[shark1]

I have a theory: what was scarce once, is not anymore.

Social networks make people tired/satisfied/overwhelmed of "interacting online", and in the worst possible way: passively, not producing anything and just consuming it.

It sucks.

[conductr]

The “satisfied” part is the most harmful imo. This is what causes lack of actual social interaction and real friendships. Loneliness is on the rise as friendships are on a decline, this is a byproduct of social media gratification

The other more obviously negative components tired/overwhelmed are more of a hangover effect people have after over indulgence. But they’re addicted so ultimately always go back for more (most people).

It’s weird for me to witness as I never indulged in social media and could always see it for what it is. I watched my wife use and just classified it as a huge waste of time (and had some not so fun, “get off your phone” conversations along the way). Some people are finally coming around to it but a lot of damage has been done and a lot of social fabric has eroded.

[nvesp]

I'm not sure the tired/overwhelmed hangover effect is necessarily from social media. I like to think most of my time spent on the internet is productive,reading documentation and cs articles/papers for the most part and i still get that hangover feeling.

[1980phipsi]

Also that a bunch of the time you're contacted by a random online it eventually leads to them trying to get your credit card info.

[ryandrake]

True in real life, too. Whenever someone random comes up to me and tries to engage in a conversation, my guard goes up because 9 times out of 10, they are trying to sell me something or scam me. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a woman, where your “safety” alarms are also sounding.

Spontaneous, innocent chit chat is dead, both online and offline because everyone’s hustling now.

[LtWorf]

Lol, I got contacted by a stranger and even after like a year of occasional contact I was waiting for the scam to trigger :D

[j45]

Taking more time away from it and coming back to it gives perspective on what to interact with, and what not to interact with.

Seeking novelty and fulfillment from scrolling vertically are all individually and collectively patterns, including notifications.

Creating is different than consuming when it comes to screens. Separating consuming onto a separate consuming device physically helps.

[munificent]

It's the social equivalent of eating potato chips until you're stuffed but never actually feeling nourished.

[burningChrome]

> It sucks.

It sucks because the social aspect of social media has been bent and twisted into squeezing every bit of money out of it. In some regards, people are being forced to consume. Companies do anything they can to manipulate users into continual consumption because it generates money for them.

Even worse now? Companies are rewarding people when users interact with their content. Now people are enticed to create content that purposely angers people so they comment on their content.

I've deleted all of my accounts now - it was just too fatiguing to try and weed your way through the constant pushing of content to get you to watch or interact with instead of what YOU want to see or watch. YouTube is notorious for that. How many times have you gone to the site and instead of searching for something you went there for, you get completely sidelined into something because they present you with a ton of videos that fit what you're interested in?

In the immortal words of Joshua: "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?"

[fragmede]

> I've deleted all of my accounts now

except for this one