Online, but not like that.
Jun. 3rd, 2022 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452I sometimes wonder if I'm strange for not really getting into social media.
Aside from DW (and formerly LJ) and Tumblr, I don't use anything else. Sure, I'll browse other places for content and whatnot, but I don't have accounts anywhere else. Mostly because it's easier to maintain without having to constantly keep track of a dozen other places, but also I just never had any desire to sign up for anywhere else unless it appeals to me, which the majority of social media doesn't. I always felt like this was kind of the norm, that while people can be online not everyone uses social media, but it seems like people are expecting you to have a Twitter account or an Instagram or something along those lines, and when you say you don't they'll be confused. I'm online but for fun, not for networking, and I prefer the anonymity of that and no, I'm not comfortable sharing with some random strangers in real life what I use because it's none of their business and yet somehow they seem to think is.
Similarly, I prefer to have control of the things I consume in regards to media. I don't use Goodreads. I don't use Letterboxd. I still use an MP3 player instead of Spotify. I prefer buying physical copies of books/CDs/DVDs. I am not a Luddite, obviously, I just don't want to be beholden to an unreliable algorithm or things that will inevitably be taken away at any given moment.
This is kind of all over the place, but yeah.
Aside from DW (and formerly LJ) and Tumblr, I don't use anything else. Sure, I'll browse other places for content and whatnot, but I don't have accounts anywhere else. Mostly because it's easier to maintain without having to constantly keep track of a dozen other places, but also I just never had any desire to sign up for anywhere else unless it appeals to me, which the majority of social media doesn't. I always felt like this was kind of the norm, that while people can be online not everyone uses social media, but it seems like people are expecting you to have a Twitter account or an Instagram or something along those lines, and when you say you don't they'll be confused. I'm online but for fun, not for networking, and I prefer the anonymity of that and no, I'm not comfortable sharing with some random strangers in real life what I use because it's none of their business and yet somehow they seem to think is.
Similarly, I prefer to have control of the things I consume in regards to media. I don't use Goodreads. I don't use Letterboxd. I still use an MP3 player instead of Spotify. I prefer buying physical copies of books/CDs/DVDs. I am not a Luddite, obviously, I just don't want to be beholden to an unreliable algorithm or things that will inevitably be taken away at any given moment.
This is kind of all over the place, but yeah.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-04 09:17 pm (UTC)I used to use social media more "traditionally" when I was at university - it was useful for connecting with academics and potential jobs, and for keeping track of events I might want to attend. But now I just use Facebook messenger so I can co-ordinate with work friends/family.
Twitter, Tumblr, DW & discord are for finding art & fic & meta + for fandom friends - I have no desire for more "public" attention than that.
[Edited to add] I buy music I care about either on CD or via Bandcamp, since you can download it, and I mostly just use Spotify for podcasts. And to save other people's playlists, since that's a fun way to discover new music, haha.
But there's nothing wrong with how you choose to use - or not use - social media! It's a tool just like anything else, and if it isn't useful to you, then there's no reason for you to have it.