We give the promised six-month update on how it’s been after leaving social media.
In April we decided to leave social media. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Discord, Facebook . . . probably more. It’s hard to remember now! We not only had it for personal use for a number of years, but we primarily used it for our book series and to connect with others in the writing, fantasy, and TTRPG community. But after much conversation we decided to close out all our accounts. The reason was simply the focus on negativity, drama, and arguing that was prevalent. Though we were very rarely the target of any of this, it was exhausting do a daily check-in on social media hoping for great content and instead seeing the latest drama.
When we made the announcement on our website, we said we’d check back in to let you know how things have been. There is one word I’d use to describe it. Fantastic.
We thought we might miss it, but we don’t. Our time has been freed up. We no longer spend time posting, reading, planning content, and networking. Instead of mindlessly scrolling, we spend our extra time together playing games and doing activities in the city. It is also a mental relief of being freed from the constant feed of negativity.
Without getting into the details of any issue here, the last few months we were on social media were riddled with drama that we tried our best to avoid. The Hogwarts Legacy game was released and we witnessed all sides of the debate fighting each other, bullying each other, and blocking each other. Tweets like these were a daily occurrence:
“This game reviewer is playing Hogwarts in an hour. Let’s go raid her comments and force her to stop playing!”
“I feel like this Hogwarts issue has brought out the worst in me. But I don’t know how to quit. I just get so upset every day. People can block me if they want. I don’t care.”
There was also a lot of drama about Wizards of the Coast and their OGL 1.1. The main issue there was the spreading of false information. People would make up announcements to post just to get a big reaction for 24 hours before it would be revealed it was fake.
Who would miss that?
When stepping outside of the world of social media, priorities get readjusted. You realize how little all of that mattered. How so many people were just hopping on the platform to argue with strangers for no reason at all. It’s like graduating high school. Suddenly, there is a realization of how silly it all was.
In these six months since leaving social media, our happiness as increased, our peace as increased, and our time has increased. There are no regrets.
We’ll check in again at a year and let you know how things have been!
Question: What is your relationship with social media, and do you think it can be improved?
