Great, thought-provoking rationale (I don’t say that to sound surprised for I’ve come to learn this from you). I’ll admit, one concern I have - as silly as it might seem - is if I delete my fb and IG accounts, then I’ll be deleting years worth of a ‘scrapbook’, including that of my now late parents, when my kids were younger, etc. Perhaps it doesn’t matter anyway, but I like knowing that said data is there. To that end, though, I totally agree about the dopamine hit/habit and would be fine to be far from it (especially because those I sought to follow years ago I never see anyway because all of these platforms only seem interested in me doom-scrolling, etc.). Thanks, Charlie. 🫶🏻 - tOdd in Oregon
Todd, regarding: "If I delete my fb and IG accounts, then I’ll be deleting years worth of a ‘scrapbook’, including that of my now late parents, when my kids were younger, etc. Perhaps it doesn’t matter anyway." I think it does matter. At least it mattered to me and I sought out one of the solutions that has emerged. Before I list those, you are able to download all the media from your accounts prior to pausing or deleting the accounts. It will not be the same resolution that you uploaded but good enough for digital printing or making a scrapbook in iPhoto or similar. There are a number of options as to what you download from your account, such as comments etc. So there's the solution that Meta offers. I decided I didn't want to do all that work spanning x amount of years, though. Instead, I opted to have a third-party do it for me. For Facebook, I chose https://www.mysocialbook.com/ For Instagram, https://pixxibook.com/ I have already received these finished books, which amounted to (4) total. I was not inexpensive. Nevertheless, now all of it is in one place which I control—and storywise—something that I can leave as a family artifact. I can imagine a great-granchild conversation sometime in the future: "Now wait, so great-grandpa had all of this stuff in the cloud that he created and he paid a company to turn it into an archaic medium called a book? Someone explain this to me." Peace to you, hope this helps.
This is very helpful - thank you, Charlie! And thank you for taking the time to do so. Very helpful info and, haha, I can only imagine said future generation/s and what they might make of this guy and ‘his books’ 🙃🫶🏻
Ha! Yes, my son helped me fill up four boxes this past week. We are letting one of the grandchildren trade them in for credits she can use in building her own library.
That is really eye opening. And a lot of your post I totally get it. A lot of my feed is groups, pages, etc of people I don't follow. But they have "new" content. And it's not in order. Newest at top and getting older down the page is what I want! And if I follow 598 people and 100 of them post something today, I want THAT shown to me. Not 57 other posters, videos, groups, etc that I DON'T follow. Show me those I DO follow.
Man. I need to really consider exiting FB. Going to start thinking about that.
Jeremy, it's a process, for sure. But you're absolutely right—begins with simply considering it. Which is a big step when social media is integrated into your daily life and even your identity. No matter how ineffective it is, there's going to be some good in the mix too. It is the way I keep up with so many people! That is now lost. I will find new ways to stay in touch and already have some ideas. I made the decision over two years ago but I had to incrementally work my way out. I didn't go cold turkey because I had business commitments to book publishers (in short, they were counting on my posts). But when posting began to have near zero benefit to me, business commitments, or my followers I knew it was time. I wish you wisdom with your decision and I'm grateful to have you join me here. Peace.
Thanks for sharing your journey with this. Love hearing your thoughtful reflections and actions. I have been very removed from posting to protect my mental health but on the cusp of thinking how to release next project I feel very confused. This is helpful insight. I enjoy following people on Substack. Scrolling in and of itself brings zombie like addiction straight to the surface- on any platform- for me. What a dilemma that this is how we have built “connection.” I love that this platform gives you the chance to get in and get out as you so consciously choose. And for people who already care to have a chance to partake. It seems so obvious and generative. The capitalistic growth and control model works only until people realize they are isolated and addicted and not empowered to do the simple thing they set out to do.
