* blows dust off ye olde blog *
Since I'm not getting rid of this thing, I really need to get back to it and start updating it regularly, if only so people know I'm still knocking about.
Earlier in the year, I decided to take a break from social media (and, it appears, that I'm not alone), which turned into an extended hiatus with no end in sight. At the risk of sounding like I'm spouting cliches, I've come to realise that it being bad for your mental health is actually true: I really do feel better, mentally, and more clear headed than I have in a while. And, y'know, social media generally just...isn't fun anymore.
That linked post kind of solidified a load of thoughts around the performative aspects of social media I'd been having before I jumped off, and I encourage everyone to read it.
All that said, I do miss the breaking news aspect of BlueSky (even though it is pretty US-centric, which, I'd argue, is a massive driving force behind doomscrolling, but that's a whole other discussion), and I miss the soothing pictures of Instagram, too, when it would let me see them between ads and sponsored posts, and I miss... Well, not much else, really. Facebook is unusable, Twitter X is a cesspool, Threads is... I actually have no idea what Threads is like, to be fair: I spent a total of ten minutes on it, then closed my account as soon as I was able. I still check in on Mastodon occasionally, though, even though half of it seems to be chastising people choosing to use BlueSky rather than jump through dozens of hoops to sign up to a Mastodon server, and then chastising people for using the wrong one when they do, and the other half is just people pointing out how morally superior they are for not using Gmail or WhatsApp or whatever.
But, yeah. Being away has left me feeling more clear headed than I have in a long while, and given me space to start thinking about the future. What that future is, though, I have no idea...
