Remember when social media was fun?
Instagram was full of obviously filtered selfies and sunsets, Twitter was a place for jokes and breaking news (and it was still called Twitter), and Facebook was where you’d tag your friends in embarrassing photos from last night? It wasn’t that long ago, yet somehow it feels like ancient history. Somewhere along the way, the dream of a democratized online space, where people could freely connect and share ideas, has taken a nosedive into influencer “dupes,” endless ads, algorithm mind-games, and the rise of widespread misinformation campaigns. Now, we’re left with a fragmented, oversaturated digital landscape — and for many of us, the party feels like it’s finally over.
Ask anyone in their 20s about their social media use, and you’re bound to get a range of reactions from eye rolls to exasperated sighs. For Gen Z, who grew up with social media in hand, there’s been a recent increasing shift toward prioritizing real-life connections, mental health and creativity over constantly scrolling through a feed. According to a study by Dazed Studio, these younger users are far more likely to opt for niche platforms that align with their identities and values, leaving the major players scrambling to hold their attention. And who can blame them? Between Instagram’s relentless ad creep, TikTok’s shift from creative expression to QVC knockoff, and Twitter’s rebrand to “X,” the apps we once loved feel like they’ve lost the plot entirely.
If you look closely, this exodus speaks to a larger reckoning happening across the digital space. For starters, social media platforms are becoming shockingly homogenous. Take Spotify, for example. For years, it was simply just about streaming music with ease. Now it has a feed that mimics TikTok’s scrolling interface, complete with video snippets and endless “recommended” content generated by AI. If every app looks like every other app, where’s the allure? This shift away from uniqueness signals that social media, once a playground for individuality, is now just a playground for profit. And that, of course, has come with serious consequences.
In its heyday, the promise of social media was intoxicating: connecting with people across the globe, sharing ideas freely, even stirring up social movements that would reshape our world. Twitter, for example, was a revolutionary space for marginalized voices and grassroots movements — from the cultural earthquake of #MeToo and the visibility of Black Twitter? These moments shifted the world in real-time. But with the advent of algorithms that prioritize “engagement” (translation: addiction), our feeds now cater more to advertisers than to actual human interaction. Conversations have given way to clickbait and superficial content that keep us hooked but leave us feeling empty.
And it appears that users are tired of it. Within the last week, at least 115,000 users deactivated their X accounts. They’ve moved over to alternative apps like Threads and BlueSky, which has seen an influx of 1 million new users since Election Day.
hello and welcome to the 1M people that have joined Bluesky in the last week!!!
— Bluesky (@bsky.app) November 12, 2024 at 1:39 PM
But how long will that last? Newer social media apps like BeReal — once lauded as the “authentic” alternative — are already seeing steep drops in daily users just two years in. If we’re looking for a sign of social media fatigue, that’s about as loud as it gets. Even the fast-paced, “snackable” content on TikTok, while still wildly popular, has begun to crack. As platforms pile on ads and influencers compete for clicks, younger users are growing more skeptical, wary of being reduced to a consumer demographic rather than valued members of a digital community.
This is especially ironic when you consider the original allure of social media, back in the days when we were all just trying to stay in touch with friends and start a poke war with our high school crushes. We didn’t have algorithms analyzing our every move or constant ads pushing us to buy face serums and portable fireplaces. We just had a space to be ourselves (or at least, a version of ourselves that didn’t need a PR team). It wasn’t until Big Tech got greedy and turned our personal interactions into data points that things started to spiral. And now, as the social media giants turn their focus toward the next big thing (finding new ways to integrate AI into every single feature), it’s obvious that user satisfaction isn’t anywhere near the top of their list.
Then there’s the thorny issue of trust, or lack thereof. Social media has become a hotbed for misinformation, polarization and performative outrage. We’ve gone from logging on to catch up with friends to scrolling through a never-ending news cycle designed to keep us hooked and stressed out. Slowly, governments are now stepping in, warning citizens about the potential risks of certain platforms. (Looking at you, TikTok bans.) But between all the privacy violations, political ads and user data scandals, social media is no longer the safe digital hangout we thought it was.
Some experts argue that what we’re seeing is a natural evolution — a correction, if you will. Perhaps the golden age of social media, with its initial utopian promise, was always bound to fizzle. What’s left is a digital wasteland of overstimulation and performance. In this environment, is it any wonder that people are looking for something more meaningful, even if that means stepping away from the screen entirely?
Will social media as we knew it ever come back? Probably not. But honestly, maybe that’s for the best. As we step away from the hype machine of traditional platforms, we’re free to find connection in smaller, safer spaces — or, brace yourselves, in the real world. The next time you feel the urge to scroll, maybe you’ll remember the days when your online self didn’t feel like a brand. And who knows? You might even decide to log off.
