Deleting Instagram

It took a romantic entanglement whereby advances and discussions were broached via forwarded memes and private Insta stories for the all too obvious to finally sink in: I'm too old for this.

A 'like' is a one bit piece of information -- a 1 or 0. "Did they see my story?", "they liked it but didn't respond", "he/she/they posted right after" blah blah blah blah. The more I think about the half-baked digital interactions we've grown accustomed to the more I want to slink off to an empty field and scream.

For every meaningful digital interaction that might be had, far more intentional means already exist.

And yes, the algorithm can hack my attention while leaving me with empty calories of information -- the same way a bit of laziness and a bag of peanut m&ms will do me in for a stomach ache.

So I'm sorry Mr.Zuckerberg, social validation is an important drive in our survival, and I’m genuinely impressed how it's been co-opted for profit, but I do have better things to do with my life than carefully curate a simulacra of myself for full grown adults I'm barely connected to.

Oh and if you want to interact with me, just text me, call me, or even email me (you can find it if you sleuth) we can even set a time and place: we're both mature and intelligent enough to navigate the natural course of what our relationship will be without it, trust me.

(P.S. no hate if this is your thing, it's just not mine)

(P.P.S. I am still a huge proponent of finding community online (this being one of them) but I do believe that happens much more so in the micro not the macro and that we should reward platforms and experiences that return the value you invest in them)