Great piece it really resonated with me. I actually had to force myself to delete all my social media (does substack count?). Sometimes feels like I’ve missed out on things but it’s done wonders for my mental health. Enjoyed going back to just winging it and discovering things without feeling the need to be completely plugged in to everything
I’ve been off of everything besides Substack for 18 months. Life is just fine without it, and I don’t get pissed anymore when one of my kids asks me a question while doomscrolling.
Yes to all of this. Spend a weekend slowly reading the Weekend FT, talking to people in the flesh, and maybe attending some sort of art/music/communal event and you just might be astonished at how revitalized you feel.
Sir Winston my hero, without whom I wouldn’t be here today, as I’m a Jew never said that The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. But it’s true. Ben Hunt quotes Yeats and the Widening Gyre…
Facebook and Instagram shows the highlights of people’s lives while we all truly live behind the scenes.
…and because people don’t see your reaction to posts, people say things so painful because they don’t see your reaction. They are indirectly sociopaths.
And the algorithms know anger and hate generates more doom scrolling (and more revenue) than happiness and love (creating the dystopian world instead of Utopian)
I’m never on Facebook anymore. I only use Twitter “followers” and not “for you”
I’m in financial discord’s mostly and I realize today that it is a time kill. I’m going to try to put it down and live more. Time is not guaranteed… I can’t be wasting it… especially looking at other peoples highlights.
If I can make one recommendation… use an ad blocker so ads that you click don’t bombard your feed (I use ad blocker plus on chrome and DuckDuckGo for web searches…
And lastly “sure… I believe you were getting that ‘underwear’ for ‘your brother’” ;)
When Facebook first came out, I opened an account, logged in, and looked around for maybe 20-30 minutes. I had a clear feeling that this was not a healthy environment for me, and I have never gone back. And I do not have accounts on Twitter/X, Instagram, TicToc, or any other of the common social media pages.
I do watch a few podcasts on YouTube, and I usually listen to music there for an hour or so before going to bed, but I try to personally curate what I watch, seeking podcasts where contention is minimized, and the speakers are at least trying to express what is really going on.
Should others follow my example? That is up to them, but I suspect that many of them would be happier and less stressed.
For an old dude like me, the Internets have been f*cking fantastic ... long way from three B&W channels, no remote, one phone on kitchen wall, and so little info easily available. But for the kids here in the neighborhood, worse than the flash-forward scenes in the first Terminator movie. (For starters, THEY DON'T READ.)
Well said, Jared. I've been on Twitter (X) since 2008, using my real name and photo as you do. If everyone had to do the same, the tone would change. I've gone "viral" just a few times, always accidentally. I made a harmless comment about China, and the knives came out...clearly the CCP is monitoring this stuff. Recently, a Tweet/Post was picked up by a politician and retweeted....phone blew up...it was not even a political post. I'm sensible but also careful.
Very thought provoking and I applaud your effort. One thing though, “profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate”. I wish more people would drop the F bomb, and expand their vocabulary to words that are more descriptive. I thought you had an MA. Did you have F bombs in your thesis? Both you and your audience, which has included me for years, are deserving of better. Nevertheless, it’s a very good article.
Thought provoking as usual. Thanks Jared.
Great piece it really resonated with me. I actually had to force myself to delete all my social media (does substack count?). Sometimes feels like I’ve missed out on things but it’s done wonders for my mental health. Enjoyed going back to just winging it and discovering things without feeling the need to be completely plugged in to everything
I’ve been off of everything besides Substack for 18 months. Life is just fine without it, and I don’t get pissed anymore when one of my kids asks me a question while doomscrolling.
Yes to all of this. Spend a weekend slowly reading the Weekend FT, talking to people in the flesh, and maybe attending some sort of art/music/communal event and you just might be astonished at how revitalized you feel.
Spot on.
You’re Fxxxing hilarious! Keep going Jared!
Interesting connection between the social media plague and consumer confidence. hadn't thought about that before, but it makes sense.
What a great read!
Sir Winston my hero, without whom I wouldn’t be here today, as I’m a Jew never said that The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. But it’s true. Ben Hunt quotes Yeats and the Widening Gyre…
Facebook and Instagram shows the highlights of people’s lives while we all truly live behind the scenes.
…and because people don’t see your reaction to posts, people say things so painful because they don’t see your reaction. They are indirectly sociopaths.
And the algorithms know anger and hate generates more doom scrolling (and more revenue) than happiness and love (creating the dystopian world instead of Utopian)
I’m never on Facebook anymore. I only use Twitter “followers” and not “for you”
I’m in financial discord’s mostly and I realize today that it is a time kill. I’m going to try to put it down and live more. Time is not guaranteed… I can’t be wasting it… especially looking at other peoples highlights.
If I can make one recommendation… use an ad blocker so ads that you click don’t bombard your feed (I use ad blocker plus on chrome and DuckDuckGo for web searches…
And lastly “sure… I believe you were getting that ‘underwear’ for ‘your brother’” ;)
When Facebook first came out, I opened an account, logged in, and looked around for maybe 20-30 minutes. I had a clear feeling that this was not a healthy environment for me, and I have never gone back. And I do not have accounts on Twitter/X, Instagram, TicToc, or any other of the common social media pages.
I do watch a few podcasts on YouTube, and I usually listen to music there for an hour or so before going to bed, but I try to personally curate what I watch, seeking podcasts where contention is minimized, and the speakers are at least trying to express what is really going on.
Should others follow my example? That is up to them, but I suspect that many of them would be happier and less stressed.
Well said as always, thanks.
For an old dude like me, the Internets have been f*cking fantastic ... long way from three B&W channels, no remote, one phone on kitchen wall, and so little info easily available. But for the kids here in the neighborhood, worse than the flash-forward scenes in the first Terminator movie. (For starters, THEY DON'T READ.)
Well said, Jared. I've been on Twitter (X) since 2008, using my real name and photo as you do. If everyone had to do the same, the tone would change. I've gone "viral" just a few times, always accidentally. I made a harmless comment about China, and the knives came out...clearly the CCP is monitoring this stuff. Recently, a Tweet/Post was picked up by a politician and retweeted....phone blew up...it was not even a political post. I'm sensible but also careful.
I started seeing male underwear ads on Facebook immediately after reading this!!
You OK over there, Jared?
Great insight and I do agree that doom scrolling is an imagination sucking activity.
I'm building a new experimental ideas and values based social network to solve exactly this problem. Would love your thoughts if you get time
Very thought provoking and I applaud your effort. One thing though, “profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate”. I wish more people would drop the F bomb, and expand their vocabulary to words that are more descriptive. I thought you had an MA. Did you have F bombs in your thesis? Both you and your audience, which has included me for years, are deserving of better. Nevertheless, it’s a very good article.