Once upon a time, I used to have a pretty extensive social media presence. Was an early adopter of the most popular social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and for those who remember, Orkut 🙂 ) and was pretty active on all of them. But four or so years ago, something significantly changed. I lost the drive to maintain this presence. By that point in time, for me all social media was just an outlet for constant validation through carefully curated posts on Facebook, Instagram and the likes, trying to make life appear more dazzling and glitzy than it really was. While I liked to believe ‘I’m speaking my mind’ on these forums, what I was doing was essentially being stuck in multiple different echo chambers, mostly having to go through pages upon pages of social media content I hardly resonated with. Went back and forth in my head, questioning the purpose of my presence on social media – and as it turned out, I ended up nuking most of my social media profiles at the start of 2020, for my own betterment. Only LinkedIn survived – not because I have some inexplicable affinity for the platform, but simply because it is unfortunately a necessary professional evil.
Watching from the sidelines, I’ve seen most social media platforms devolve into a cesspool of banality, toxicity and misinformation, just as I had thought and feared. The self- enforced absence has come with its own share of sacrifices; admittedly, I’m now out of touch with several friends I’ve made through the past decade and a half – a lot of whom I relied solely on social media to keep in touch with. But the mundane scrolling through ‘stories’, ‘suggested posts’ and mindless virtue signalling to maintain these friendships was not something I wished to put myself through. This self-enforced absence/dormancy on social media also made me realize a very important aspect of modern society – the lesser people hear from you, the more likely they forget about your very existence. Instead of another long winded block of text explaining why I feel so; I’ll leave the following dialogue from Ocean’s Twelve as an analogy that is open to interpretation:
I still firmly believe all social media is nothing but a colossal waste of time and energy. I’ve wanted to express my views about this countless times, but I’ve held myself back because of the sheer pointlessness of it all. On the upside, I’ve also realized that writing sometimes clears my head and gives me peace. Regardless of what I write about or who reads it. On a forum where I could say what I wanted to say, without having to subject myself to the mind numbing insanity that regular social media has become while doing so. (Notwithstanding a carefully curated Instagram profile under this same name as this blog that I created a year or so ago, only to keep myself updated about a select few people I want to be updated about)
So here I am, in 2024, making an attempt at putting myself out there again. Almost four and a half years after deleting most of my online presence from the Internet, taking the concept of social isolation from the pandemic too seriously and literally; generally choosing to live my online life as a hermit. On a platform where I control what I see and react to. With a desire to create content, rather than mindlessly consume it – which ironically was what drew me to social media back in the days when it was not the monstrosity it is today.
I have no idea what I am going to write about, or how frequently I will. Perhaps this forum will serve as an outlet to say something when I really feel like clearing my head. Perhaps this will serve as a place where I can share some useful knowledge about stuff I’m passionate about. Perhaps this will help me connect with folks I have long fallen out of touch with. Perhaps next time at a social gathering, when the others are busy ‘following each other’ on a social media platform, instead of saying “Sorry, I’m not on social media” I can say “I post what I care about on my own website – and you don’t have to follow me to see my content“. The first step has been taken, hopefully here's hoping it doesn't stop.
Or maybe, it will simply be a forum where I allow myself to ramble and rant on, once in a while, with zero expectations of anyone ever reading it, just so I can then say ‘I’ve not vanished‘.
So, hello and welcome to what is another attempt at having an online presence, in an age of ubiquitous means for one and all to express their views online. All without a need for social validation through ‘likes’, ‘hearts’, or a ‘thumbs up’.