Douglas Rushkoff explains his decision to leave X, and all social media platforms, behind him in a first-of-its-kind monologue-only episode of Team Human.
In his monologue, Rushkoff draws inspiration from Chaucer's Parlement of Foules to discuss how the platform dynamics of X/Twitter are unfit for nuanced discussion about global tragedies and human suffering.
https://www.teamhuman.fm/episodes/267-leaving-x-and-social-media-behind
Some notes from me,
Things social media is still good for
Staying connected with far flung friends. For those of us who may live in ways that sees us located in places other than where are families of origin live, or travelling a lot for work or play, social media can be a way of creating a sense of connection from far away places.
Showing your work internationally and staying in touch with what others are doing all over the world. This is especially valuable if you work in the arts, education, science, technology as I do.
Finding new friends/connections with shared interests.
Ask ‘is this good for me’.
Some tips to manage social media anxiety
Create flexible personal parameters around how you use different platforms.
There is a fine line between controlling the media and it controlling you.
Lock your security down as much as possible, particularly on your ‘personal’ accounts. Decide what you want each platform to do and be for you.
Rarely, if ever take your social media into your bed. We know this but often ignore it. Since I’ve picked up the habit again of turning off my phone (it’s hard I know), when I’m in bed and reading books in bed before sleep, I sleep soundly and am enjoying the creativity of reading and exploring more and more books with excitement and anticipation (and supporting the work of other artists).
Social media can contribute to envy, jealousy and FOMO. This is an opportunity for reflection and self-inquiry, check in with yourself and work out if these sparks have any truth in them and if so why. What is it that you perceive you are missing out on and find ways to address them. Or have a break from the people/pages triggering these responses. The mute or sleep button is your friend.
Overall enjoy the dopamine surges, step away when you feel anxious and follow supportive and uplifting accounts.
Breathe
Go for walks or look up every now and then. Simple but effective. Change your viewpoint of gaze.
Facebook (I recently had an extended absence from until I was relocating overseas and needed to be in contact and use the platform to see things), is for my long term family/expanded friends/personal network..
Linkedin … professional and work related posts. Keep it that way. Linkedin has actually been quite usual for me. Again, your choose who you connect with and it has the facility to mute people on your time line and unfollow people if there is too much ‘noise’ or something jars.
X to see the drama and pain of the world and catch up in real time of the unfolding of the follies of humanity. X is also a work platform, it seems a lot of scientists/artists/researchers still use the platform. Despite it being a repository of pain, ‘X’ remains my main news source. You can curate your feeds, use the mute buttons when needed. Reduce scrolling time. Hide things, block people, clear the space.
Tiktok, I avoid although at night before bed I scroll Reels that come via Tiktok often for some lolz. The reason I avoid Tiktok is for me it is the latest in social engineering and programming and is mostly branded content space that has questionable algorithms and policies (don’t they all).
Instagram is more curated, visual imagery. A mix of observational things from the world I inhabit, selfies (I’m a fan, I see it as a way of controlling your own image and media and what the world sees and broad representation. Anyone should be able to show themselves, not just famous people from the entertainment industry), art things from things i got to and my own creative practice.
You Tube is a viewing/vod cast platform for me. I access a lot of information through You Tube. Again, be careful what you click on as the algorithm is quick to devise suggested watch lists for you that at times shift quickly into weirdness. I do a lot of deleting on You Tube, but enjoy watching/listening to channels on nutrition, spirituality, meditation, yoga, cultural/art things, documentaries.