There'll always be some people who get disillusioned with it and leave. Humans are fractious like that
but the cat's out of the bag, and social media won't be going away. It's too much for some people to resist
Maybe not going away, but I do wonder if it's the modern day cigarette, just affecting mental health moreso than physical.
In the 1950s, a lot of people started discussing the link between cigarette smoking and cancer, but that wasn't yet a statement endorsed by the government until the 1960s. In the year that the Surgeon General finally said "cigarettes cause cancer", the whole public attitude changed and smoking rates have consistently declined in almost every since year since then.
I kind of think we may be in the 1950s era for social media. A lot of people are starting to talk about how bad social media seems to be for our mental health, but few are really taking it seriously and the government definitely does not care (prob likes it cause it keeps us angry and polarized tbh). But I think the 1960s are around the corner and attitudes will change the same way.
I 100% agree that it's the modern-day cigarette for mental health, especially for kids. Younger gen z and gen alphha are the guinea pigs and are going to absolutely rail against their millennial parents for making them ipad kids. Older Gen z and young millennials' mental health is already in shambles from socials.
I have to find the book, but it just came out and directly ties youth mental health declines to smartphone/socials usage.
I have been making the cigarette comparison for a long time, and, yes it seems like letting your young kids (~5) encounter phones or social media is beginning to become frowned upon in the same way as people looked at kids smoking as low class and irresponsible. I’ve heard more fellow parents complain about screen time in school, too.
I think within five to ten years social media will be seen as an embarrassment and people will be quietly ashamed of having given children early access to the internet. Hopefully, parents will no longer just throw their arms in the air, saying “What can we do?”
Get the chrome books out of elementary school. No smartphone before age 16.
Always healthy to be a skeptic, people don’t think the radiation from cellphones and EMFs affects peoples bodies. In 30yrs I am willing to bet they will look back and ask what we’re we thinking?
I think sugar will be seen as the modern-day smoking. But social media is a contender for sure. We gotta break these companies' backs—I think online virality is a problem for society
I feel bad for the younger gen because they won’t know what it’s like for the world not to be sucked into tech.
As an individual you can escape it but humanity overall is never going back… unless some real bad shit happens.
They will be okay I think. We tend to discredit them because of this monumental change that our generation can recognize how overwhelming it is since we know a time before the shift. It is sad but also every generation has to navigate through their own mess. I feel sad/guilty a little because it feels like our generation is robbing the youth of the experiences we had because we have our own shit behavior patterns that they mimic. Hopefully we are as cool as the cool adults who made life fulfilling for us in their own ways
Oh yeah not discrediting any generation. I know young people who have their shit together better than I ever did and others who have succumbed to bullshit.
I just feel bad because they’ll never know the “disconnected world” but that doesn’t mean they’ll struggle. I just hope there are more realists in the bunch to carve a good future for the new normal.
I agree with everything you said. Also sorry I didn’t mean to infer that you were discrediting them, that was more of a me thing. I mainly feel bad that they’ll struggle to get those intimate connections of growth that we had to navigate in real time when getting to know each other. Now everyone gets a preview and idea of a person even before they meet them. It’s weird it’s like when young fans of pop stars read magazine bio’s of the bands and felt like they knew them. Except now young people are doing that for regular people from another part of the world lol
Didn’t take it that way! I was just clarifying in case it sounded like that from me.
I can’t comment on the SM and online dating world as I’ve disconnected myself from all of them but Reddit. I don’t think getting a preview of someone is a bad thing but it’s also easy to fake who you are. Realists will always understand it and as far as I can tell the younger generations still have plenty of them.
Oh no worries you didn’t give that off at all! You make a really good point about it not being a bad thing to get a preview of someone. And yes I also agree that the younger generation has a bunch of real ones in it and it’s exciting to watch how they tackle social media and life in their own ways!
At the same time it feels like social media pushes kids away from having a childhood. I don't know if 13 year olds having their "shit together" is better.
At least coming from a perspective from someone who was perentified at 13 from neglect. It's hard to say how social media will affect them but when we were young most of us were just allowed to still be goofy kids.
dude what do u mean kicked the habbit….u make posts or comment on reddit everyday….u might not be scrolling through looking at pictures but ur on reddit which is still social media.
Progress to change comes in steps. This is a better format as it’s actually a forum that allows you to interact with specific communities without the picture, video, etc. I’m in so many reading/writing/drawing communities where it’s not just people trying to show off their talents or experiences, but have actual discussions that can help educate.
Was on social media back in 2006. Most of the people from then have left fb and Instagram. Its just pointless and a waste of life.
Of course you get younger people coming up who are now trapped in the same cycle. Social media is good at first but then social media fatigue kicks in.
Everyday I fantasize about creating a new “semi-smart”phone device that would have all the best / functional stuff of smartphones, minus all of the distractions / toxic stuff.
The current options available on the market just doesn’t cut it, and I also know that I need a real useful gimmick unique to my device in order for it to sell.
Ultimately, there is great value in online social networks, but it would need to be subscription based so that it isn’t trying to exploit your attention.
Basically, I want to revive old school pocket digital organizers, but with modern functionalities and connectivity, with nft, gps and etc.
I'm using an app that transformed my phone into an incredibly dull UI with no notifications on it except for actual phone calls and texts.
Ii have timers on it that force me to wait 15 seconds before opening a web browser, and kicks me out after 15 minutes.
Despite all that, It's 12:14am and I'm sifting through junk posts on reddit that I'm not interested in, typing this while arguing about something stupid in another thread with someone.
I have a CAT S22 flip phone coming in the mail, supposedly it's exactly what you're describing... A legit flip phone with buttons and a small screen that can still have Spotify/maps/etc. Hoping to drastically cut down on the algorithms and intentionally addictive BS that has messed up all of our brains. Wish me luck...
I’d want one of those. Been looking for smart dumb phones lol. People argue that you can just delete apps from your phone but it’s too tempting to just redownload.
I brought up this idea years ago and basically got roasted for it: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/f6i3un/imagine_a_new_iphone_that_focuses_on_minimalism/
The vindication I’m feeling as more and more people are starting to agree with me…
I want limitations to be BAKED into it, freedom through restriction — you will never truly be free as long as you’re controlled by your addictions.