Katie, thank you for your honest, thoughtful reply. Very succinctly put: "The capitalistic growth and control model works only until people realize they are isolated and addicted and not empowered to do the simple thing they set out to do." Yes! I feel your dilemma and lived with it for long enough. We neither want to be or promote the zombie and yet new media seems to be the only affordable means of "getting the word out" on what we've created. Personally, I credit Substack with getting the word out more on the last two books and music projects than Facebook or Instagram by far. And with someone as thoughtful and artistic as you, with Substack you have a space to write or post your music and words, and other forms of art, or to build up your neighbor artist/writer etc. And, Substack followers are by definition readers (granted, at various levels of commitment to the written form). We can assume that some portion of your audience will read an entire post! For the pleasure of it! Think of that. BTW, I don't know if you've seen it or not but you're in the last chapter of Roots & Rhythm and there's a very sweet photo of you, Butterfly, Andi, and Allan. Always wishing you all the best.
Thanks Charlie! So appreciate your encouragement and kindred reflections. I am very looking forward to getting my hands on your book too! Congrats on the release and how fun we made it in there!!
I love this. I left social media a few years ago and have not looked back – a major life improvement. The organizations I work with are also slowly leaving because of lack of interactions with the people who matter most to us. I hope this is the beginning of a sea change, but I am not holding my breath.
One thing I would note is that Meta may or may not be interested in "customer service", but we are not the customers. We are the product.
Yes indeed. Our data is the product. Whatever good benefit we may receive from being on the platforms is more a function of our own character, decency, and the desire to know and be known. I do think there must be a trend toward leaving the platforms, though. Anyone with research data to share? Something is driving the advent of all of these companies providing services to archive our platform history into books. See my comment to Todd Lindley. Thanks for posting.
Unfortunately, I fear the cold sweats too much. Like the Dude said, "Quitting social media is easy, I've done it 1,000 times." I believe I can/will do it, someday, though (help Thou, my unbelief.) Amen.
Ha! Yes, all religious, entertainment, and recovery group axioms apply here! So far, no cold sweats (but again, it took me two years to make this change). And yes, help Thou, your unbelief. Peace.
"up to 50% of the content in a user’s feed comes from accounts they don’t follow." Up to?? I never made a decision to leave Facebook, I simply stopped using it because 100% of the feed was ads (whether they called them sponsored posts, for you, because you liked, or otherwise).
Okay I'm exaggerating. I got posts from groups I followed. That must have been the other 50%. Except it wasn't ever the member posts, it was the marketers posting on those groups.
For me it was simple: I'm here to talk to my friends and family. They are no longer here. Bye.
I love substack’s algo right now because it showed me your post.
Working on an app that solves this called Analyze Audience.
It’s AI-powered audience analysis (isn’t everything) that uncovers what your followers are suggesting, their sentiment, and delivers actionable content ideas based on their feedback.
Not trends, not what other users are doing, your audience.
It encourages you to connect and build a stronger relationship with your existing fans 😎
Zach, oh wow, you all were way out front on waving goodbye to the dopamine scroll! Happy for you. It took about three weeks to wean myself off the muscle memory of reaching for it. I think I'm through the worst of withdrawal. Thank you for the welcome to increased sanity, less anxiety, and freedom from habit. Peace to you and yours.
Yes to all! I’m in the process of writing a fantasy book so I fear that some toe dipping will be inevitable but Substack almost seems to be a more inviting creative space for what I’m aiming for anyway.
(your post) ..."Dopamine Scroll".. there is a book, possible Hedges from MSNBC discussion the zombie affect of so many using hand held devices. . I got into addicitons at Sonoma State while I was working on my management program.. ( electives taken in the noon hour) some interesting lectures and videos that was presented to show how the brain operated under drugs and non drugs. . Soon diagnosed as service connected #ptsd, I had to do a lot of reading on the brain.... I try to stay away from Scial and this past wk, I took a 5 day siesta... (rb/brushy creek vs BearHead)...
Thanks, bring it on!
Wow! Thank you, Charlie. I will spend some time with this!
Roger
…..And now for the rest of the story!
