Another Social Media Detox Post.

I think we as a culture have evolved past the "I'm taking a healing break from social media" social media post. As cathartic as it feels to write one, they are universally corny to read. We get it; you're acknowledging and this poison we're all ingesting. How about you leave quicker and more quietly so the rest of us can mindlessly sip in peace?

You know the scene from some movie with a tourist in a foreign place. The flash goes pop, the person from the "primitive" culture wigs out. They believe the camera is a device that steals souls. What if they are right? But it instead of the soul imprisoned in one flash, it is gradually lost over a prolonged, constant exposure to the camera we point at ourselves?

Is there something there? Somebody else must have covered this already.

Addiction is a strong word. But what else is this, when I'm scrolling the Discover page on Instagram, disliking literally 100% of the content I'm being fed, muttering "I don't like this" out loud, and not stopping myself?

There's a discover page on the YouTube iPhone app called Shorts. It's the TikTok copycat feature. When I'm in a braindead oblivion loop of switching apps to scroll, I know I've hit rock bottom when I'm scrolling YouTube Shorts. I don't know about you, but despite my watching habits and history, here are the names and faces that show up in my Shorts feed: Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Joe Rogan, Elon Musk and Paulie Walnuts from the Sopranos. I guess this is YouTube's way of keeping me hooked with displeasing content, like how right-leaning and conspiracy theory content hooked millions of men my age before they banned a bunch of those types of channels. It's interesting not only that YouTube willingly feeds vinegar to upset and keep people hooked rather than honey to keep them entertained, but that I am cognisant of this and yet I still allow myself to curl up on the couch for their shitty vinegar, daily.

Hey so yeah. It's dinner time. See ya round, probably on Instagram sooner or later. But here's me deleting the app again. It's good for ya.