Infinite Scroll

The infinite scroll and “likes” are a powerful drug. Twitter and Instagram were my drug of choice. I did not post much, but I scrolled a lot. I followed news and other personal interests like web development. Social media was and still is one of the best ways I know to stay at the leading edge of the conversation on most topics. I had my feed curated with people I trusted. And the algorithm added a mix of interesting content. With the criticism of social media currently it’s important to admit that it’s amazing at doing some useful things.

It comes at a great cost. For me that cost is too high. I am not speaking for others, and I am not preaching to anyone. Books have been written about it by experts smarter than me. But I could not handle the drug. I would get in bed exhausted, pick up my phone, and suddenly I’ve been scrolling for 2 hours. I had to delete the apps from my phone. I could not limit it. Just opening Instagram would suck me in. The good did not outweigh the bad.

I rarely posted. I had maybe a dozen friends and acquaintances who followed me. When I did post I did not expect any response, but then I might get a notification one person liked the post. For the rest of the day, I would check 50 times to see if anyone else reacted. The power a few random people had to validate or condemn me with a click or comment bothered me.

That is part of the reason I started writing here, with nobody following me, and no comments. Writing helps me think. Taking a small idea and trying to communicate it succinctly is good exercise for my brain. Knowing it might be read by someone raises the bar just enough to force me to write well (within my ability). And I do want to leave some ideas written down for the one or two people who may someday read them. I do not care what random people think though, so I do not post on social media and invite them to give drive by input.