deactivating

on shushing the snark

I deactivated all my social media yesterday, except Substack. (For the moment, Substack is different.)

It’s not the first time I’ve deactivated an account, but it’s the first time in a very long time that they’re all either deactivated or gone at the same time.

I still miss Twitter, back when it was good. I had carefully curated my lists, muted or blocked the garbage, verified who I followed. And along the way, I discovered so many voices I would never have heard, otherwise. Twitter was good for me, for awhile.

But in the early days of the war in Ukraine, one of the reliable journalists I had followed for years suddenly put out tweets of fear, that he was hiding, didn’t know if he would be discovered. Then … nothing. For days. Maybe a few weeks. Followers frantically asking, but no response. Then suddenly, he picked up as if nothing had happened. No explanation. No answers to the many questions his followers had. Just posting news as usual, except that the news was suddenly not quite clear, not quite right. I could only conclude his account was no longer his, and couldn’t be trusted. I also realized that anyone who happened to miss that day of scary posts wouldn’t even know. It could be an entirely different person, and they wouldn’t know. There was no way to find out.

That was the beginning of the end for me, on Twitter. I fully left when blue checks started to mean money paid instead of identity confirmed. Nothing could be trusted, no matter how careful I was.

So I left.

I miss what it was.

I loved it.

I’ve tried with Instagram and it’s fine, but I’m just not that into pictures. Facebook … meh. It has served a purpose, some connection points, but it’s mostly ads and copy-paste “if you REALLY care” posts, and I’m just done with it. I’m tired of the noise. The hot takes. The ads. The influencers.

The snark.

Enough already. Just shush.

I’ve got legit news sources that aren’t connected to social media. I live in a fantastic, walkable city. My friends have my number. School keeps me reading outside of my own world.

So - I deactivated. It’s possible that in several months, during a particularly cold and dark Montreal winter, I’ll give it another try.

Maybe.

But for now, I’m here, and that’s enough.

Peace to you, friends.