Category: Social MediaCategory: Social Media

We were right.

“Jury finds Meta and Google negligent in social media harms trial.”

“Meta must pay $375 million for violating New Mexico law in child exploitation case, jury rules.”

We knew something was off. We knew something didn’t feel right.

We talked about it, but most everyone around us kept justifying the platforms.

“If you’re not on social media, how will you find new clients?”

“How will I stay in touch with family?”

I’m not saying we need to delete our accounts today, but we need an exit plan.

Someone you know checked Facebook for the last time today. A hundred people you don’t know uninstalled Instagram. A family member will get locked out of their account this week.

Not everyone is tired of scrolling social media, of course. But someday in the future a lot of people you know will look back on this time and grieve for the hours lost, the attention we gave away to these hideous companies.

Today is a great day to delete a social media app from your phone.

Love this from Reconnect Stanford, on the importance of community:

One member of our community put it this way: being around others while trying to get off social media made what once felt impossible feel attainable. Without social media connecting them to thousands of acquaintances and mutuals, they could focus on the people who truly mattered.

Deleting an app or doing a “detox” is a start, but being a part of a community trying to attain the same thing is super helpful. Social media seeks to isolate us, so we need to intentionally do the opposite, getting back in touch with friends, hanging out, talking on the phone, making small talk.

As I wrote earlier, “folks who don’t use (social media) platforms anymore might not be able to see your hours of business, your location, or your contact info.”

This from merritt k., in the aptly titled, “Have a Fucking Website.”

“If you’re a hair salon, or a tattoo artist, or a restaurant, or whatever, please just have a fucking website where I can go and see your rates and hours. Not all of your potential clients are on these platforms, and I suspect that even many of the ones who are appreciate a simple, unadorned site that tells them what they need to know at a glance.”

I made this stripped down LinkTree clone for free, and it’s hosted for free.

Photographer Noah Kalina made a much prettier “Linktree clone” using Claude Code, and it’s hosted on Dreamhost, which (after their current special) renews at $10.99/month for the cheapest hosting plan (as of 3/18/2026).

A QR code points where you tell it to point.

You can have up to 10,000 email subscribers on Kit for free.

This isn’t hard, it’s just not as easy as social media.

But look what social media gets you:

• You can’t reach all your followers
• You can lose access for almost any reason
• They’re run by horrible people

If people are actively searching for you, or they’re in front of your store and scanning a QR code, don’t send them to platforms where you can’t reach them.

This from Aral Balkan on Mastodon (via Pixel Envy):

When you post things on Instagram, Facebook, and X, this is what they look like to people who don’t use those platforms.

Take note restaurants and coffee shops and tattoo shops, etc. Folks who don’t use those platforms anymore might not be able to see your hours of business, your location, or your contact info.

A domain name from Hover (affiliate link) + a one page website can cost less than $200 a year, and it’s viewable by anyone with a smart phone.

A very common set of benefits kick off this post, “Is Social Media a Necessary Evil?”

• It’s where my friends are
• I have a community I’m a part of through a few different groups
• I can keep up with some extended family members easier
• Groups are a great tool for my personal business
• We can share our travel adventures and build a community for not only friends/family but other travelers as well

It’s great until its gone.

It’s great until you get locked out your account, or your friend’s account gets hacked, or a family member falls down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole because they spend too much time on a platform.

If you lost access today, you’d have to come up with a plan real quick to replace all that, so plan your escape from social media while you still have access.