>I do agree that it is still a tool to keep in touch with some people, yes, but… Are there no alternatives that require a lower price to pay?
The sustainable alternative I've arrived at is private group chats with notifications disabled. Engagement is entirely on my own terms (i.e., I have to manually open the thing to see any updates), and there's no formalized moderation or amplification because it's human-scale enough to let shared social norms govern it.
It is not trivial, nor as simple as just deleting the app, without understanding what ties us there that can't be changed with just that particular act. We are social animals, our culture has been driven to making social contact through this platforms, at the very least to people that you don't meet in person (i.e. because they are in a different country, busy when you not) or communities.
There are some basic things that you may need in a way or another that in modern world are best solved with some social network mechanism. So it is not a sharp and total cut, but identify those essentials and or limit your usage to them, or provide a alternative channel for all in your communities for that particular communication. And if your network doesn't go to alternatives you will need to reach compromises.
Most of us are not alone, and need to belong to some communities. That is a factor that have to be considered before burning your (needed) bridges.
>I do agree that it is still a tool to keep in touch with some people, yes, but… Are there no alternatives that require a lower price to pay?
The sustainable alternative I've arrived at is private group chats with notifications disabled. Engagement is entirely on my own terms (i.e., I have to manually open the thing to see any updates), and there's no formalized moderation or amplification because it's human-scale enough to let shared social norms govern it.
It is not trivial, nor as simple as just deleting the app, without understanding what ties us there that can't be changed with just that particular act. We are social animals, our culture has been driven to making social contact through this platforms, at the very least to people that you don't meet in person (i.e. because they are in a different country, busy when you not) or communities.
There are some basic things that you may need in a way or another that in modern world are best solved with some social network mechanism. So it is not a sharp and total cut, but identify those essentials and or limit your usage to them, or provide a alternative channel for all in your communities for that particular communication. And if your network doesn't go to alternatives you will need to reach compromises.
Most of us are not alone, and need to belong to some communities. That is a factor that have to be considered before burning your (needed) bridges.