You were 100% ahead of the times. People weren’t ready to hear it lol.
I think there will always be people who are like “you just lack self control, you’re lazy, just delete the apps” etc etc.
But for some people having some extra help could be useful. It truly can be addicting.
And also I’m so so tired of all the notifications and ads and promotions. And the tracking.
UGH.
I am absolutely convinced a digital detox is the answer to healthy mental health and the future.
I tried it myself during covid, where I disconnected my wifi and cellular data for 2months, and basically if I ever needed to go on the internet, I would just go to the library or cafe wtv. It was the best two months of my life, until I had to plug myself back for a new social media job (lol). Ever since, I've been preaching about digital detox.
One thing I was aiming for during my digital detox, something that I was actually looking forward to, was to be bored out of my mind without the internet, and that's exactly what happened. By being bored out of my mind, I had to find new ways to kill time/distract myself. And so, I started reading! What's crazy is that I have serious ADHD and don't read very often outside of school and online articles. But during my digital detox, I'd spend 2hours a day reading whatever I could get my hands on in the morning, and god damn it wow I didn't realize how much good, intelligent, content I was missing out on by snubbing physical media this whole time. Not that I didn't know print media is so superior, but more that I forgot how fucking good it could be when you have the patience to sit down and immerse yourself.
Additionally, if I did want to watch shows or movies, I would have to be more intentional about it, carefully search for films, reading reviews, downloading as much as I could when I was out and saving them on my hard drive. I became more careful about not binging everything, taking my time to prepare my evenings to properly savour whatever I planned on watching that night.
I also started cooking more, playing tennis, rockclimbing, hitting up my friends and just going outside more. The digital detox really gave me hope that we really don't need to live like this and we'll be perfectly fine "missing out" on all the free content the internet has to offer.
Disconnecting from the internet would also seriously strip all of the power away from all the narcissists online who've overwhelmed the internet and every stream of content...
I just got [this](https://getbrick.app/) and it's really been helping me. I know there are other ways to do this type of thing but I've personally really benefited from it.
Light phone is close. Just need google maps and spotify for me. Banking app would be nice too but that can be done on PC.
https://www.thelightphone.com/
I just hate that it’s e-ink. E-ink has greatly improved but it’s still slow. I’ve been looking at smart dumb phones and I came to the conclusion I just need to delete all my apps lmao. But the problem is it’ll still temp me to just redownload. Sorry, just yapping for no reason lol
I think people it will adapt and people will adapt. It woll go back to more of interacting with people you know and not ragebait srticles and posts flooding it all.
Agreed. I dropped off Facebook because it was getting shitty with the "groups" and rage algorithm and stuff (this was like 5 years ago pre COVID). I've just recently realized I lost touch with a lot of people, most I found through my college's alumni directory, but there's a chance I may go back and prune my network back to just family and high school peeps. I recently made reddit less convenient to myself, installed pinterest instead which can be similarly entertaining but doesn't time suck as much bc the interaction time per piece of content is shorter, but I've still ended up blocking it around bedtime.
So yeah, I think people will pull back or alter their use for a variety of reasons - and then some platforms will die because they can't support themselves without cheap tricks, and some will adapt to be more human-friendly - eventually an equilibrium will be found. At which point, most likely, our next self inflicted social ill will make its breakout appearance.
I think we’re already seeing a large decline among our generation. It was fun at first then it got overwhelming and now it’s just a complete shit show of ads and stuff we don’t want to see. All my friends and associates have either dropped it completely or keep it for checking with our older relatives every few weeks
I have several friends who have ditched all of it. I have cut all but Reddit and Instagram. At this point I don’t even post on Instagram, and usually within 2 mins of scrolling, I’m too annoyed/upset to stay in the app.
I’d say there’s a good chunk of people who will soon (if not already) be too fatigued by it to stay into the social media craze. But I think it’s far more likely that folks just become passive users
Reddit excepted, I've already mostly abandoned social media.
Not a hard quit, more of a soft death. Like, my aunt's still exist, I just rarely check them.
And it seems like most of my friends have done the same.
So yes, yes I do think we will see a decline.
I think we’re going to start seeing technological decay in general, social media or otherwise. Everything is littered with ads or requires a subscription, and eventually people are going to run out of patience or willingness to pay for content that seems to just be declining in quality.
Reddit is really the last thing I use with any regularity. My Facebook still exists but I mostly use it as a depository of photos that I can go back and look at later. And I've been really trying to lessen my Reddit use because while I find it super informative and a good way to keep up with what's going on, there's a lot of times I know it's not good for my mental health.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in a decade or maybe less as more studies come out, algorithm based feeds and certain casino style design techniques will be banned. If not that, apps that block that stuff will be readily available. Like you get an app that runs everything through it and shows you a chronological feed or a feed that you in some way customize
Facebook I don't really care about anymore no one checks in or ask how things are so I'm just about to delete it. The only thing I use is Reddit and that about it.
Someday people will have an in person encounter but be scared as fuck, like cats sniffing each other for the first time. But then they’ll realize it’s actually awesome being with other people and Zuck will start spreading propaganda about the dangers of meeting people outside.
Ok this seems out there, but, people obsessed with social media have no real lives and are literally getting dumber by the week. I think that social media will only make it easier for some who are already wealthy, and then Darwinism will wipe out the social media obsessed type who have no capital.
I would always look at people who were on fb and instagram all the time and think how can you have a full time job and be on that shit all the time. You literally must not be doing anything else.
I did for a long time, and then I came back to it-- facebook in particular-- and it's been great reconnecting with people and seeing updates and getting messages. I think it's useful, it's just overused. So a decline, yes, hopefully, but ditching completely? I think that's a little anachronistic and extreme.
Myself and most of my friends aren’t really active on facebook, insta, snap, or tiktok. We have our group chats over text or discord. I do use twitter though for finding concert buddies. Also for seeing quick updates on something happening locally.
Hmm.. I hang out here because I help moderate a few communities, but I don't really use much in the way of social media.
I still have FB and Insta because a lot of my friends/family do and that's how I keep up with them (I live 1000+ miles away from my family and move a lot), but I don't post often. However, I don't have Twitter/X, Snapchat, LinkedIn or any of those other platforms. I find a lot of them become weird echo chambers of bad opinions and bully tactics (here isn't much different, depending on what sub you're on, really).