Great, thought-provoking rationale (I don’t say that to sound surprised for I’ve come to learn this from you). I’ll admit, one concern I have - as silly as it might seem - is if I delete my fb and IG accounts, then I’ll be deleting years worth of a ‘scrapbook’, including that of my now late parents, when my kids were younger, etc. Perhaps it doesn’t matter anyway, but I like knowing that said data is there. To that end, though, I totally agree about the dopamine hit/habit and would be fine to be far from it (especially because those I sought to follow years ago I never see anyway because all of these platforms only seem interested in me doom-scrolling, etc.). Thanks, Charlie. 🫶🏻 - tOdd in Oregon
Todd, regarding: "If I delete my fb and IG accounts, then I’ll be deleting years worth of a ‘scrapbook’, including that of my now late parents, when my kids were younger, etc. Perhaps it doesn’t matter anyway." I think it does matter. At least it mattered to me and I sought out one of the solutions that has emerged. Before I list those, you are able to download all the media from your accounts prior to pausing or deleting the accounts. It will not be the same resolution that you uploaded but good enough for digital printing or making a scrapbook in iPhoto or similar. There are a number of options as to what you download from your account, such as comments etc. So there's the solution that Meta offers. I decided I didn't want to do all that work spanning x amount of years, though. Instead, I opted to have a third-party do it for me. For Facebook, I chose https://www.mysocialbook.com/ For Instagram, https://pixxibook.com/ I have already received these finished books, which amounted to (4) total. I was not inexpensive. Nevertheless, now all of it is in one place which I control—and storywise—something that I can leave as a family artifact. I can imagine a great-granchild conversation sometime in the future: "Now wait, so great-grandpa had all of this stuff in the cloud that he created and he paid a company to turn it into an archaic medium called a book? Someone explain this to me." Peace to you, hope this helps.
So love your great reply and info for him. Also, laughing is a good thing 🤣
Yes, more laughter, please!
This is very helpful - thank you, Charlie! And thank you for taking the time to do so. Very helpful info and, haha, I can only imagine said future generation/s and what they might make of this guy and ‘his books’ 🙃🫶🏻
Ha! Yes, my son helped me fill up four boxes this past week. We are letting one of the grandchildren trade them in for credits she can use in building her own library.
That is really eye opening. And a lot of your post I totally get it. A lot of my feed is groups, pages, etc of people I don't follow. But they have "new" content. And it's not in order. Newest at top and getting older down the page is what I want! And if I follow 598 people and 100 of them post something today, I want THAT shown to me. Not 57 other posters, videos, groups, etc that I DON'T follow. Show me those I DO follow.
Man. I need to really consider exiting FB. Going to start thinking about that.
Jeremy, it's a process, for sure. But you're absolutely right—begins with simply considering it. Which is a big step when social media is integrated into your daily life and even your identity. No matter how ineffective it is, there's going to be some good in the mix too. It is the way I keep up with so many people! That is now lost. I will find new ways to stay in touch and already have some ideas. I made the decision over two years ago but I had to incrementally work my way out. I didn't go cold turkey because I had business commitments to book publishers (in short, they were counting on my posts). But when posting began to have near zero benefit to me, business commitments, or my followers I knew it was time. I wish you wisdom with your decision and I'm grateful to have you join me here. Peace.
Thanks for sharing your journey with this. Love hearing your thoughtful reflections and actions. I have been very removed from posting to protect my mental health but on the cusp of thinking how to release next project I feel very confused. This is helpful insight. I enjoy following people on Substack. Scrolling in and of itself brings zombie like addiction straight to the surface- on any platform- for me. What a dilemma that this is how we have built “connection.” I love that this platform gives you the chance to get in and get out as you so consciously choose. And for people who already care to have a chance to partake. It seems so obvious and generative. The capitalistic growth and control model works only until people realize they are isolated and addicted and not empowered to do the simple thing they set out to do.
