Best Of

Dear Friends who don't know what Instagram is,

As we may know I use Mastodon social media - badly. I don't know how to use it well ... yet.
https://fediverse.party/

I was on Instagram for a while but the Fediverse has an alternative, just as it has friendly, advert free wonders for wonderful critters (for example sentient cats)

I can not tell you where I am or what my handle is because I am on a new computer/server somewhere in the clouds ... with a new group deprogramming to get us off legacy centralised social media. All I can say is expect the unexpected

I have an account here but as I say, am trying to be a social media bodhi ...
https://fediverse.party/en/peertube/

Mastodon is run by elephants

To me the most destructive thing about social media isn't purely the addictive quality, though that is bad, its the way that it incentivizes and brings out our more destructive and anti social emotions. In order to keep us engaged anger and disgust are more powerful drivers.

I've also more recently become aware of the impact superficial wealth influencers are having on kids and what they aspire to in life. Something like 1 in 5 children's answer to what they want to be when they grow up is just rich. Maybe this is a passing phase, the 80s was pretty materialistic too.

There is also this effect where since people can cultivate exactly what they want to see, seeing or hearing things outside that world becomes increasingly unpleasant.

Twitter is for the birdbrains...TiKTok is a ticking mindbomb...Instagram I've no idea what that is...

I only use fb and Whatapp to stay in touch with my family and friends who live miles away, eg overseas ....I have a YouTube account for posting short videos on here and to family and friends I also watch docos, old films and some news sites...

The most time I spend on the internet during my days off is on here...

Accessing the internet has become part of my daily life, but not to such extent that it becomes disruptive...In other words I still have a life...

I have cushion time twice a day, and check in on the mind's flow throughout the day off the cushion..

Everything in moderation...including moderation...

The easiest way to measure the degree to which one is attached or addicted to social media is to just impose and stick to set limits of your use of it.
Here, I expect a thousand different reasons why each person can not do this in today's world.

If one ever really becomes serious about freeing oneself from its attendant sufferings, it helps when one can finally accept that our social media indulgences are simply the face of the Mara of our times.

My solution has been to try to limit my daily screen time from any electronic source to not exceed whatever time within that same day that I formally meditate. At least with this plan, I spend no more time indulging in this cause of suffering than I spend in freeing myself from it.

What was formally my pimp, can then become a half way decent meditation instructor.

Challenges beyond this though are how to not just switch from one form of Mara worship to another.

I never actually got involved in social media in the first place. Back when I worked in the UK, it was a useful way to keep in touch with colleagues, via LinkedIn and Facebook, but I was never very active on there. So I have accounts on which those old contacts are maintained but I’m very rarely on there.

I also keep a minimum of personal information on there, these places tend to get hacked every so often and so you can count on what you put on a social media site eventually ending up on the dark web. I’ve had highly personalised phishing emails being sent to an email account that I use for very few things. I’ve also noticed that Facebook has absorbed a lot of interest that used to go out to forums.

So yes, I would kind of agree that social media has largely become harmful. I use YouTube and WhatsApp quite a lot, and stay away from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and so on.

My take on it is, as long as it is a useful communications device, smartphones and texting have a place, but I don’t think maintaining a social media profile is beneficial or necessary.

A timely topic for me, since I've been thinking about this same issue as of late.

Yesterday, I listened to a very interesting Freakonomics podcast. The guest-economist claims that there are goods - which we buy - but would prefer did not exist at all. His examples are luxury goods ("keeping up with the Joneses") and social media ("staying connected to friends and family").

According to his research, most people would PAY to have social media taken off-line for a month, where the main point is that it would be taken off-line for everyone. But most people would require to be PAID to have their own social media taken offline for a month ("blocked"). Hence, we have a case of FOMO, where most people would prefer social media did not exist, but they do not feel capable of quitting on their own. If the research holds true, that's a really interesting phenomenon.

Some additional thoughts:

• I certainly fall within the category of the above experiment. I would prefer social-media did not exist, but do not quit (for now) since it's a way of staying connected to friends.
• I highly dislike the fact that social-media does not allow easy customization of the algorithm or restricting usage. For instance, Youtube keeps reccomending videos of a speaker I highly do not want to see, and have actively told the algorithm over 50 times that I am not interested in those videos plus I have never watched videos by this speaker, yet they keep coming.
• Apparently there is a phenomenon where social media has moved away from the way it was, where we predominantly saw posts by friends, and is now a feed of random groups, influencers, pages, etc. People-to-people communication has moved to WhatsApp and similar places in private groups.
• I am very concerned about the "brainwashing" aspects of social media - where the things we consume highly shape our thinking. Here, I am most concerned about the aspect in which we do not even chose what we consume, or where it is very difficult to do so. For instance the Youtube example I provided above, where it takes great effort to stay away from a speaker I consider - and most would consider - harmful.

That's it from me for now. I'll be very interested in what others have to say, especially about the ways&means in which we can overcome the negative aspects of social media, including the experiences of those who have maybe quit totally.

Hi all,
I've reached a point where I've become quite concerned with the state, influence and effect of social media on people in the world. Rates of anxiety and depression in our young population are rising. The engineers behind designing these social media sites have admitted they are designed to be addictive. The combination of social media with the development of the smartphone seems to have accelerated the problem. I'm not anti technology or anti progress but I've reached a point where I wonder if social media sites (we all know the main sites involved) do more harm than good. Has the balance tipped to their destructive properties outweighing the benefits? I'd love to hear people's take on their social media experience and outlook (whatever that take or view is - I'd love to hear it). As a Buddhist do you find it easier not to get trapped into the addictive pull of social media? Have you developed a level of mindfulness that protects you from being sucked into it? Anyone social media free entirely and how does that feel?
Love to hear people's experience with this. Thank you all.
P.S. I'm on the cusp of giving up social media myself.