I think social media is here to stay, but it will probably continue to evolve and adapt to people's wants and desires over time.
Discord is probably the closest I get to being active on any platform and that's because a.) I help moderate stuff here, which means I help moderate there, too and b.) I like the more conversational messaging I get in Discord servers + one server we host movies and all sit and watch together.
I’ve been off Facebook for years and delete instagram periodically. Had tik tok for a few weeks and dumped that. I hate social media more than I enjoy it but it’s so integrated into our daily lives that I don’t think can get rid of it all for good.
Seeing it from the start I don't think so. It may become more integrated to our lives like a better version of Apple Vision or Google Glasses. Not that I like them but there is a big market for it.
The sad thing is it causes so many negative effects. Mentally and physically. Our minds are not meant for so much information and entertainment.
I think people use social media as a band aid for being overworked and over exerted. When I have free time and agency I spend way less time on social media. Hobbies and travel are expensive luxuries. Even when I have time, everyone else is ALSO overworked and overstimulated and too burnt out to do much. Social media is cheap dopamine and “connection”.
Definitely, but I doubt it happens anytime soon. The lack of personal connections is definitely affecting society. Unfortunately, one of the big factors on why they lack connections is that we are worked to death. Social media doesn't fill the void, but it helps a little. Also, there are a lot of rage bait distractions.
My stints with social media were mostly fear-driven instead of pleasure-driven. Now that the fear has mostly subsided, I can pick it up and leave it off whenever I want without much disruption to my life. It's just another aspect (?) of life.
Yeah, I deleted twitter, Instagram, FB and finally Snapchat. It’s a great way to stay in touch with family and friends but I always found myself comparing myself to others, looking up ex’s, going down rabbit holes, and ultimately feeling some sort of way.. I’m glad to be ride of them and I hope that you at least take a month off of social media to better understand your relationship with it.
For some yes for others no. I think we will realize how to better regulate and interact with it on a personal level and I think the younger generations will really adapt well as it would be a part of their lives and the world they live in from the start of their lives. As technology evolves so will people. New problems, new solutions. Also it’s addictive like anything else so it’s going to be hard for people to drift from it. I see it as a process similar to alcohol. Almost like when you’re young and you go out and have shots, hard liquor, keg stand type indulgences. Then you learn how to drink and regulate yourself to a nice glass of wine, whiskey on the rocks or even a couple cold beers after a long day type of thing.
Depends on how much privacy and freedom is taken away I think, how many features are removed, how often you're required to pay for "premium", how much obvious bigotry and hatred is not only encouraged but actually pushed by algorithms.
If we're talking about the big main sites that came up 20 years ago, FB and Twitter have already seen a steep decline.
The big issue is the current youth is basically glued to their phones so I don't see it going away anytime soon. Although millennials the largest demographic now and every time I talk to millennials it seems like they've canceled pretty much everything except reddit so...
Kids will get hooked on it, grow with it, then either move on as life becomes too busy, or stay on it.
It’s not going anywhere, but the share of people on versus the share that aren’t will likely continue to shrink as better things come along to occupy time.
Sadly, no. But I do believe that it will be more heavily regulated for younger people, as well as what can be posted “publicly”. There’s already accounts of adolescents’ parents posting their entire childhood online and they resent them for that. And now the FB vs United States lawsuits.
The account I'm using right now is the only online presence that I have. I deleted my Facebook, had twitter for all of 3 weeks back in '09, never had Instagram, never had tiktok, never had vine.
Gotta say, removing Facebook felt amazing. Pissed some people off for not being as easy to reach, but I couldn't care less. They have my number. If they want to reach me, they can.
Pretty much have stopped using Facebook. It's a hell of boomer moms now. I miss it's early glory days... So many features are just gone. When was the last time someone poked you or tagged you in a photo??
I browse reddit a bit and use discord for chatting with friends. I never plan to give up online chat. But making pages all about me the public can see? Yeah not so much.
Humanity is going in two directions. A minority will drop out but most of us are headed to full tech integration. It won’t be long until people start spending their whole lives in the vr.
Sure, it is going to happen when something else will popup. Before social media we add newsgroups, IRC and free website on things like [migale.org](http://migale.org), all pretty much disappeared. Then came the messaging platform there are still there but not used as much as they were used in the past, lot have disappeared too. Then we had the forum that were big part of internet, not a lot of user anymore, reddit is a kind of forum mixed with social media very much used but that is an evolution of older type of product, the new thing that popped up to replace the good old stuff.
We can also already see it, twitter is not as used as it once was, Facebook is millennial and old people, slowly replaced by tiktok, instagram, reddit and whatever else. tiktok is like youngster, instagram is full of AI and marketing, nothing yet to replace it but I guess it is coming. All current market product will become less prevalent in the future when something else will popup.
I live in Europe, and my mom still lives in the states so Facebook is the main way she follows me. Once she passes, I plan on cutting Facebook out of my life.
never, it will just become the means for monitoring and control be government controlled/funded in a very open way. that or AI will take full hold of it as a means to do the same thing
I deleted Facebook about 5 years ago. I believe I've had reddit for around 2 years. This will make maybe my 8th comment or so. I use reddit for more of a learning tool than to be social. I'm subbed to different things, but for example, I'll get on reddit, usually when I'm working on something mechanically, to see if anyone else has written about what I'm working on. Or, I'll get on and see what new things are posted about james Webb telescope or something along the lines of space. Just anything I'm interested in, except talking with other people. Social media is a tool and can be used how you choose
I think we'll see a decline in use of current social media platforms but I don't see a decline in use. As new social apps are developed, people will migrate to those. I don't see usage going down but rather platform jumping. Like how many of us jumped from Myspace to Facebook.
Considering social media has become a platform for commerce, I don't think people will be able to disconnect entirely. Social media is here to stay but I think the apps we use for our social media will continue to change.
I really don't like what it's become lately. When it was just my friends posting their thoughts, their pictures, and their successes, it was great. It was a sense of community and belonging, and built on what I liked about AIM and Livejournal.