Katie, thank you for your honest, thoughtful reply. Very succinctly put: "The capitalistic growth and control model works only until people realize they are isolated and addicted and not empowered to do the simple thing they set out to do." Yes! I feel your dilemma and lived with it for long enough. We neither want to be or promote the zombie and yet new media seems to be the only affordable means of "getting the word out" on what we've created. Personally, I credit Substack with getting the word out more on the last two books and music projects than Facebook or Instagram by far. And with someone as thoughtful and artistic as you, with Substack you have a space to write or post your music and words, and other forms of art, or to build up your neighbor artist/writer etc. And, Substack followers are by definition readers (granted, at various levels of commitment to the written form). We can assume that some portion of your audience will read an entire post! For the pleasure of it! Think of that. BTW, I don't know if you've seen it or not but you're in the last chapter of Roots & Rhythm and there's a very sweet photo of you, Butterfly, Andi, and Allan. Always wishing you all the best.
Thanks Charlie! So appreciate your encouragement and kindred reflections. I am very looking forward to getting my hands on your book too! Congrats on the release and how fun we made it in there!!
I love this. I left social media a few years ago and have not looked back – a major life improvement. The organizations I work with are also slowly leaving because of lack of interactions with the people who matter most to us. I hope this is the beginning of a sea change, but I am not holding my breath.
One thing I would note is that Meta may or may not be interested in "customer service", but we are not the customers. We are the product.
Yes indeed. Our data is the product. Whatever good benefit we may receive from being on the platforms is more a function of our own character, decency, and the desire to know and be known. I do think there must be a trend toward leaving the platforms, though. Anyone with research data to share? Something is driving the advent of all of these companies providing services to archive our platform history into books. See my comment to Todd Lindley. Thanks for posting.
Good on ya, Brother!
Unfortunately, I fear the cold sweats too much. Like the Dude said, "Quitting social media is easy, I've done it 1,000 times." I believe I can/will do it, someday, though (help Thou, my unbelief.) Amen.
Ha! Yes, all religious, entertainment, and recovery group axioms apply here! So far, no cold sweats (but again, it took me two years to make this change). And yes, help Thou, your unbelief. Peace.
You are such a thoughtful leader. Thank you for this amazing post. It rings.
And you Rebecca are such a thoughtful encourager! Peace and love.
"up to 50% of the content in a user’s feed comes from accounts they don’t follow." Up to?? I never made a decision to leave Facebook, I simply stopped using it because 100% of the feed was ads (whether they called them sponsored posts, for you, because you liked, or otherwise).
Okay I'm exaggerating. I got posts from groups I followed. That must have been the other 50%. Except it wasn't ever the member posts, it was the marketers posting on those groups.
For me it was simple: I'm here to talk to my friends and family. They are no longer here. Bye.
I love substack’s algo right now because it showed me your post.
Working on an app that solves this called Analyze Audience.
It’s AI-powered audience analysis (isn’t everything) that uncovers what your followers are suggesting, their sentiment, and delivers actionable content ideas based on their feedback.
Not trends, not what other users are doing, your audience.
It encourages you to connect and build a stronger relationship with your existing fans 😎
Welcome to the other side!
After a difficult season, my wife and I took a break from both platforms in 2017 and we’ve never looked back.
Zach, oh wow, you all were way out front on waving goodbye to the dopamine scroll! Happy for you. It took about three weeks to wean myself off the muscle memory of reaching for it. I think I'm through the worst of withdrawal. Thank you for the welcome to increased sanity, less anxiety, and freedom from habit. Peace to you and yours.
Yes to all! I’m in the process of writing a fantasy book so I fear that some toe dipping will be inevitable but Substack almost seems to be a more inviting creative space for what I’m aiming for anyway.
Welcome!
My mailing list is my most valuable asset, and neither IG nor FB can take it away.
Thank You for giving us an option.
(your post) ..."Dopamine Scroll".. there is a book, possible Hedges from MSNBC discussion the zombie affect of so many using hand held devices. . I got into addicitons at Sonoma State while I was working on my management program.. ( electives taken in the noon hour) some interesting lectures and videos that was presented to show how the brain operated under drugs and non drugs. . Soon diagnosed as service connected #ptsd, I had to do a lot of reading on the brain.... I try to stay away from Scial and this past wk, I took a 5 day siesta... (rb/brushy creek vs BearHead)...
Having laid out FB's approach, do you know Substack's feed approach?