Why Does Social Media Suck Now?

I can't believe I've been online in some capacity for about 15 years. I started off with a completely private account on MySpace (maybe even MyYearbook, does anyone remember that one??) where I wrote poetry and ranked my top 8 almost everyday like a cut-throat menace. I've seen social media sites come and go in popularity, change their internal structures, and had fun every step of the way, but something has changed... why isn't social media as fun as it used to be? Am I getting too old for it? Is it the influencers? And can I really have fun online again?

I Blamed Myself

When confronting my decline in satisfaction with social media post-COVID, I had blamed myself.

I had entered my late 20's/early 30's and thought 'maybe this is just growing up'-- you no longer enjoy the things you once enjoyed and take on "more mature" hobbies like checking your blood pressure and pushing some insane agenda about your chosen way to stay fit like CrossFit or hiking or Zumba or something, but the thing is, I've never been more interested in my childhood hobbies than now.

As a kid, I was crazy creative. Like I was always creating, imagining, and formulating something. From short stories and plays, dance routines and raps (yes-- I used to rap!), drawing fashion designs and sewing for my Bratz dolls, hair, makeup, anything I could get my hands on. Creating was my whole being and sharing them with my friends and family gave me so much satisfaction. When I was finally allowed to post pictures of myself online (per my parent's permission), it was like my own personal spotlight! 3 people liked my art?! And we're talking about it?! Not about me though-- that's too personal, but about what I created!! My own online gallery that I didn't have to prove my worth to get admitted into-- which for the only black girl in an all white area, not having to prove myself somewhere was a BIG deal.

Bringing it back to now, I am more creative than ever and I want to share it, talk about it, and have connections with others who see the world in the same way I do. All these things that bought artists online in the first place! I didn't "grow out of" it-- "it" has just changed and changed so much that these goals are harder to achieve. "It" grew out of me.

Why Does Social Media Suck Now?

Where do I even begin... *insert bombastic eyeroll*

Just kidding!!!

But honestly? Seeing fellow artists express their grievances about the social media climate does remind me that my sentiments aren't exactly solitary and are shared en masse.

Whether it's "influencers" (an apparently dirty word for somebody who influences others which sure, could be annoying, could be bad, but can also be good? and is a very valid way to make a living...), or the greediness that is consumer culture and everyone's prioritization of that, or maybe it's because you never see your friends or those you actually want to see on your feed. We can all agree that something about these online spaces has changed, the vibes are off, and they're generally unenjoyable.

Well let me contradict myself a bit here and say yes-- we did change a bit. We evolved with an ever changing landscape which in a lot of ways can be good! We all learned skills that were typically reserved for those who could afford to get a marketing or business degree and learned the art of communicating with many. All these great skills which were necessary in a digital, social world! And while these apps encouraged that learning, it also subliminally steered us away from our core reasons for joining these new spaces in the first place.

Social media has now become a space prioritizing sales, advertisements, and trends, deprioritizing the space for us to simply share, connect, and move on living life in the physical.

And before anyone gets up in arms about it, let me say, it's okay if your personal goal is sales! It's okay if your personal goal is working with brands! These are all valid and fine, but when you wonder what happened to social media, that's it!!! It's because it was optimized for those who prioritize trends, ads, and sales when in the past it wasn't like that because that demand and climate simply hadn't existed yet.

So what do those of us who don't care about prioritizing those things do?

Own Your Shit.

I'm not gonna tell you what to do, but my advice and what I've personally decided to do was to give myself my old reason back, own my shit, and stop caring/relying on algorithms to care about me.

When I recently evaluated my values, I realized my top 3 are: freedom, creativity, and self expression and when I think of my frustration with social media, I realized it's because they inherently infringe on my ability to post in accordance to these values. Censorship of normal words such as "suicide" and "sex", a little extra cheek can get me banned because I'm not a cute skinny, white girl, and even if I follow these rules, I get buried anyway because of my complete disregard of pop culture and what's en vogue because I like to live on the fringes. All of these things keep me minimized and boxed in online and instead of creating for my own enjoyment and then being able to share those creations with others, I have to create with the apps in mind, thinking about ratios, AI scanners, and what picture people will prefer to see first in a dumb ass carousel.

And I'm defiant enough to just not do it.

I created "byAnjuli" as an extension of myself. This is a dedicate space to post and share whatever the fuck I want with no niches, no trends (unless I just so happen to enjoy something trendy), and no censorship. It's all me just like social media used to be. A full expression of the self-- not some billboard, ad-friendly, button shirt version.

And I think you should do the same.

Own your shit so you can post and do and exist online however the hell you want. Use more than 150 characters! Post a good boob day! Share your latest sewing project that you care about! Have a space that's all yours so that when you do post on socials, you understand your role there. It's okay if it's some flop of a post or some overly sanitized bullshit because your real shit? Your good shit? It's on your dot com.

Compromise.

Let's Wrap It Up.

At the end of the day, do what you need to do for you. As an artist, as Anjuli, I love being online. I have since I was a petty, lonely 13 year old. I'm just tired of fighting for a space that has grown from me. I'd rather honor it's growth and create a space that fits me where I'm at now-- like my site.

Tell me what you think... did I hit the nail on the head? Do you think there's a better solution? I'd genuinely love to hear from you!!

And until next time...