I am removing most of what I have posted on social media. Here is why.
Enjoying Moments for what they are rather than the potential of a reaction.
The truth is, when I post to social media, I am hoping for a response. Most of us are. We want people to see what we are up to and in some way, we also desire their reactions. I often found myself getting worked up about making sure the image was just right and the caption was somewhere between witty and a humble brag. That’s not how I act in person with people who I care about and not what I want as part of a digital life feed.
I desire to enjoy the moments of my life with the people I care about. Taking that shared experience and posting it online out of a desire to get reactions from others turns that shared experience into something it never intended to be. Shared experiences should be sacred and remain that way.
People mostly don’t care, and why should they?
I found myself getting frustrated when I shared something I thought was neat and it received little to no response.
Why was I getting frustrated? Does the fact that I posted it to social media mean that those who follow me are somehow contractually obligated to reply? Why should I expect them to engage with my post? Is this post providing them some sort of value? Or is it informing them of a moment they didn’t get to take part in?
The fact is that most people are busy and are caught up in the workings of their own lives. Why should they stop what they are doing to appreciate something I posted to social media? Why should I in turn do the same thing for them?
My Photos Don’t Need to be Public
As a photographer, I am going to take pictures. I love capturing moments as they happen. I will share these photos with the people who were there or with family, privately. That doesn’t need to be public. If someone asks about something such as a recent vacation, we can look at the photos together on my phone creating a new personal experience together.
The Algorithm Doesn’t Rule Me
Whether I am posting content or consuming it, I am fighting an algorithm. This algorithm has one job which is to keep me on the platform longer. Whether it is rewarding me just enough to keep posting or guiding me deeper down a topical rabbit hole, it is in charge.
We live in the era of recommendation engines and AI guiding our decision-making, but I want to limit this as much as possible. Following where the algorithm leads me will simply narrow my point of view. In face-to-face conversation, we share our opinions and ideas and are presented with new opinions and ideas from the person we are talking with. The algorithm will lead us to new opinions and ideas but only to keep us scrolling longer. If it feels we are losing interest in a topic it will start to shift to another topic. I don’t want to be fed information like this. It is unnatural and likely harmful.
Why Remove Everything?
I am removing most of what I posted to social media because it serves no purpose to be there. If I leave it there I will feel the need to post something new. If there is nothing there, the pull to post to it is gone. I may be back on some of these platforms one day, but when I do return to them, it will be with a purpose for posting and not just to publicly share the fortunate moments from my life.
Why Share This?
If I am pulling back from publishing content online, why even post this on my website? I own my website. This is a platform I control and it’s simply a publishing platform. No feeds or algorithms are trying to figure out what to serve you up next. It’s simply an article.
I do not desire to disappear. I will continue to publish content on the web, but that content has to have a purpose and provide value.
