what is Social Media doing to us?

we’ve turned everything in life into a giant popularity contest–everything you say, everything you experience, everything you see, and even everything you feel–is a product of a giant worldwide counter of likes and follows. It’s a planet-wide exercise in objective convergence, a giant narcissism amplifier that cynically assumes that competing for... See more

The metrics don’t excite me. I don’t want ‘followers’ — which I often associate with ‘lurkers’. I much prefer readers, connections and engaged subscribers to my work. I know people with 1 million+ Instagram followers and I believe them when they tell me it doesn’t feel as good as you’d think. It’s a very shallow interaction, it doesn’t do much for... See more

Make art, not content https://t.co/HU4Aydurpp

We know that what we post and consume on social media feels increasingly empty, and yet we are powerless to stop it. Perhaps if we had better language for the problem, it would be easier to solve. “Content begets content,” Eichhorn writes.

Once upon a time, the Internet was predicated on user-generated content. The hope was that ordinary people would take advantage of the Web’s low barrier for publishing to post great things, motivated simply by the joy of open communication. But then ad sales came into play.

That business model is still what most of the Internet relies on today.... See more

And while the outcome of overusing an app on the phone may not look as physically dangerous, what it has done to my attention, self esteem, and zest for life is just as dark as what alcohol did to me.