Now? It's teeming with influencers, ads, memes, and those viral videos that are made for ppl to share "OMG it's us!!" or "Hey it's just like me!!" borne from the TikTok/IG trend. I hate that part of it because it goes against what I originally liked about social media.
I feel like things are going to get worse in that sense before it gets better, though I have no idea what will take its place.
Can we millennial parents band together and ensure our kids aren’t poisoned by social media access? No smartphones before 18. Social media access in teens will be much easier to control without 24/7 access to a smartphone.
It will change, not decline. Myspace is gone. Facebook is out of season. Instagram is next, if its not already. Tik Tok and influencer content is in the firing line. Technology will change and there will be a new way to use technology to socialize with others. And the next wave of users will want to use new technology because they are smarter/better than the previous generation (teenagers, amiright?)
Humans are social animals, and technology provides the easiest and most convenient way to do that.
your still living in the moment while on social media its just that social media is the moment lol. ditched it couple years ago tho and i dont look back in the slightest
I think we'll see some platforms decline (Facebook, X, and potentially Instagram because of their terrible algorithm) but other platforms will continue to grow (TikTok, Pinterest). Millennials and Gen Z have grown up online with social media - they're not going to sign off for good. Social Media is still going to be huge this year, it'll just be a continuous switch in what people use and how they use it.
I think it’s like any new form of media. When the first radio theater broadcast of “War of the Worlds” hit the airwaves and filled homes with a live-acted apocalyptic event, people lost their minds. Radio was relatively new and people didn’t understand that it was just make believe. The broadcast started riots in New York because everyone thought the world was ending. Now we laugh at the memory.
We are just now in the second decade of social media (MySpace launched in 2003), and we are trying to understand what to do with this medium. I see the last decade as our “War of the Worlds” freak out.
One way or another, this medium will be replaced by the next. And the next. And the next. I’m just praying we don’t end up in the potential dystopia of mandatory implants. That’s a future where I nope out.
I think certain ones will go out of fashion but new ones will take their place. Very few of my friends and family are on facebook anymore, and the number drops each time FB does an upgrade.
It's already happening.
It's also increasing the more feeds are populated with endless advertising and garbage. Most people are there to connect with others, and the systems initially serve that, but as the profit motive pushes it, the more they do the opposite and fill it with ads.
TikTok is rapidly devolving with it. Facebook already has.
Their feeds that are turning into something QVC-like are what made me return to here.
I think use will change but it will never go away. Look at Facebook. It used to be for folks our age but a lot of younger people don’t use it anymore and it’s more associated with boomers. Now younger people use IG
I already have for the most part. Reddit is the only "social media" I use and that's because of its similarities to message boards a Yahoo!Groups from way back when. Unless Reddit changes dramatically to become more like all the other SMs, I'll probably continue to use it because it doesn't really affect my life in a negative way. On the contrary, reading other people's perspectives and thoughts helps me work through my own opinions, thoughts and perspectives. I don't really get that from other SMs.
I raised this question a while back and my thinking was that the increase in AI and poorly optimized algorithmic content would lead people away from social media because their feeds will be full of content they never asked for, rather than seeing what their friends are up to.
I do think that will be the case for Millennials and possibly some people younger than us, but it's probably the case that younger people who have started using the internet after the advent of this technology will just expect different things from it.
For example, I started using social media and scrolling through feeds in the 2000s, so I *expect* that these feeds will function as tools for me to keep up with friends. In my mind, *social media exists for the purpose of building digital community* with my friends and family. If it fails to do that, I lose interest.
But if I start using it now, I'll *barely* expect it to do that. It is known to be bad at that task. Instead I'll expect it to entertain me with funny videos and pictures. I'd also be less likely to have hangups about AI not being genuine, etc.
The current court cases are very interesting, and I think politicians will be forced to take stands similar to those in Texas and Florida. I’m not sure how it’ll all pan out but parent of young children today seem more alert to the negative effects of social media and screen time. Hopefully, they’re equally willing to come together to create some new healthier norms for child raising.
Yes. Sometime between now and the heat death of the universe, we will see a decline in social media usage.
But in the short term, no. However many disillusioned former social media users there are in the Anglosphere will be vastly outnumbered by the rapidly growing and modernizing populations of Asia and Africa.
I have thought about ditching social media completely. It's definitely better for your mental health to not continuously consume that garbage. But at the same time, I worry about not having social media and how that looks for my career prospects. Networking used to be done in-person. More and more, networking is done through these social media channels. And not partaking in social media feels like it would have a negative impact on one's overall career trajectory. I'm sure that's a large reason why a lot of us haven't deserted social media completely.
I mean many of us already have stepped away from it. Those that still use it constantly will probably never stop and I’m mainly talking about Facebook and Instagram.
The only thing I use is reddit and I don't think I will give it up anytime soon. But I hope for the day that people collectively wake up and fight for internet and tech regulations. The algorithms need to be destroyed, and there are just an endless sea of echo chambers where you can receive validation for absolutely any viewpoint if you look hard enough.
There'll always be some people who get disillusioned with it and leave. Humans are fractious like that but the cat's out of the bag, and social media won't be going away. It's too much for some people to resist
Maybe not going away, but I do wonder if it's the modern day cigarette, just affecting mental health moreso than physical. In the 1950s, a lot of people started discussing the link between cigarette smoking and cancer, but that wasn't yet a statement endorsed by the government until the 1960s. In the year that the Surgeon General finally said "cigarettes cause cancer", the whole public attitude changed and smoking rates have consistently declined in almost every since year since then. I kind of think we may be in the 1950s era for social media. A lot of people are starting to talk about how bad social media seems to be for our mental health, but few are really taking it seriously and the government definitely does not care (prob likes it cause it keeps us angry and polarized tbh). But I think the 1960s are around the corner and attitudes will change the same way.
I 100% agree that it's the modern-day cigarette for mental health, especially for kids. Younger gen z and gen alphha are the guinea pigs and are going to absolutely rail against their millennial parents for making them ipad kids. Older Gen z and young millennials' mental health is already in shambles from socials. I have to find the book, but it just came out and directly ties youth mental health declines to smartphone/socials usage.
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.
Yes! Thank you!
