How Cancelling Social Media was the Best Thing

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For a long time, I tried with social media. I spent years with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (or X as it is now), and LinkedIn. I have tried other platforms, but I just don’t ‘get’ social media. I had thousands of followers, I got likes, shares, emojis of smiling faces, hearts, clapping hands, thumbs up, but somehow it never felt right for me.

I thought I had to ‘do’ social media as a writer. Fellow writers recommended I go on Facebook at least, so I did. Many people I met said I should be on Instagram, X, TikTok Tok and other platforms. I was asked to share my social media platforms by people I work with, friends I met at gigs or meetings, and of course, I absolutely must share articles, my books, and more on the socials. It is what you do, isn’t it?

I was sucked in. I set up accounts. I began to plan my pictures and take them because I thought they would look good on Instagram, for people I didn’t know, and I was drawn into the getting-likes thing. Then things began to change with premium accounts and paid subscriptions to platforms that had always been free, and it dawned on me how these things work. We are numbers, my ‘followers’ are numbers, even my ‘friends’ on social media are numbers. And we are potential buyers, clients, and cash cows.