Like, connect, comment... be human?
Ghosts in the machine
Hello everyone, you may not know me, especially if you do, please read this as an attempt to help, not harm. Put on your favorite song, take a walk, step outside and engage the world — anything that reminds you that you have power, you can make a difference.
Today, taking a break from the techno posts to talk about something I had read about when starting substack. “Like, connect, comment - be human” was the post made when I first started on the platform and honestly that took me aback as what that read to me was: “keep doing the same thing you’ve been doing, don’t change“.
I left Facebook and social media behind on my birthday in 2016. The Cubs had won the World Series and my birthday was on Election Day.
I was a moderator for a popular Facebook page and the tone completely changed that day. I stopped. That type of toxicity I will never understand. I moved over to instagram for a hot second, then started asking to myself: “What am I doing? What purpose is this serving?“
And the inevitable answer was: nothing important to my life.
I’ve never done Twitter (X), nor have I even installed apps like TikTok. I can tell the conversational differences between folks who use these apps, and folks who don’t. It is the same with most websites: I stay away because it’s just too much noise. Linked.in, a lot of the same in the day to day feed.
Mainly, I don’t like what social media does to me. I don’t like how I act imbibing social media or engaging with it. I am uncomfortable with being ghost-like in the machine; meaning all I am is just an uploaded image following the same ghost-like algorithm habits of every other apparition.
Truthfully though, I just don’t like the ads.
I’ve done my fair share of seeing advertising from Saturday Morning cartoons and watching network television in the 80s and 90s. I see advertising as being exposed to X-rays. There should be a lifetime limit. (Note to self: surgeon general’s warning on exposure to advertising like they do with tobacco).
“Like, connect, comment” for me is the least human thing I can think of doing. I wrote this in a post a few months back: my judgement of your engagement is not based in outrage or applause. You have to judge your engagement for yourself. I am not interested in being reduced to a an edge or a node in a graph.
I hate to be opinionated here: if you love social media no worries. If it is your jam to be an influencer, more power to you! I am very fond of a few creators on YouTube, so I am no luddite. Honestly - this is not a judgment on you - this is my preference. I love coding and making data warehouses, they are my digital zen garden. I’m working on a graphic novel for my kiddo.
My brand? I get it done, I live to solve problems, I learn very quickly.
The reason why I am choosing this path is simple: COVID lockdowns. 2019/2020/2021 unequivocally for me was the worst way to spend a few years.
Toddler and lack of sleep: check.
Lack of ways to communicate with the outside world: check.
Outrage on every media source: check.
Getting tear gassed on my way to work: check. Twice.
Doom Scrolling: check.
Way too much stress: check.
Not being the best me. Check.
What this period in my life meant for me was a survival need to change my habits. After a 2021 trip to Hawai'i, I vowed to make sure that I was being the best me I can. Putting the pandemic in the rear view mirror was a big part of that.
And, like everything in life, this is a marathon, not a sprint.
I’ve committed myself to trying to fill a void in myself: connect through real human contact.
Get out into my local community and help when I can
Engage with folks in a positive way
Stay off of social media
Change to healthy habits
Bring joy whenever and wherever I can
Some of this sounds like cliches, but honestly this works for me. I’m a social creature, but I don’t long for high society, nor do I long for fame. Recognition is enough for me. A high-five goes a long way in my day, or a “fika” with someone I like talking with.
It is another reason why I choose to stay off of social media: I like being kind.
Social media is a windup toy to me, an endless sprint with no real destination. Journeys of discovery may not mean that we ever reach the intended destination, but along the way we discover our perseverance to reach a destination.
I want to keep this as short as possible for this blog. “Being Human“ for me is not to look at this screen everyday. I would be thrilled if you read this, take it in for yourself and enjoy.
If you feel the need to like it: go for it. If not, we’re still good. Maybe liking isn’t your thing: it’s not mine.
I read a post recently about someone who had created an application with what was coined “bad“ code, IE: crappy code. The claim was that this poorly written code was generating tens of thousands of dollars a month. I immediately thought: “Awesome, make sure you pay your taxes, make sure you don’t get sued.“ Because, who knows what this code is really doing or how much profit is being made.
That is all the thought I gave to it: and that was something I had to learn to do.
A lot of other folks though felt the need to comment either with outrage or applause and everything in between: all good. I had to write a reminder to put it in this post!
I saw another post (taken from the note I wrote to myself) and you can always see the start of someone’s frustration in tell tale signs. “It started off with a simple post….“ and yeah one can guess where this leads, as apparitions in the algorithm making their phantasmal engagement. That post got more likes than I ever do! And that is totally A-ok with me. (Hope the person feels ok, TBH).
What I hope the biggest goal I achieved with this is to look beyond the hype of sprinting in the moment to see the marathon. I find that I am so much more content not listening to the influencers I used to. I like being an influence on myself.
My hope is that folks can also take some moments and enjoy living their lives, rather than becoming no more than apparitions of ones and zeros that inhabit the machine.
Be the best you, you can be: that is the most human thing you can do!
Don’t code tired!