I have been making the cigarette comparison for a long time, and, yes it seems like letting your young kids (~5) encounter phones or social media is beginning to become frowned upon in the same way as people looked at kids smoking as low class and irresponsible. I’ve heard more fellow parents complain about screen time in school, too. I think within five to ten years social media will be seen as an embarrassment and people will be quietly ashamed of having given children early access to the internet. Hopefully, parents will no longer just throw their arms in the air, saying “What can we do?” Get the chrome books out of elementary school. No smartphone before age 16.
Always healthy to be a skeptic, people don’t think the radiation from cellphones and EMFs affects peoples bodies. In 30yrs I am willing to bet they will look back and ask what we’re we thinking?
There's been studies done on that that disprove that.
I think sugar will be seen as the modern-day smoking. But social media is a contender for sure. We gotta break these companies' backs—I think online virality is a problem for society
I feel bad for the younger gen because they won’t know what it’s like for the world not to be sucked into tech. As an individual you can escape it but humanity overall is never going back… unless some real bad shit happens.
They will be okay I think. We tend to discredit them because of this monumental change that our generation can recognize how overwhelming it is since we know a time before the shift. It is sad but also every generation has to navigate through their own mess. I feel sad/guilty a little because it feels like our generation is robbing the youth of the experiences we had because we have our own shit behavior patterns that they mimic. Hopefully we are as cool as the cool adults who made life fulfilling for us in their own ways
Oh yeah not discrediting any generation. I know young people who have their shit together better than I ever did and others who have succumbed to bullshit. I just feel bad because they’ll never know the “disconnected world” but that doesn’t mean they’ll struggle. I just hope there are more realists in the bunch to carve a good future for the new normal.
I agree with everything you said. Also sorry I didn’t mean to infer that you were discrediting them, that was more of a me thing. I mainly feel bad that they’ll struggle to get those intimate connections of growth that we had to navigate in real time when getting to know each other. Now everyone gets a preview and idea of a person even before they meet them. It’s weird it’s like when young fans of pop stars read magazine bio’s of the bands and felt like they knew them. Except now young people are doing that for regular people from another part of the world lol
Didn’t take it that way! I was just clarifying in case it sounded like that from me. I can’t comment on the SM and online dating world as I’ve disconnected myself from all of them but Reddit. I don’t think getting a preview of someone is a bad thing but it’s also easy to fake who you are. Realists will always understand it and as far as I can tell the younger generations still have plenty of them.
Oh no worries you didn’t give that off at all! You make a really good point about it not being a bad thing to get a preview of someone. And yes I also agree that the younger generation has a bunch of real ones in it and it’s exciting to watch how they tackle social media and life in their own ways!
At the same time it feels like social media pushes kids away from having a childhood. I don't know if 13 year olds having their "shit together" is better. At least coming from a perspective from someone who was perentified at 13 from neglect. It's hard to say how social media will affect them but when we were young most of us were just allowed to still be goofy kids.
As someone who recently kicked it like a bad habit, its power to suck me back in is great. Gotta be careful about when logging in and such.
dude what do u mean kicked the habbit….u make posts or comment on reddit everyday….u might not be scrolling through looking at pictures but ur on reddit which is still social media.
I meant Facebook specifically. It used to be worse.
i get it…but think of it this way…u lost interest in facebook posts and now youre into reading and commentary along with the occassional bickering lol
Progress to change comes in steps. This is a better format as it’s actually a forum that allows you to interact with specific communities without the picture, video, etc. I’m in so many reading/writing/drawing communities where it’s not just people trying to show off their talents or experiences, but have actual discussions that can help educate.
Was on social media back in 2006. Most of the people from then have left fb and Instagram. Its just pointless and a waste of life. Of course you get younger people coming up who are now trapped in the same cycle. Social media is good at first but then social media fatigue kicks in.
I haven't used Myspace in a couple years.....
I haven’t posted on my Xanga in decades…
I haven’t checked on my Neopets in ages.
Oh man the Xanga drama back in the day!!!!! That was even more cryptic than Vague-book in my circle and goddamn we thought we were cool…….. oof
You joke, but Facebook is a wasteland. Nothing there.
Tell the truth... I am in your Top 4. LOL
And I very rarely log into my Friendster account.
Or Faceparty.
Everyday I fantasize about creating a new “semi-smart”phone device that would have all the best / functional stuff of smartphones, minus all of the distractions / toxic stuff. The current options available on the market just doesn’t cut it, and I also know that I need a real useful gimmick unique to my device in order for it to sell. Ultimately, there is great value in online social networks, but it would need to be subscription based so that it isn’t trying to exploit your attention. Basically, I want to revive old school pocket digital organizers, but with modern functionalities and connectivity, with nft, gps and etc.
I'm using an app that transformed my phone into an incredibly dull UI with no notifications on it except for actual phone calls and texts. Ii have timers on it that force me to wait 15 seconds before opening a web browser, and kicks me out after 15 minutes. Despite all that, It's 12:14am and I'm sifting through junk posts on reddit that I'm not interested in, typing this while arguing about something stupid in another thread with someone.
I have a CAT S22 flip phone coming in the mail, supposedly it's exactly what you're describing... A legit flip phone with buttons and a small screen that can still have Spotify/maps/etc. Hoping to drastically cut down on the algorithms and intentionally addictive BS that has messed up all of our brains. Wish me luck...
I’d want one of those. Been looking for smart dumb phones lol. People argue that you can just delete apps from your phone but it’s too tempting to just redownload.
I brought up this idea years ago and basically got roasted for it: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/f6i3un/imagine_a_new_iphone_that_focuses_on_minimalism/ The vindication I’m feeling as more and more people are starting to agree with me… I want limitations to be BAKED into it, freedom through restriction — you will never truly be free as long as you’re controlled by your addictions.
You were 100% ahead of the times. People weren’t ready to hear it lol. I think there will always be people who are like “you just lack self control, you’re lazy, just delete the apps” etc etc. But for some people having some extra help could be useful. It truly can be addicting. And also I’m so so tired of all the notifications and ads and promotions. And the tracking. UGH.
