3. Many, but mainly that I have a love/hate relationship with them. On a positive note, it's the reason it has me here writing this and how I met you (via Twitter -> David Perell -> WoP). The niche I eventually based steered my whole agency towards I found on Twitter (B2B cold email). Plus many other connections and learnings. But I've also wasted countless hours in them and have gotten anxiety from certain posts or rabbit holes it leads me to. The ideal for me would be to have a hard stop after maybe 10min daily on Twitter, but it's relatively easy to get out of hands. In my specific case, it's just like alcohol: moderation would be the ideal, but I find it really easy to overstep.
I've also had many failed attempts at stopping being a lurker and become active and post regularly on them to try and have an audience of like-minded people, and would still like to, but that's another topic
1. I use Instagram (separate accounts for personal and writing, painting), Facebook (currently share new writing and the occasional loose network shout out i.e. apartment hunting). I own a Twitter account but haven't used it since the pandemic. Oh and LinkedIn for work updates. 2. I have contemplated deactivating IG and FB but mostly chose to simply let them mothball. I have wanted to figure out where works for building an audience, but decided the writing practice was most important. 3. I'd recommend Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. I liked the way he suggested to schedule low quality digital down time. Good luck in your process!
1: I use:
- Notes, daily, because I'm bored. Sorry to be mean but it's true, I never use Notes when I have something better to do.
- Cara daily to upload Ambient Geometries pictures
- Instagram almost daily because my wife sends me a lot of Reels there. Recently I've been following more comics than art.
- I check Facebook about once a week to see if anyone's attempting to reach me there. I used to use it semi-frequently out of boredom. I was a latecomer there and only ever joined it to network (semi-successfully)
- Technically I have a LinkedIn account I guess. I'd've forgotten by now if they didn't send so many fucking emails.
2: I want to quit but I feel like you have to be very privileged to these days. In the creative world people network through social media for more than exchange emails, phone numbers, and cards, sadly.
I've always been an information addict / we're all addicted so I'm attached more than I like.
3: I think schools, workplaces, certain venues like movies, concerts, fine dining etc, and more public spaces should have outright cellphone bans. Commercial spaces will struggle with it more than nonprofit or public spaces, but there is some meaningful cohort of consumer who would pay a premium for cellphone-free spaces. If they existed widely I'd bet my wife and I would go all the time, just to detox, without doing the full Kabuki theatre of "a digital detox"
Never used: Snapchat
Quit: Instagram, Linkedln, Facebook (v. old)
Somewhat Active (once a month): Reddit, Substack
Active: Twitter
Why?
the only social media that aligns with my interest or format is twitter where we engage with people who more intellectually simulating to me than on any other platform.
I use Facebook and LinkedIn. No desire to quit. FB messaging is a good way to communicate with some friends, and LinkedIn offers valuable insights into what many of my former students are doing and following.
1. Currently, LinkedIn and Pinterest and mostly passive (one directional) Patreon, Substack, Reddit.
2. I woke up to the news of Trump being shot, started seeing memes about it, and decided we are in the "Bad Place" and immediately deleted the Instagram app off my phone (previously was a multi-daily user) in order to "reconnect with the good and the green". I have since deactivated my account and am aiming for at least a month away and then a reevaluation, probably a purge of following - I still see its use as an archive and a platform for inspiration, but have definitely seen how I was clinging to false validation and faux connection from it. As a single person who lives alone, there's a great anxiety that I'm missing out or that my opportunities to meet people are limited now, even if the connections I was making before were seldom translating into real life relationships anyway. Similarly, had found myself in some pretty harmful patterns of requiring validation that I was (smart/funny/interesting/hot) on a "quantity over quality" basis, and losing the ability to self efficate these characteristics.
3. Free sites are platforms for advertising, not for actually building community, despite what they say. Their models, algorithms etc are there to support that, and will dangle the required dopamine, validation or connection to keep you there for that. The love of your life is (probably) not one Reel away.
I haven't deleted social media but I have notifications for them all turned off, which really helps. TikTok also doesn't exist where I am and I am forever thankful for that.
Substack is the only social media that I use now, and sometimes reddit- but sparingly. I have no plans to restart my usage of any other social media. Their detriment on my mental health and my lifestyle were profound. I was fixated on marketing my art to no avail, 5 years of content creation and tireless advertising, experimenting with my different marketing avenues on many platforms, I never had any success. Honestly, it made me feel so unseen, unheard, and then I came to the conclusion that it was all useless. Algorithm’s don’t care about talent. They care about trends. They care about whats popular, what has the most likes and who has the biggest following, that is the content they elevate. It is superficial, and it is rigged in favor of sell-out content to trending sounds and trending topics. Not to mention, I was somehow addicted to the platforms, especially twitter. But all I saw on there was conflict, drama, and useless venting and trauma dumping. I came to believe that social media is an ego-riddled cesspool driven by conflict, a popularity contest. You will make the most harmless comment and before you know it some stranger is calling you degrading names and trying to pick a fight simply because they disagree with your opinion. Its toxic. It breeds a lack of empathy.
I have been 5 months clean, and pray that I will never get back into the regular habit. My life has been so much healthier, and my mental health has improved significantly.
I have cut way back, but still have accounts on:
*Facebook. Mostly because I have groups there that used to be Yahoo groups (remember those?) for various interests and hobbies. My mother also follows me there, so....
*Instagram. Primary used for friends and family, although I have gotten sucked into long form ads now and then (Need better discipline).
Twitter/X. Mostly for sharing my writing and keeping up with fast changing news and NASCAR when I can't watch a race.
Linked In. Sharing my writing.
Discord. Rarely visit the AI and art groups there
Threads. Rarely, but I still have it.
Substack notes--biggest time consumer of my social media exploits.
I use Facebook and Twitter and have never used anything else.
I've never quit them but I'm thinking it's about time for me to do so.
As someone who's fallen into the trap of "I need to be online to promote my work, build a presence, etc." I really hate it and would prefer to do business/promoting/community building in the real world.