"I tried leaving Facebook. I couldn’t" by Sarah Jeong https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/28/17293056/facebook-deletefacebook-social-network-monopoly
Great read, and this comment in a thread by her also hits home for me: https://twitter.com/sarahjeong/status/990974005162094599
@nolan it's interesting to see how other people engage with leaving social media. I felt like a weight was lifted when I left a few years back. I feel like people are experiencing an anxiety of disconnection with social media, but they are rationalizing it as something else (because disconnection is tricky to talk about). I wonder at the depth of a friendship when not using a particular app jeopardizes it.
@toilettrouble It felt like a weight was lifted for me as well, although I admit it's harder to keep up with family and close friends now that I'm off Facebook. (And thus those friends became less close…)
But I think the author is right that the blame falls partly on my shoulders since I (like many men) don't put much work into maintaining social relationships. I have never written a Christmas card.
@nolan Like, I wanna send a Christmas card because I'm inspired and excited to wish my friends and family a merry Christmas, not because of a social, cultural obligation to do so. So maybe it means having small, tight-knit friend groups where you don't send a card because you are all hanging out together for every holiday already.