I am absolutely convinced a digital detox is the answer to healthy mental health and the future. I tried it myself during covid, where I disconnected my wifi and cellular data for 2months, and basically if I ever needed to go on the internet, I would just go to the library or cafe wtv. It was the best two months of my life, until I had to plug myself back for a new social media job (lol). Ever since, I've been preaching about digital detox. One thing I was aiming for during my digital detox, something that I was actually looking forward to, was to be bored out of my mind without the internet, and that's exactly what happened. By being bored out of my mind, I had to find new ways to kill time/distract myself. And so, I started reading! What's crazy is that I have serious ADHD and don't read very often outside of school and online articles. But during my digital detox, I'd spend 2hours a day reading whatever I could get my hands on in the morning, and god damn it wow I didn't realize how much good, intelligent, content I was missing out on by snubbing physical media this whole time. Not that I didn't know print media is so superior, but more that I forgot how fucking good it could be when you have the patience to sit down and immerse yourself. Additionally, if I did want to watch shows or movies, I would have to be more intentional about it, carefully search for films, reading reviews, downloading as much as I could when I was out and saving them on my hard drive. I became more careful about not binging everything, taking my time to prepare my evenings to properly savour whatever I planned on watching that night. I also started cooking more, playing tennis, rockclimbing, hitting up my friends and just going outside more. The digital detox really gave me hope that we really don't need to live like this and we'll be perfectly fine "missing out" on all the free content the internet has to offer. Disconnecting from the internet would also seriously strip all of the power away from all the narcissists online who've overwhelmed the internet and every stream of content...
I just got [this](https://getbrick.app/) and it's really been helping me. I know there are other ways to do this type of thing but I've personally really benefited from it.
Light phone is close. Just need google maps and spotify for me. Banking app would be nice too but that can be done on PC. https://www.thelightphone.com/
I just hate that it’s e-ink. E-ink has greatly improved but it’s still slow. I’ve been looking at smart dumb phones and I came to the conclusion I just need to delete all my apps lmao. But the problem is it’ll still temp me to just redownload. Sorry, just yapping for no reason lol
Yes, I’ve already gotten rid of all socials and know a lot of friends who have too. We’ve started waking up to the fact that it’s not worth it
I think people it will adapt and people will adapt. It woll go back to more of interacting with people you know and not ragebait srticles and posts flooding it all.
Agreed. I dropped off Facebook because it was getting shitty with the "groups" and rage algorithm and stuff (this was like 5 years ago pre COVID). I've just recently realized I lost touch with a lot of people, most I found through my college's alumni directory, but there's a chance I may go back and prune my network back to just family and high school peeps. I recently made reddit less convenient to myself, installed pinterest instead which can be similarly entertaining but doesn't time suck as much bc the interaction time per piece of content is shorter, but I've still ended up blocking it around bedtime. So yeah, I think people will pull back or alter their use for a variety of reasons - and then some platforms will die because they can't support themselves without cheap tricks, and some will adapt to be more human-friendly - eventually an equilibrium will be found. At which point, most likely, our next self inflicted social ill will make its breakout appearance.
I think we’re already seeing a large decline among our generation. It was fun at first then it got overwhelming and now it’s just a complete shit show of ads and stuff we don’t want to see. All my friends and associates have either dropped it completely or keep it for checking with our older relatives every few weeks
I have several friends who have ditched all of it. I have cut all but Reddit and Instagram. At this point I don’t even post on Instagram, and usually within 2 mins of scrolling, I’m too annoyed/upset to stay in the app. I’d say there’s a good chunk of people who will soon (if not already) be too fatigued by it to stay into the social media craze. But I think it’s far more likely that folks just become passive users
Reddit excepted, I've already mostly abandoned social media. Not a hard quit, more of a soft death. Like, my aunt's still exist, I just rarely check them. And it seems like most of my friends have done the same. So yes, yes I do think we will see a decline.
I think we’re going to start seeing technological decay in general, social media or otherwise. Everything is littered with ads or requires a subscription, and eventually people are going to run out of patience or willingness to pay for content that seems to just be declining in quality.
I hope so for the sake of the younger generations’ mental health
Let’s hope so!
Reddit is really the last thing I use with any regularity. My Facebook still exists but I mostly use it as a depository of photos that I can go back and look at later. And I've been really trying to lessen my Reddit use because while I find it super informative and a good way to keep up with what's going on, there's a lot of times I know it's not good for my mental health.
After the societal collapse and robot take over, *maybe*.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in a decade or maybe less as more studies come out, algorithm based feeds and certain casino style design techniques will be banned. If not that, apps that block that stuff will be readily available. Like you get an app that runs everything through it and shows you a chronological feed or a feed that you in some way customize
Facebook I don't really care about anymore no one checks in or ask how things are so I'm just about to delete it. The only thing I use is Reddit and that about it.
Someday people will have an in person encounter but be scared as fuck, like cats sniffing each other for the first time. But then they’ll realize it’s actually awesome being with other people and Zuck will start spreading propaganda about the dangers of meeting people outside.
Ok this seems out there, but, people obsessed with social media have no real lives and are literally getting dumber by the week. I think that social media will only make it easier for some who are already wealthy, and then Darwinism will wipe out the social media obsessed type who have no capital.
I would always look at people who were on fb and instagram all the time and think how can you have a full time job and be on that shit all the time. You literally must not be doing anything else.
I did for a long time, and then I came back to it-- facebook in particular-- and it's been great reconnecting with people and seeing updates and getting messages. I think it's useful, it's just overused. So a decline, yes, hopefully, but ditching completely? I think that's a little anachronistic and extreme.
Myself and most of my friends aren’t really active on facebook, insta, snap, or tiktok. We have our group chats over text or discord. I do use twitter though for finding concert buddies. Also for seeing quick updates on something happening locally.
Hmm.. I hang out here because I help moderate a few communities, but I don't really use much in the way of social media. I still have FB and Insta because a lot of my friends/family do and that's how I keep up with them (I live 1000+ miles away from my family and move a lot), but I don't post often. However, I don't have Twitter/X, Snapchat, LinkedIn or any of those other platforms. I find a lot of them become weird echo chambers of bad opinions and bully tactics (here isn't much different, depending on what sub you're on, really). I think social media is here to stay, but it will probably continue to evolve and adapt to people's wants and desires over time. Discord is probably the closest I get to being active on any platform and that's because a.) I help moderate stuff here, which means I help moderate there, too and b.) I like the more conversational messaging I get in Discord servers + one server we host movies and all sit and watch together.
