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alright, tik tok is officially down. whether it comes back or not doesn't matter, due to it likely being purchased by meta and becoming a propaganda machine.
so what do we do now? what do i do with all these feelings?
firstly, delete instagram, facebook, and any other meta/amazon apps. leave your account up, just delete the app. leaving dead accounts open costs more on their end.
second, put your money where your mouth is! no amazon purchases, only buy necessities, and shop small whenever possible. money is power, and we need to prove that THEY are meant to serve US, not the other way around.
third, physically document everything you can. every piece of news, every update that feels relevant, jot it down. doesn't have to be neat, doesn't have to be very descriptive, just take notes! create and keep a timeline!
fourth, participate in your community. talk to strangers, start conversations with anyone and everyone about anything! join a library, educate your friends, volunteer. shelters, food pantries, local politics, etc.
fifth, MAKE ART. create create create. any form any medium it doesn't matter! art is what connects us through time, what marks human struggle and human resilience.
finally, make yourself known. join local protests, sign petitions, go to city council meetings, participate in local law if it's possible in your area. be outspoken on whatever social media takes over, and in real life.
we will get through this, nothing is going to explode overnight, take it day by day, and take care of yourself too. stay educated, stay vigilant, and be brave. do it scared. you are not alone, we must be united in this effort.
Jan 19, 2025
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Don’t delete your accounts especially on the brain dead bird app, that way your username can’t get scraped up by some bot pretending to be you
Also get a good PAID VPN, Mullvad and PIA are great. Watch your opsec
i literally felt like i was crashing out because all tiktok has ever done for me was enhance my hobbies and expose me to things that i love. thank you for making it feel not too bad :)
luxxid me too :( honestly i've been finding solace in reddit. there's a ton of subreddits out there even for some of my most niche interests!
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once i got realistic about what type of content i consumed on ig and twitter, i realized so quickly it was not expanding the way i think and in fact was keeping me stuck in the same (oftentimes negative/harmful) thought loopholes. social media is addictive in part because it algorithmically reproduces the way we already think. it keeps us comfortable.
start questioning: what can help expand your life? what other creative and consumptive outlets do you find fulfilling? is there a book you want to read? something you want to draw or write about? or, in general, consider how your older self would have wanted your time to be spent. you are so right that social media makes us feel Bad-- but we don't have to! it is an act of self-care and deep love to work on stepping away from things that hurt!
as far as practical tips, the best things that helped me were:
a) like some others mentioned, deleting ALL social media apps from my phone so i can only access them on my computer. this helps because the online interfaces are a lot clunkier so it reduces some of the quick gratification that keeps you addicted. also you have to be literally sitting at a desk to use it, so the portability aspect/mindless scrolling is largely removed.
b) keeping a journal because it's a much safer space to dump thoughts than a private story
c) prioritizing in-person connection rather than mediating relationships through tech-- meet a friend for coffee! cultivate intimacy rather than superficiality, and notice how irl vs. online connection feels different
d) nervous system regulation and grounding practices to counteract how scrolling can make you anxious/stressed/disembodied!
finally i did struggle a lot with fomo and being behind on trends at first but then i realized it doesn't really matter. trends are fleeting. even without chronic online-ness i am still funny and relatable and i find it much more interesting to hear about people's lives when i haven't been informed about them in an endless information stream online!!
Oct 31, 2024
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I recently deleted instagram along with all my meta apps and TikTok due to them being owed by billionaires or being used to benefit them. And as much as I hate to say it… I fell lost? But how has an app become such a large part of my identity 🤮? I know morally it’s the right thing to do (at least for me) but what do I do w so much “free” time. Maybe it’s the idea of sitting w my thoughts that’s so bothersome? Also why am I having a mental breakdown over not sharing my life or FOMO?
Jan 24, 2025
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I’m going through the same thought process right now. My twitter/x has been long gone, I’ve gotten rid of meta, and frankly if tik tok comes back purchased/changed/etc. I will no longer be using it either. So for me I’ve done a few things: I’ve made new social media on healthier apps (which sounds counterintuitive to less social media but hear me out). I made a Pixelfed and it’s like the old old instagram. No ads, no distractions taking you to new links, no memes unless someone happens to post one on their personal account. It’s literally just people organically posting pictures of things they like from their breakfast to the view of their nature walk. Because it’s so simple again, I don’t really think there’s room for doomscrolling. This is me if you want to see what I mean!
Next: I use Bluesky partially to see some goings-on in the world to keep up to date, I went to the library of congress website and specifically subscribed to their email newsletters on bills being introduced and news in congress to stay up to date, and I’m vetting some news sources looking for something more objective and reliable to start reading from.
Also: a while back I got some digital cameras like I had when I was a kid for nostalgia reasons but now they’re coming in handy. I’m transitioning to using a flip phone! You don’t have to go this extreme but honestly I’m excited for it. I’ll have a flip phone so not everything will be so convenient and at the touch of my fingers, so I hope that my internet usage will become much more intentional. I’ll be leaving only a few apps on my smart phone, music, reading, this app and pixelfed for periodic social interaction lol, and that’s all I can think of right now. I’ll essentially be taking the SIM card out and using my smart phone as a wifi connected ipod lol.
My goal is to get back into my hobbies! Reading, sewing clothing, knitting, painting, being outdoors, gardening. I’ll communicate more intentionally with family and friends and not just through sending memes. I won’t doomscroll for hours and then feel bad that I wasted the day away. A lot of the sinister stuff going on between social media monopolies and the government recently is making the transition even easier. It’ll be hard at first because you’ll be so used to reaching for something to do for some instant gratification or stimulation, etc. but it’ll be so overall rewarding in the long run! Good luck❤️
Jan 19, 2025
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i recently hung out with a friend and we were talking about all the adventures we used to go on as kids, and how simple there were looking back on them. running along railroads, looking for cool rocks in creeks, climbing trees, etc. it feels stupid to complain about losing that sense of adventure as an adult when it's still right there, exactly where we left it when we decided we were too cool for it as 13-year-olds. so basically all this to say, go find a railroad, climb some trees, maybe graffiti a train. you'll see that the childlike sense of adventure is still there, still a part of you. you just have to tap back in and let your imagination loose. be the self proclaimed katniss everdeen that 13 year old you could only dream of and hope to become 🙂↕️🙂↕️
Jan 29, 2025