I loath social media. I wish I could delete it all. I wish I could trash my phone. I wish I possessed the willpower to do this. It’s all mindless chatter. Oversaturated stimulation. Platitudes. It makes society a bunch of dopamine junkies. Chasing the next headline, the next byte of novelty, the next arousing image
Instead of learning to be with ourselves, and quiet our mind, gain self awareness, we manically try to sooth our angst with more stimulation, like a strung out addict. We distract ourselves with clicks and scrolls. Unconsciously opening ourselves up to being programmed by the algorithms, by the sea of popular information selected to hook our attention, and rob us of mindfulness.
There’s no easy solution to this modern problem. Phones are ubiquitous. Our scheduling and billing and communication all taking place on this portal, reflecting back the tastes and desires that resonate with our biases. An echo chamber in the palm of your hand. A cognitive tax on your well being. Every moment on social media is a credit you’ll never get back. We rationalize the utility of information, of spending these credits, on apps and podcasts and websites. We justify spending moments fixated on feeds and nuggets of novelty. We celebrate quantity over quality. Give me more and more and more and more stimulus. And we become less and less and less of ourselves, and more and more of everyone else.
The internet has turned into cable television. Junk food.
It’s just too interconnected. It brings you back to the same spheres and feeds.
There are a handful of platforms where 90% of all attention is spent on the web. All the content links to them.
I think there is much more utility not being on the internet, than being on the internet/social media.
It’s almost impossible to stay individuated. Everything is siloed.
William Dare 