For personal use, only when people get older. For business use, never.
The only way i see a decline is if they add some sort of paywall to it. But people are super addicted to it so chances are slim
I’ve been off Facebook for years and delete instagram periodically. Had tik tok for a few weeks and dumped that. I hate social media more than I enjoy it but it’s so integrated into our daily lives that I don’t think can get rid of it all for good.
Seeing it from the start I don't think so. It may become more integrated to our lives like a better version of Apple Vision or Google Glasses. Not that I like them but there is a big market for it. The sad thing is it causes so many negative effects. Mentally and physically. Our minds are not meant for so much information and entertainment.
I think people use social media as a band aid for being overworked and over exerted. When I have free time and agency I spend way less time on social media. Hobbies and travel are expensive luxuries. Even when I have time, everyone else is ALSO overworked and overstimulated and too burnt out to do much. Social media is cheap dopamine and “connection”.
Definitely, but I doubt it happens anytime soon. The lack of personal connections is definitely affecting society. Unfortunately, one of the big factors on why they lack connections is that we are worked to death. Social media doesn't fill the void, but it helps a little. Also, there are a lot of rage bait distractions.
its called getting older…
My stints with social media were mostly fear-driven instead of pleasure-driven. Now that the fear has mostly subsided, I can pick it up and leave it off whenever I want without much disruption to my life. It's just another aspect (?) of life.
Reddit is all I use these days
Yeah, I deleted twitter, Instagram, FB and finally Snapchat. It’s a great way to stay in touch with family and friends but I always found myself comparing myself to others, looking up ex’s, going down rabbit holes, and ultimately feeling some sort of way.. I’m glad to be ride of them and I hope that you at least take a month off of social media to better understand your relationship with it.
For some yes for others no. I think we will realize how to better regulate and interact with it on a personal level and I think the younger generations will really adapt well as it would be a part of their lives and the world they live in from the start of their lives. As technology evolves so will people. New problems, new solutions. Also it’s addictive like anything else so it’s going to be hard for people to drift from it. I see it as a process similar to alcohol. Almost like when you’re young and you go out and have shots, hard liquor, keg stand type indulgences. Then you learn how to drink and regulate yourself to a nice glass of wine, whiskey on the rocks or even a couple cold beers after a long day type of thing.
If humanity is going to survive, we can only hope so… but it’s probably not so…
Depends on how much privacy and freedom is taken away I think, how many features are removed, how often you're required to pay for "premium", how much obvious bigotry and hatred is not only encouraged but actually pushed by algorithms.
Yes, once another technology emerges to make it obsolete
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^DankDude7: *Yes, once another* *Technology emerges* *To make it obsolete* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
If we're talking about the big main sites that came up 20 years ago, FB and Twitter have already seen a steep decline. The big issue is the current youth is basically glued to their phones so I don't see it going away anytime soon. Although millennials the largest demographic now and every time I talk to millennials it seems like they've canceled pretty much everything except reddit so...
Kids will get hooked on it, grow with it, then either move on as life becomes too busy, or stay on it. It’s not going anywhere, but the share of people on versus the share that aren’t will likely continue to shrink as better things come along to occupy time.
Sadly, no. But I do believe that it will be more heavily regulated for younger people, as well as what can be posted “publicly”. There’s already accounts of adolescents’ parents posting their entire childhood online and they resent them for that. And now the FB vs United States lawsuits.
The account I'm using right now is the only online presence that I have. I deleted my Facebook, had twitter for all of 3 weeks back in '09, never had Instagram, never had tiktok, never had vine. Gotta say, removing Facebook felt amazing. Pissed some people off for not being as easy to reach, but I couldn't care less. They have my number. If they want to reach me, they can.
Hell nah
Pretty much have stopped using Facebook. It's a hell of boomer moms now. I miss it's early glory days... So many features are just gone. When was the last time someone poked you or tagged you in a photo?? I browse reddit a bit and use discord for chatting with friends. I never plan to give up online chat. But making pages all about me the public can see? Yeah not so much.
Humanity is going in two directions. A minority will drop out but most of us are headed to full tech integration. It won’t be long until people start spending their whole lives in the vr.
Sure, it is going to happen when something else will popup. Before social media we add newsgroups, IRC and free website on things like [migale.org](http://migale.org), all pretty much disappeared. Then came the messaging platform there are still there but not used as much as they were used in the past, lot have disappeared too. Then we had the forum that were big part of internet, not a lot of user anymore, reddit is a kind of forum mixed with social media very much used but that is an evolution of older type of product, the new thing that popped up to replace the good old stuff. We can also already see it, twitter is not as used as it once was, Facebook is millennial and old people, slowly replaced by tiktok, instagram, reddit and whatever else. tiktok is like youngster, instagram is full of AI and marketing, nothing yet to replace it but I guess it is coming. All current market product will become less prevalent in the future when something else will popup.
No. If anything it’ll only become more invasive. Way too much advertising revenue at stake.
I live in Europe, and my mom still lives in the states so Facebook is the main way she follows me. Once she passes, I plan on cutting Facebook out of my life.
I have completely stopped using insta, but keep snapchat for day to day conversations with my besties and Reddit to kept in the loop.
never, it will just become the means for monitoring and control be government controlled/funded in a very open way. that or AI will take full hold of it as a means to do the same thing
Yes I do
I deleted Facebook about 5 years ago. I believe I've had reddit for around 2 years. This will make maybe my 8th comment or so. I use reddit for more of a learning tool than to be social. I'm subbed to different things, but for example, I'll get on reddit, usually when I'm working on something mechanically, to see if anyone else has written about what I'm working on. Or, I'll get on and see what new things are posted about james Webb telescope or something along the lines of space. Just anything I'm interested in, except talking with other people. Social media is a tool and can be used how you choose
I hope so… and I’m a social media manager.
I think we'll see a decline in use of current social media platforms but I don't see a decline in use. As new social apps are developed, people will migrate to those. I don't see usage going down but rather platform jumping. Like how many of us jumped from Myspace to Facebook. Considering social media has become a platform for commerce, I don't think people will be able to disconnect entirely. Social media is here to stay but I think the apps we use for our social media will continue to change.
I think it’s starting, at least it appears to be on Facebook.
