quitting reddit
I'm trying to get off reddit and other social media. Reddit is the primary place I spend time online that I would call social media. But also bluesky, and youtube.
As the web has enshittified, all content is being tuned for optimal engagement. This means quantity over quality. There needs to be enough new content to keep us engaged for long period, so that means lots of new content. Things need to be just interesting enough to keep us engaged, keep our attention - and no more. Which I think explains why my subjective perceived quality of content from the internet is much lower than say, 10 years ago.
It used to be that I felt like I got real value from these spaces. Now I just feel like I'm addicted to them. The content is forgotten as quickly as it's seen. Every day feels the same. It's all formulaic and meaningless. There are exceptions of course but they just prove the rule.
So I'm off reddit. I blocked it on my phone, I should find a way to block it on my laptop. It will be a rough transition, at first. I'm going to keep using youtube, because I think it's a space where I do still find higher quality content on occassion, and it's also less addictive IMO. So, the value isn't totally out of wack, and using it will help me still feel like I'm not completely disconnected from culture.
As I disengage with social media, I'm trying to re-enage with hobbies. I love writing. I want to get better at it. So this will be a good place to practice. I appreciate the simplicity and focus this website affords.
I don't know that this will be a permanent change; it's certainly not my first attempt. But I'm going to commit to 30 days at least. The month of March seems like a good idea, since today is 2025/03/01.
So here goes nothing.