Unplugging

RIP Meta.

In 2005, one of my childhood friends sent me an invitation to join thefacebook.com, a new social network open exclusively to college students. It had recently expanded to high school students as well, so we signed up and joined the fun as well. Honestly, it was not fun in the beginning. I only had a handful of friends for the first few months. Myspace was still very much the vibe back then, along with xanga and livejournal – sites where we could create. But The Facebook was different (yes, it was called The Facebook in the aughts). You didn’t create on it as much as you observed and commented. But it was new. And different. At 15 years old, I loved being the first or one of the first to have something new. Hell, I was the second person in my high school to own a Motorola Razr phone – that was big deal. The Facebook was another new thing that I was excited to be a part of despite not knowing much about it. This was September of 2005.

On January 13 2025, I deleted my Facebook account along with Instagram and FB Messenger. I ulitmately made the decision to do so based on a number of factors, number one being due to how closely Mark Zuckerberg and the Meta team have aligned themselves with the pro-fascist Trump presidential cabinet. Second, and more importantly, being on those apps felt spiritually draining. Comment sections on Facebook and IG reels were filled with grown adults (and bots) hurling vile remarks reeking of xenophobia and stupidity. I tried in earnest to not read comments, but it was like depriving myself of the social aspect of social media. Reading the comments used to be fun. It was a way to interact with the creator and whoever else came across the media. But people got mean. We always say kids are mean, but if those mean kids never fix their behavior, then they become mean adults. And those mean adults become assholes in social media comments. It’s truly exhausting after awhile. The last reason I disconnected? I got bored. After seeing the creativity on TikTok, I grew increasingly bored from the Meta feeds. IG reels were recycled TikToks. The memes were from pre-2018 Tumblr and Twitter, the latter of which I also deleted. First day of school pictures. Insipid political commentary. Xenophobia. OOTD. Clips from idiot podcasters masquerading as journalists. All of it was redundant and boring. And maybe that was my fault. Maybe my algorithm was showing me boring ragebait content because I interacted with boring ragebait content. Either way, I am not sticking around to find out.

I came to Spain to try something new, to break away from old habits, and to grow. I am finding that it takes time to release, to overcome, to expand. The process is not linear nor is it necessarily quick, which, as an Aries, is not fun for me, but I am leaning into it. To be honest, I have no choice but to lean into it and have patience. I am in a town of about 10000 people and infrequent bus service to other parts of the country. Opening up to the unknown will have its challenges, but it’s not impossible. And I haven’t completely ruled out social media. Red Note is quite fun and I wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese anyway, so I’m staying. Bluesky is growing on me and YouTube is YouTube. Moreover, I’ve rediscovered the joy in journaling everyday and I got a library card from the local library. New adventures require new maps and I’m ready to keep exploring.