Meet me IRL: putting wellbeing first and leaving social media platforms behind

I recently experienced an ice storm near where I live, leading to trees crumpling under the weight of holding up the thick layer of ice for days. It was the worst ice storm in my area since 1998, and neighbourhoods experienced power outages ranging from 2-10 days. Data networks were so jammed from everyone switching from WiFi to LTE networks that it was rendered useless. While my household only went two days without internet access, we began to feel our brains adjusting to slower living, and the withdrawals from media consumption. I am one of those people who needs media playing in the background, and I felt the absence. I was uncomfortable with my discomfort – a sign of my own digital dependency.

We need to drop out of capitalism. A vast majority of how we meet our basic needs are met are through capitalist markets, because they’ve become commodified. But alternatives exist – from community gardens replacing grocery delivery apps to neighbourhood tool libraries challenging Amazon’s monopoly. I’m arguing that we need to back out, drop out, break up with these systems and drop back into our communities. The online manifestation of this is backing out of social media platforms – especially the Big Tech monopolies and their insidiously extractive privatized and polarized spaces – and leaning on real life interactions.

There has been a new wave of boycotts since Trump’s 2024 inauguration, piggybacking off the anti-Israel boycotts that have been happening, with people continuing to jump-ship from X/Twitter to BlueSky, and a new exodus from Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram. The weeklong boycott of Meta is what pushed me to reduce my time on social media, which I had been struggling to do. I have since removed my Instagram mobile app and only check the site on my desktop for specific purposes; it’s where local groups and businesses post news about events and it’s my main source of news more broadly. I’m using social media more like the tool it is, instead of scrolling to disassociate, self-regulate and escape any time I experience stress and boredom.

With a more mainstream boycott of American products for people to get involved in – not just “activists” – this could be a step towards a shift from large companies. With the BDS movement still going strong for Palestinian solidarity, a recent boycott campaign against the new iPhone in support of the Congo, and de-influencer trends targeting large consumption-machines that are problematic but a step in the right direction, this recent wave away from large social media platforms and towards “buy local” movements here in so-called Canada (which already has a strong sentiment among many after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic), may be enough for a culture shift.

We are seeing a new wave of Canadian nationalism to buy Canadian products – an economic nationalism that’s rooted in the conflation of economic growth with progress, safety and wellbeing. Except, research shows that economic growth doesn’t actually contribute to these, and after a point that Canada has long passed, economic growth actually becomes uneconomic. This means that the costs of economic growth to our health, wellbeing, and ecosystems outweigh the benefits. Social media is no different; for-profit companies run social media platforms to extract data to sell to advertisers, and their algorithms keep us addicted enough to consume content, shop, and create more and more of that data. After a certain point, social media too, becomes harmful to us and our wellbeing. We’re providing free labour for Big Tech and getting screwed out of our own sanity and connections (and reality) for it.

Not to deny some of the legitimate uses of social media, but we also need to learn sufficiently without them. These privatized platforms can change, become dangerous or shut down unexpectedly based on business decisions; increasing climate change impacts often include power outages during extreme weather, shutting us all in the dark.

I’m wondering if this signals a shift away from social media as we know it. Maybe if we organize thoroughly and this trend intensifies, we could see a shift to the next phase of the internet. We’re already shifting to something different than only a few short years ago, with dubious AI generated content, “enshittification” and further polarization through algorithms. We all see a different internet already. How we’re using the internet is changing. Big Tech companies have a monopoly and growing political power over the internet as a private and extractive space. But I argue – or hope – that for some, this could also signal a shift back into the “meat world”. A turn towards our local places instead of this broad and shallow view of what was once the global.

I’ve noticed a growing dissatisfaction with social media and digital technology among my own networks. In part my own echo chamber, I know, but it’s reassuring to see that many others are resistant to relying on AI to create fakes to get through the day (I’m looking at you, ChatGPT!) and reducing mental health decline from social media. I have had two separate conversations in the last week, discussing the need to move information offline and create backups that don’t rely on private clouds. People – at least some people – want off social media platforms. People know that they’re harmful, but they’re addicting. They’re addicted. Although part of the Y2K fashion trend, some youth are switching to “dumbphones” and analog technologies because they are well aware of the overwhelm and mental health risks of these platforms. My household has resurrected a DVD player and started renting from the library to wean off of streaming platforms.

I want this moment to turn outwards to physical local communities. I saw a toolkit that captures this moment and the desire to break up with capitalism. Acknowledging the irony of sharing these resources via online platforms, it shares steps we can take and tools we can use to build back IRL community. We need to drop out of the world of algorithms and back into the real world. Mutual aid groups, supporting libraries, physical media, community gardens, tool and skill shares, redirecting your attention, learning your landscapes, cooking meals, loitering in public spaces, unplugging, and using digital technology selectively and intentionally to further our efforts.

I want to end on something tangible, to give you a sense of what you can actually do to go out in the real world and connect to something physical, without screens and with other people. It’s hard! This is something I’m struggling with myself right now, which is why I needed to write this. I am talking myself into taking action on several ideas, project and actions that I could take as I write this. I don’t know if I’m optimistic enough for this to be a lasting cultural shift – Big Tech's hold on our psychologies is firm. But what I do know is that less attention put towards screens, scrolling and algorithms is beneficial to our wellbeing and screws capitalism while we’re at it.

Photo by Juan Pablo