what has changed since quitting the dead web
Ahoy there.
For about a year now, I have been anti-social media, I've deleted all my accounts and really only use Reddit as a resource for niche subjects (best game in XYZ series to start with, etc.)
I've been trying to figure out what to call this sect of the internet, the clear web, the normie web, the dead web, the corpo web. I'll stick with the dead web for now since I view that space as, well dead. The term to encompass the corporatized parts of the internet.
I wanted to catalog some of the personal changes I've noticed in myself since quitting all social medias earlier this year
becoming re-sensitized.
CW: mentions of suicide and violence. If not in a good head space, I recommend skipping to the next section.
I've notice that my sensitivity to things has increased. I used to be someone who wouldn't even flinch at a beheading video. Gore, violence, porn, distressing encounters, and other forms of hyper-stimulus on the internet were ultimately nothing to me for a while.
Since quitting, I've regained a certain sense of disgust or emotion towards things I see online again. For example, I was watching a micro-documentary on YouTube about MySpace, and in it was talking about a teenage girl who hung herself due to cyberbullying that stemmed from the platform. The documentary showed the audio from the 911 call from the mom; hearing the agony in her voice knowing the scene she witnessed sent a chill down my body that I haven't felt in a very long time. Granted, I probably also feel it extra being a parent.
The offing of ol' Chuckie Kirk was something I normally wouldn't have flinched at, but against my better judgment I watched the video and it fucked me up for a while. If I saw this video 2 years ago, I probably woulda went "damn!" then moved on.
I now am acutely aware that I do feel things again for what I see online and take steps to avoid it. It's interesting seeing how much my attitude has changed about seeing things that are particularly distressing.
less mental dread.
For a while, when I was on social media frequently, I would get inundated with all the worst. Every day I was reading of what the Dipshit in Chief was doing this time, some tragedy unfolding, some human rights violation. It was taking a toll on me.
There is little to gain from being THIS aware to what is going on in the world. I didn't lose my awareness that things suck in the world right now, but it's also not healthy to be constantly reminded of it every day.
tighter sense community.
I feel a greater sense of community in online spaces, niche/indie web circles feel close. I cherish my friends at the Gazette, and it's truly amazing what even this little community does.
The discord server for it has grown so much with so much fun things to interact with (question of the day channel, a hall of fame channel for when one of us says something funny, other stuff, a file sharing system, etc.). I have never met these guys in real life (hell I barely know what 90% of them look like), but I consider them just as much my friends as anyone else I know IRL.
Since quitting social media, I've found these niche spaces the best places to connect with other people. As much as I wish my IRL friends lived closer to me, I am content with my "European friends" (as I say shorthandedly when explaining who I'm talking to to my wife) and my friends in other spaces (like my classic Halo group).
remembering humanity.
Another thing I've noticed since quitting social media is how... normal people are? Like, you see online and it's just endless talk about politics this and drama that. When you step outside and talk to people, there's a surprising amount of people who are seemingly just as removed from this other world as I am. They have their opinions, sure, but it rarely ever comes up.
Politically, people IRL are much more moderate. If you base your view on say conservatives from what you see on the conservative subreddit, you'd think they're a bunch of blundering morons. However, I know quite a number of conservatives (often by proxy of them being parents of friends) and they seem just as pissed at the current administration as I am. Hell, my best friend's dad, a lifelong Republican, went to No Kings and it wasn't to counter protest.
It can be almost jarring seeing how stark of a contrast reality seems compared to what you see online, then it hit me. The internet is mostly bots now. So, it's hard to tell if the really stupid things people are saying on reddit or youtube comment sections ever came from actual people. Every now and then I see the cracks even in these echo chambers. Going back to the conservative subreddit, there are some that believe Trump had little to do with Epstein's trafficking (as foolish as I think it is). However, they're admitting that it's harder and harder to hold on to that with each day.
It makes me hopeful that these people will eventually come around. Even if they don't it still at least makes it seem like people are waking up a little bit. The red hat-wearing MAGA nut is becoming a smaller and smaller minority. Even my next-door neighbor who flew a Trump flag every day outside his house and even had a cutout of Trump on his lawn has taken down both and they have stayed down.
In all this, I think it's important to remember that real life isn't the internet. People are so much more varied than we might think from these comment sections from hyper-curated feeds.
final notes.
I feel different, happier, now than I did prior to quitting the corporatized web. I don't really miss any of it. It took way more from me than it ever gave. Even when it claimed to connect people, it was far from that.
I do somewhat miss social media, at least how it started and the idealized vision of what it could have been. I remember playing CarTown with my dad on Facebook, and posting stupid stuff to my Facebook profile. I could see what mundane things my classmates were doing.
It's funny, we used to mock people for posting the most mundane aspects of their life on social media, but nowadays it seems like we are craving that level of uninteresting content in the midst of chaos.
In a world where you are seeing the war-torn faces of children and the evil of modern geopolitics, it makes you yearn to see someone's boring dinner in your feed.
Pirate is wearing Bluey pajama bottoms and shirt
Pirate is feeling relaxed
Pirate is reading Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Pirate is playing Gears of War 2
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