I think I'm done with traditional social media. I'm one of the few people I know who never had a Facebook account. Well, in a moment of weakness last month, I decided to create an account for Marketplace and reselling. I used the account for a week, didn't post anything though, and just didn't like anything about it. Facebook actually gave me a really bad feeling, like I just shouldn't be there. It was really weird. By the end of the week, I deactivated the account. It just didn't seem worth it and I felt like a sell-out.
The truly strange part was how wrong it felt. I tend to trust my instincts and my instincts told me to get the hell out of there! That's really strange to me. I've never received those sorts of vibes from a social platform or anything internet related.
I know some people love Facebook for sharing family photos and keeping in contact with loved ones. It's a great platform for long-distance friends and relatives. There's certainly nothing wrong with that and I totally get it. I really think these social media companies are getting way to powerful though and I'm more than a little concerned about their ability to control narratives and select what we may or may not see. How anyone abides by that, is incredibly alarming to me.
My one Facebook post read, "Here for Marketplace if we haven't talked in 20-something years, let's keep it that way."
It's a bit cold but truthful. There are very few people from my past I wish to reconnect with. On top of that, I found all kinds of weird stipulations for using Marketplace. I'll stick with Craigslist. I hope it never gets to a point where we have to have one of these social accounts to buy and sell online.
Last night, I decided to deactivate my Twitter account. For some reason, I thought you could delete the account when Jack ran the company. Now that Elon took over, I only saw an option to deactivate the account. Is anyone else getting the feeling like these are nothing more than government spy programs? Why can't I delete my data? Pretty sure Facebook is the same way.
I've had a love-hate relationship with Twitter for a really long time. It was really my first mainstream social media app. The only reason I signed up was for Crypto Twitter. I instantly fell in love with the community. Plus there was a ton of good trading information on there back in 2013 up until around 2017. I think after 2018, the growth of the crypto community brought with it a ton of scammers, bots, and shady people.
The weird thing was that with over 43K followers I've interacted with the same 10 or 15 people for the last couple of years. Rarely would I get a comment or reply from anyone new. My follower counts also hovered between 42K and 45K followers. A couple of times during crypto hype cycles, the account grew to just UNDER 50K. I found that really weird. The account would come super close to 50K then suddenly lose 5K to 10K followers. This kept happening from the start as the account grew in popularity. Definitely strange, and far too coincidental.
The Final Straw
So I quit Twitter several times over the last couple of months. Each time, I'd just check back in when there was something happening in the crypto market. I really use it as a source of crypto news and a way to gauge market sentiment. I'd end up striking up a conversation or two, laugh at a few memes, and start using it daily again. Then get pissed off by all the propaganda in my feed and quit again. Only to return in the next week or so and repeat the entire cycle over again.
Last night, like much of America, I watched Donald Trump give his speech after his indictment hearing or whatever it was. Just shameful, this is going to be a post for another day, probably tomorrow. After his speech, however, I decided to log into Twitter to see what other people thought. I should state right now, I'm an anarchist, I don't really believe in government but politics affect us all and I do like to stay current and up-to-date on things. My point is, I'm NO Trump lover. I think the guy is a bafoon and really bad for our country. He's his own worst enemy, and even if he could be a good president they just won't allow him to succeed. My feelings for Trump aside, I logged into Twitter to see how others felt about the speech. I'll post my thoughts on his indictment tomorrow.
When I logged into Twitter I was shocked to see EVERY SINGLE POST being anti-Trump. Pro arrest. There was one post the algo missed that talked about what a dangerous precedent this was setting. ONE POST... Everything else was extremely negative, nothing positive, and just a massive echo chamber.
Seriously, I wasn't looking for people to agree or disagree with my opinions and thoughts. What I was looking for was a balance of opinions. Twitter was a very PRO-MAGA platform for a really long time. Many of my followers were MAGA people. Maybe they all left the platform, I can't say, I rarely use Twitter for politics. I do know the last time I checked Twitter for politics it wasn't anywhere near as one-sided as what I witnessed last night.
Keep in mind, this is the front-runner for the Republican party. He still has a ton of supporters in this country. What bothered me, wasn't all the negativity but the fact that there was nothing else. This just isn't possible. It was at that moment that I said, "I'm done" and then went into settings and clicked the deactivate button. It wasn't about the stance, it was about everyone having THE EXACT SAME STANCE in the thread I was looking at and no alternative points of view AT ALL. Not what I signed up for. NOT TO MENTION, THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!
Danger
So many people rely on social media for news and to keep current. I have a huge problem with censorship and an even bigger problem with propaganda, data manipulation, and narrative manipulation. The idea that a social media company can control the narrative is outrageous to me. The idea that some people are OK with this is even more horrifying. I can no longer participate. In some ways, I think the manipulation of Covid posts was a test run for future narrative control and censorship.
Covid was actually when I first realized how manipulated narratives were on social media sites. Until then, I assumed it was all conspiracy theories. I just can't participate anymore. I really hope everyone comes to their senses soon and walks away from these social platforms. They farm our data, spy on us, share it with governments around the world, and sell the data to the highest bidders for profit.
The irony is, it looks like people will soon begin paying for the privilege of having their data and political narratives manipulated for them. I don't get it... We have alternatives like Hive that allow us to speak freely. Instead of selling our data, we're rewarded in crypto. Yet, people would rather pay a faceless corporation owned by one of the world's wealthiest men, rather than post somewhere that rewards them for their content and allows them to say pretty much whatever they want.
I'm never going to understand the current times we're living in. I have an Instagram page for my Tarot site. Besides that, I think I'm done with Youtube too. I'm going to try and focus entirely on Hive-centric social media like #SoMee, #DBuzz, #LeoThreads, and Peakd.
