I recently got a new phone and while I have Instagram on my old phone, something pushed me to not include it on my new phone.

Now I’ve been realizing, without Instagram on my new phone I really don’t even think about it – let alone want to use it. I still post and look at it, but rarely. I have to remind myself and push myself to do it. Weeks go by and I realize it doesn’t matter at all to me! Instagram is still on my old phone, and that’s the only place I access it, so I have to go out of my way to use it.

This has given me a chance to step back and really understand that I get very little out of using it. So much of the content is shallow and deceptive. I think it’s mostly an illusion of value. For me, years ago, it was a way to potentially get my art out there, get some feedback and find other creatives, but it’s really changed over the years. Now it feels like I’m just on a big ad platform. Another thing that’s changed in the last few years is that I actually used to enjoy using this app and now I no longer do. The fact that your own followers (and vice versa) aren’t guaranteed to see your posts is just demotivating to me. Also, I notice when I’m on this app, I rarely feel good after using it anymore. So that’s enough of a reason to stop. What kept me on it really was just habit. I also deleted my Facebook account after years of barely using it. Not sure why I kept it so long. To be fair, I never really liked Facebook, but I used to really like Instagram.

So this makes me wonder if social media (in the direction it seems to be heading) is really a net benefit. I can see it’s very distracting. Years ago, I didn’t have an Internet connection in my home and as a result I spent very little time online. Now, it’s always there, unlimited and yes, it’s convenient, but is that really a true benefit to me? I’m not online all the time, but it’s much more than before.

Sometimes, I find myself browsing YouTube and while there are some great channels I love, more and more I’m just having to sort through irrelevant things to possibly find what I’m looking for. The same goes for Google search. The search matches seem to have gotten worse over time, not better! I find this very odd. I have done many searches in the past few months specifically on YouTube and after scrolling down a bit, the results aren’t even related to what I’m searching for. I’m wondering if this is done intentionally, to keep you searching. These platforms seem to be moving more towards ad platforms than anything I really care about.

I lost interest in cable TV pretty early on and stopped watching it in my teens, and I’m wondering if that’s what YouTube will become sooner or later. The reason I liked these platforms is no longer what they are today.

Just an observation I made recently.