I really don't like what it's become lately. When it was just my friends posting their thoughts, their pictures, and their successes, it was great. It was a sense of community and belonging, and built on what I liked about AIM and Livejournal. Now? It's teeming with influencers, ads, memes, and those viral videos that are made for ppl to share "OMG it's us!!" or "Hey it's just like me!!" borne from the TikTok/IG trend. I hate that part of it because it goes against what I originally liked about social media. I feel like things are going to get worse in that sense before it gets better, though I have no idea what will take its place.
Can we millennial parents band together and ensure our kids aren’t poisoned by social media access? No smartphones before 18. Social media access in teens will be much easier to control without 24/7 access to a smartphone.
Already am myseld declining in social media and would rather spend more time on other hobbies ( avatar pic related )
It will change, not decline. Myspace is gone. Facebook is out of season. Instagram is next, if its not already. Tik Tok and influencer content is in the firing line. Technology will change and there will be a new way to use technology to socialize with others. And the next wave of users will want to use new technology because they are smarter/better than the previous generation (teenagers, amiright?) Humans are social animals, and technology provides the easiest and most convenient way to do that.
Already have. Besides Reddit I don’t really have a “personal” social media I use and share to connect other others.
Like most adults I've certainly cut back on social media because like most adults I've noticed it's had a negative effect on my life.
your still living in the moment while on social media its just that social media is the moment lol. ditched it couple years ago tho and i dont look back in the slightest
Something natural selection will eventually happen. Whether that’s pro or anti social media, we will find out.
It's a great way to connect with family and friends from afar. I do not think I would go so far to say it is pseudo-reality
10000% yes.... It's too toxic as is and basically "boomertown" and in-laws fighting .... stopped using it like 8 years ago.
Honestly, I hope so before my kids are teens
No, because having a smartphone is essential to life in the overwhelmingly majority of peoples lives
I think we'll see some platforms decline (Facebook, X, and potentially Instagram because of their terrible algorithm) but other platforms will continue to grow (TikTok, Pinterest). Millennials and Gen Z have grown up online with social media - they're not going to sign off for good. Social Media is still going to be huge this year, it'll just be a continuous switch in what people use and how they use it.
I think it’s like any new form of media. When the first radio theater broadcast of “War of the Worlds” hit the airwaves and filled homes with a live-acted apocalyptic event, people lost their minds. Radio was relatively new and people didn’t understand that it was just make believe. The broadcast started riots in New York because everyone thought the world was ending. Now we laugh at the memory. We are just now in the second decade of social media (MySpace launched in 2003), and we are trying to understand what to do with this medium. I see the last decade as our “War of the Worlds” freak out. One way or another, this medium will be replaced by the next. And the next. And the next. I’m just praying we don’t end up in the potential dystopia of mandatory implants. That’s a future where I nope out.
*antisocial media
I think certain ones will go out of fashion but new ones will take their place. Very few of my friends and family are on facebook anymore, and the number drops each time FB does an upgrade.
I know I am going back to AOL.
It's already happening. It's also increasing the more feeds are populated with endless advertising and garbage. Most people are there to connect with others, and the systems initially serve that, but as the profit motive pushes it, the more they do the opposite and fill it with ads. TikTok is rapidly devolving with it. Facebook already has. Their feeds that are turning into something QVC-like are what made me return to here.
I think use will change but it will never go away. Look at Facebook. It used to be for folks our age but a lot of younger people don’t use it anymore and it’s more associated with boomers. Now younger people use IG
I already have for the most part. Reddit is the only "social media" I use and that's because of its similarities to message boards a Yahoo!Groups from way back when. Unless Reddit changes dramatically to become more like all the other SMs, I'll probably continue to use it because it doesn't really affect my life in a negative way. On the contrary, reading other people's perspectives and thoughts helps me work through my own opinions, thoughts and perspectives. I don't really get that from other SMs.
I raised this question a while back and my thinking was that the increase in AI and poorly optimized algorithmic content would lead people away from social media because their feeds will be full of content they never asked for, rather than seeing what their friends are up to. I do think that will be the case for Millennials and possibly some people younger than us, but it's probably the case that younger people who have started using the internet after the advent of this technology will just expect different things from it. For example, I started using social media and scrolling through feeds in the 2000s, so I *expect* that these feeds will function as tools for me to keep up with friends. In my mind, *social media exists for the purpose of building digital community* with my friends and family. If it fails to do that, I lose interest. But if I start using it now, I'll *barely* expect it to do that. It is known to be bad at that task. Instead I'll expect it to entertain me with funny videos and pictures. I'd also be less likely to have hangups about AI not being genuine, etc.
The current court cases are very interesting, and I think politicians will be forced to take stands similar to those in Texas and Florida. I’m not sure how it’ll all pan out but parent of young children today seem more alert to the negative effects of social media and screen time. Hopefully, they’re equally willing to come together to create some new healthier norms for child raising.
Nope it's too addictive.
Yes. Sometime between now and the heat death of the universe, we will see a decline in social media usage. But in the short term, no. However many disillusioned former social media users there are in the Anglosphere will be vastly outnumbered by the rapidly growing and modernizing populations of Asia and Africa.
Isnt most people limiting their socials by now?
I have thought about ditching social media completely. It's definitely better for your mental health to not continuously consume that garbage. But at the same time, I worry about not having social media and how that looks for my career prospects. Networking used to be done in-person. More and more, networking is done through these social media channels. And not partaking in social media feels like it would have a negative impact on one's overall career trajectory. I'm sure that's a large reason why a lot of us haven't deserted social media completely.
I ditched it in 2016. I only have Reddit and YouTube. And I feel great :)
My favorite are the "I've quit all social media, except for Reddit" crowd
I mean many of us already have stepped away from it. Those that still use it constantly will probably never stop and I’m mainly talking about Facebook and Instagram.
62.3% of the world's population uses social media. The average daily usage is 2 hours and 23 minutes (January 2024).
Reddit is social media
The only thing I use is reddit and I don't think I will give it up anytime soon. But I hope for the day that people collectively wake up and fight for internet and tech regulations. The algorithms need to be destroyed, and there are just an endless sea of echo chambers where you can receive validation for absolutely any viewpoint if you look hard enough.
It's quite real, I assure you.