I hesitated to answer the poll because I don't feel I have a straightforward 'Yes' or 'No' answer. I think the answer is that it's been bad for my productivity and physical health and sometimes my mental health as a consequence. I spend much less time on social media than I used to, so I suspect it no longer has much of an impact but the more I think about the more sure I am that even now it heightens my mental tension. I often find myself on WhatsApp or Facebook before I've got out of bed and that means I could have been stretching/meditating/doing yoga or centering myself, my goals, my responsibilities, my children's needs in that half-an-hour - so yes, what I LOSE by giving my attention to social media exceeds what I gain. Like sugar or caffeine or opiods, social media should be used sparingly and intentionally, if at all.
Question for you Samia and anyone else who might be interested, would you say Substack Notes is a form of social media? I would say 'Yes.' If not, why not?
I think the analogy to sugar is so apt. It gives that same rush, dopamine boost, crash; it can feel good in the short term but be detrimental in excess and over the long term.
And the cost of using it is the opportunity cost you mention: all the real world embodiment and interaction that doesn’t happen instead.
I’m wary of Substack’s similar effects. The Notes, the hearts, etc. - it does feel similar. The “content” also, with video and images, seems to be moving in that direction.
All platforms I think face this pressure to sustain growth and a bottom line, which drives constant new “tools”.
Cory Doctorow, who also puts his work on ??Pluralistic so people can read it via RSS feeds and not social media, refers to this progression from ‘service’ to monetisation at the expense of true value to the customer as ‘the enshittification’ of the platform. Let’s hope Substack does not succumb!
You are so right about how the app has helped so many small businesses establish themselves without having to do much. I loved the pre reels era of instagram where I didn’t have many known people/friends on my list. I did have a personal account which I quickly deleted and focused on my business page. However as time passed especially during Covid, a lot of known faces started following and I followed back. The business page became more like a personal page slowly even without realizing and became super addictive.
With everything we use there’s a negative and a positive and like you said it’s about intention… why are you on Instagram? Just like the creator, I think the viewer should also ask the same question… why am I on here? I have made it an objective and a clear standard that I do not spend more than 1 a week on Instagram, I refuse to use it to socialize with people for the same reason that you said it’s an avatar, and the exploration or following of small business or Muslim business. This objective has helped me eliminate so much of what I use to struggle with before
Yep- I agree! Intentional posting and intentional consumption (basically, the opposite of doomscrolling). It's tough because the app is intentionally designed to deviate you from that intention.
I’m a geriatric millennial too; I hate instagram but I admire how well small businesses use it to grow their customers so reluctantly I’m on it. I also really like seeing how my life changed through these little pictures. I read in a book that Facebook is bad for marriage, and I’d guess all social media is bad for marriage. A divorce attorney wrote a book How to stay in love ; he said how Facebook was the reason so many people end up in his office!
💯 agree with whatever you said!
I hesitated to answer the poll because I don't feel I have a straightforward 'Yes' or 'No' answer. I think the answer is that it's been bad for my productivity and physical health and sometimes my mental health as a consequence. I spend much less time on social media than I used to, so I suspect it no longer has much of an impact but the more I think about the more sure I am that even now it heightens my mental tension. I often find myself on WhatsApp or Facebook before I've got out of bed and that means I could have been stretching/meditating/doing yoga or centering myself, my goals, my responsibilities, my children's needs in that half-an-hour - so yes, what I LOSE by giving my attention to social media exceeds what I gain. Like sugar or caffeine or opiods, social media should be used sparingly and intentionally, if at all.
Question for you Samia and anyone else who might be interested, would you say Substack Notes is a form of social media? I would say 'Yes.' If not, why not?
I think the analogy to sugar is so apt. It gives that same rush, dopamine boost, crash; it can feel good in the short term but be detrimental in excess and over the long term.
And the cost of using it is the opportunity cost you mention: all the real world embodiment and interaction that doesn’t happen instead.
I’m wary of Substack’s similar effects. The Notes, the hearts, etc. - it does feel similar. The “content” also, with video and images, seems to be moving in that direction.
All platforms I think face this pressure to sustain growth and a bottom line, which drives constant new “tools”.
Cory Doctorow, who also puts his work on ??Pluralistic so people can read it via RSS feeds and not social media, refers to this progression from ‘service’ to monetisation at the expense of true value to the customer as ‘the enshittification’ of the platform. Let’s hope Substack does not succumb!
You are so right about how the app has helped so many small businesses establish themselves without having to do much. I loved the pre reels era of instagram where I didn’t have many known people/friends on my list. I did have a personal account which I quickly deleted and focused on my business page. However as time passed especially during Covid, a lot of known faces started following and I followed back. The business page became more like a personal page slowly even without realizing and became super addictive.
With everything we use there’s a negative and a positive and like you said it’s about intention… why are you on Instagram? Just like the creator, I think the viewer should also ask the same question… why am I on here? I have made it an objective and a clear standard that I do not spend more than 1 a week on Instagram, I refuse to use it to socialize with people for the same reason that you said it’s an avatar, and the exploration or following of small business or Muslim business. This objective has helped me eliminate so much of what I use to struggle with before
Yep- I agree! Intentional posting and intentional consumption (basically, the opposite of doomscrolling). It's tough because the app is intentionally designed to deviate you from that intention.
I do think instagram it's very helpful for my book marketing, but I do love taking a break because it gets to be too much.
I’m a geriatric millennial too; I hate instagram but I admire how well small businesses use it to grow their customers so reluctantly I’m on it. I also really like seeing how my life changed through these little pictures. I read in a book that Facebook is bad for marriage, and I’d guess all social media is bad for marriage. A divorce attorney wrote a book How to stay in love ; he said how Facebook was the reason so many people end up in his office!