Why you won’t find me on social media anymore

I recently made the choice to delete my Instagram accounts, after deleting my Facebook a few years ago. It was honestly pretty hard to do, but I’m glad I did.

Here is why I did, and why I hope you’ll at least consider opting out as well:

It’s no secret that the world is moving too fast now, that things feel out of control, and that this is due in large part to the internet, and more specifically, social media. But social media would have no power if not for our continued engagement with it, which is, actually, a choice, even though it has come to feel like a duty.

Beyond that, I am tired of our collective attention being used to generate income for people and systems that are responsible for other people’s pain and suffering. I want to embrace my agency while I still can. 

The older I’ve gotten, the more I have recognized the importance of thoughtful attention, texture, and space. Basically, maintaining a clear connection to the things that make me feel human and alive. But by its very design, social media flattens all of these values until everything becomes a single, frictionless, blur; it flattens and dilutes the freckles and bumps and weird connections of life into marketable units. It isolates us by turning up the volume, making real reflection difficult. It treats each of us as no more than the sum of our parts.

Inspired by Jenny Odell, I had tried previously to “refuse the terms of the question,” and find a third way to engage with my work account:

This grid message allowed me to “connect” with people without feeding the machine my attention. But once I decided to delete my personal account, it felt hypocritical to keep even a half-presence up. It felt like I was saying: I don’t want any chocolate cake because it’s bad for me, but here, you go ahead and eat the whole thing!

So, both accounts had to go. It’s early days, and I obviously still use the internet and a smartphone, but I think small, mindful choices over time do matter. They’re part of what make us human.

I’m hopeful that this particular small choice will create a bit more space and quiet in my life where deeper thought and experience can grow. And I hope that you will find your own small ways to resist the flattening and isolation of our present moment in history.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for considering.