I have been thinking about quitting for several months. I even went offline for a few months last year. Several friends said they liked to see my travel posts. I have been influenced by all the talk about the downside of social media. I kept using it to see photos of my siblings’ children more than any other reason. There was also an element of the FOMO (the fear of missing out). But when I truly analyzed what I was seeing in my feed, I realized I could let it go. The last straw was Facebook’s refusal to take down the altered video of the Speaker of the House which made it appear that she was impaired.
This quote by Nick Srnicek, the author of Platform Capitalism says it best.
Despite the companies’ best efforts to convince us otherwise, we don’t need social media for all the things we’re told we need it for. We don’t need social media to make friends or build relationships. We don’t need it to become active or engaged in politics. We don’t need it to explore our cities or find new things to do. We don’t need it to hail a cab or catch a bus or fly on a plane. We don’t need it to hear new music or read new books. We don’t need it to do our shopping. We don’t need it to develop or discover subcultures or like-minded groups or to appreciate good design. We don’t need it to plan our lives. And we don’t need it to understand the world.
Cal Newport’s new book, Digital Minimalism is another influence on my decision. I read his book Deep Work last year where he “proposes the idea that we have lost our ability to focus deeply and immerse ourselves in a complex task.”
I even ask myself if I should stop blogging after 11 years. But I am not ready to give that up even if very few people read it. It is interesting to see what I was willing to write about over the years.