Over the last couple years I could't help but notice a somewhat concerning trend that people just don't care anymore. By that I mean, don't care about their digital habits, rights, and freedom.
From the interactions I've had with people, I get the sense that as social platforms continue on growing and pushing things most people are against (e.g. AI surveilence, insensible digital privacy laws, never ending advertisements, algorithms designed to suck your soul, etc.), somehow the less people care, echoing the sentiment that "it is what it is, and that's how it will be".
I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be that way.
What went wrong?
As the internet is structured nowadays there are platforms commonly refered to as hubs that, generally speaking, host the most activity and are the infrastractural knots of the entire internet. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, in fact it is incredibly convenient. However, with great convenience comes great responsibility.
Having a couple platforms govern the majority of internet traffic means we are putting our trust in them. But the unfortunate truth, that will surprise nobody, is that they don't care about us nearly as much as their profit margins.
This means that what we end up with platforms not designed for self expression or learning, but rather dopamine chasing and attention farming. Platforms designed to fuel the perpetual cycle of posting and engaging with posts, in order to maximise their ad payouts and satisfy their stakeholders.
Taking back control
I know that with the previous paragraph things may seem pretty bleak, like there's nothing you can do. Well at least that's what they'd like you to think in order to keep you on their platforms, but that isn't the case.
Intentionality
I'd like you to think about whether you really need most of these platforms. Over the past couple years I've realised that I don't need most of the accounts I have. If you simply check out the occassional post or two, you don't need an account for that. In fact not having an account means you don't get fed by a fine tuned algorithm and you have the control over seeing what you actually want to. This kind of friction may be annoying at first, but it is a good kind of friction. Eventually, you'll learn to use these platforms with intention, not consumption. It is also more private as your activity is not inherently tied to an account.
Personally I haven't used my youtube account in months. Instead, I have an RSS reader subscribed to only the channels I care about, and I decide if a video is worth my time or not. Rather than having an algorithm constantly feeding me new content, if I want to look for something outside of what I normally watch, I have to search it up. Really, RSS is a lot more useful than one might think with how old it is.
Resistance
When using these platforms, consider not giving them what they want, money and engagement. You can achieve the first one via simply using an adblock, I recomment uBlock Origin. Additionally, you can usually achieve both with a single solution, that being alternative front ends. These are websites that serve the content from your favourite platforms, but usually without ads, telemetry and algorithms.
If you do need an account on one of these platforms no matter what, I'd at least recommend you make sure to read the terms of service, which is something I don't think enough people do nowadays. You usually find out you can opt out of a lot of things you don't like. Whether the platforms comply with your request is unfortunately a different matter.
Independence
And it all ends with the biggest jump of all and that is independence, the reason I made this website. If you're fed up with platforms as much as I am and are over the superficial fishing for likes and engagement, then I cannot overstate how much I recommend this to you.
It is not only incredibly freeing to know that you are in control of your online presence, but it is also an amazing creative outlet. You get to design a website that you like, the way you like it. It may seem intimidating, and sure it's not as easy as making an instagram account, but it is yours.
If you need help with creating a website I'd recommend you check out some static site generators. You do need some coding knowledge and a bit of patience and willingness to read docs and learn new things, but it isn't particurarily difficult. This site was made in a couple minutes with the use of eleventy. Also feel free to contact me for help, I would be more than happy to.