It's time to walk away from these mainstream social manipulators. Frankly, I think they're doing way more harm than good!
Oooh have never been much of a tweeter although I did set up an account a good while back. I still have a facebook account but am not a regular poster. I guess that leaves Hive for me, that's about as social as I get these days lol.
It is disheartening to know that those tightly controlled social platforms show you only what they want you to see. So much bias in today's world. I agree with your closing statement. More harm than good is putting it nicely.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
That's my plan, spend all my social time on Hive-centric platforms. I like the community here better anyway.
I've actually gone off on modern social media in earlier Hive posts. It's the scourge of our times IMHO. 🤣
I've gone off Twitter, but still check in now and again for things like HiveChat. I really don't see anything much about Tr*mp, but it may depend on who you follow. He can go to jail for all I care. As for Musk, he's another egotistical idiot.
I use Facebook, but for specific groups I need to stay in touch with. At least some of my musician friends have come to Hive. I have bought and sold via the Marketplace. Craigslist is not big here and I need somewhere I can reach a decent number of people as well as finding stuff near me that I want to buy.
I think with any corporate social media you should not give them any more than you need to. I don't click on their ads and share hardly any personal information. I am pragmatic about services I use.
Ultimately your sanity is the most important thing, so do what works for you.
I really liked Marketplace, but just couldn't justify keeping the account just for that.
Absolutely. Totally agree. I can't believe the information people share on social media platforms. My mom's on Facebook and the public fighting is kind of funny too. I could never air my dirty laundry in public like that. 🤣
I really wonder how much of the mental health crisis happening right now is directly associated with heavy social media use. I'm sure an in-depth study will surface sooner or later telling us how damaging a lot of it is to society.
I agree though, different uses for different people, and as long as it's not affecting your happiness and you're enjoying it, then by all means, go for it!
I agree with you that social media such as Facebook and Twitter take advantage of our information without using it usefully, however, we still use it to attract people to Hive and tell them about its benefits, compared to traditional social media.
!PIZZA
I know. That's really the only reason I didn't deactivate sooner (Hive Promotion). Now I wish I could have deleted the account when I had the chance. I was just tired of adding to their user count.
Unfortunately, I got way more engagement on Twitter and would end up spending far too much time there and less time here. I'll promote Hive on my Instagram account, until Insta does something to annoy me. 🤣 I also have my Youtubes and can promote Hive there as well.
Twitter is great for promoting Hive though and I did a lot of Hive promotions there.
!BEER
!LUV
@the-bitcoin-dood, @cryptohaytham(1/1) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community |
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BEER.Twitter did the favor of deactivating mine for me back in 2017... I have one now... but just for operations I don't tweet or anything on it.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I never had any problems with getting deactivated or banned. I may have been shadow banned though. Which, frankly I'd rather just get canceled or deactivated instead of wasting my time with posts nobody sees.
That's another reason I deactivated the account though. I don't want to post somewhere where everything is offensive and I have to watch every word I say. I can't believe some of the things I was reported for.
I won't self-censor to appease some ridiculous "woke corporate agenda". I respect others, but I also say what's on my mind. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but I don't expect to be canceled for saying what's on my mind either.
Yes, exactly... it's better to get out now. It will only become worse...
I actually cannot argue with you. Between getting censored and harassed on social media it just really ended up being way too much fun to delete. I am 24 hours without Facebook and I'm actually really happy. There is a lot of really stressed egotistical people on Facebook and I'm way too happy learning about blockchain and compounding the different revenue streams here on blockchain... Diesel pool investments and hanging out with friends of mine.,.
I actually teach a really important three-stage class that really helps a lot of people out and they found a massive amount of value in it as well as also helping them learn how to make more with the finances we already receive. It's easiest for me to do it on voice chat in discord.
You deserve a vote!
Yes, it can be fun at times. I've often trolled and commented on threads just to get a rise out of people from time to time.
Congratulations. Not many people can or will walk away from these platforms.
I barely use Discord anymore but may start again. It's a good way to connect with like-minded people. I may have to start another server just to keep in touch... I probably should have thought about that before I deactivated my Twitter account. There are a few people there that I'll really miss.
Always appreciated and thank you for both the upvote and the awesome comment!
Yeah a lot of us have communities are here on discord and have rooms. Decentralized finance it is really cool to go to a discord room and let people know you're having problems. They can fix it or tell you that you aren't crazy or doing things wrong and things are down for a bit.
Incredible the tools we have to connect worldwide with hive and technology.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@cryptohaytham(1/5) tipped @the-bitcoin-dood
ahhhhh, Trump and twitter.. what a great match! :P
TrumpTwitter is hysterical. Political Twitter used to be fun too. Something has changed though.
Exactly the same feeling in my guts every 5 or 6 times I've created an account for FB and deleting it after that :)
it was just some sentiment to communicate with my older friends and relatives...
never worked and became worst and even horrible :)
FB is a bug, virus, a glitch in the matrix :)
i still keep the twitter without a reason... will quit soon too!
LOL, yes it is. Great way to keep in contact with old friends, outside of that, I just don't get it.
It took a lot for me to walk away. It's something I wanted to do for a really long time though. When it feels right, just go for it. It already feels like a bit of a mental health break for me though. Glad I did it.
If I'm being honest, I miss it a little, but I think it's more of a habit that I miss rather than the actual use of the platform. It just feels odd not checking in every hour or so after you've done it for the last several years 🙃
now i check hive every hour :) and alsoo freebit.co.in :D
Same here. It's just better here though. Community, content, atmosphere. Everything is better on HIVE!
absolute truth! ;)