Does modern social media strain communication?

I agree. People are more focused on getting content out that will be popular more than anything. I understand social media is a business/job for some. But it's like social media platforms cater to the business part of it more than the social part, so the only thing that matters is how good you are doing on a metric/algorithm system.  

Honestly even as someone who relies on social media to get business (I'm a freelance illustrator) I try to only use it to post art and log off, because if I stay on it long I feel my mental health declining.

i think making friends in person is easier.. when i was like 17 on tumblr it thought it was important to make friends online

Oof, yeah I really feel for artists. It seems like twitter and instagram in particular have y'all over a barrel. I hope something changes soon, because most of the indie alternative I see geared toward art don't have much in the way of getting your work in front of an audience/client base and are more geared around artists networking amongst themselves. That's fine for hobbyists like me, but it's not good enough for freelancers.

 Yeah I totally agree. I think on most of the popular social media platforms these days the goal is popularity rather than connection with other people. I used to spend a lot of time on instagram and I tried to get more popular on an art account (thought it would make me actually like what I made if enough other people did) and usually my interactions with people was kind of hollow. Like at best I got a well thought out comment on a post and I said thank you and maybe liked and commented on some of their posts and that was it. I had a couple people that I could maybe consider instagram friends but we really barely talked other than complimenting eachother's posts and then saying like "thank you! <3". Also tiktok and twitter have character limits so that isn't great for talking to people either. I don't really message people but I think the main thing I do on spacehey is talk to people. I've been on here since summer and I think I'm better friends with people I've known for a few months on here than the people I knew for 1 or more years on instagram. The only like big social media I can think of that prioritizes communication is discord. 

yes and no.

Calling it social media is almost a misnomer at this point.

Calling it social media is almost a misnomer at this point.

Tis like the old saying; "The more we elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate."

Instagram is actually pretty depressing I had to deactivate mine because I felt like my mental health was declining and I'm 26...I could only imagine what the younger generation must feel 

I think social media rewards people who say the most outlandish shit because it garners attention and engagement. It's not a great place to have good conversations if you are always trying to appeal to a certain crowd

Anything with likes/upvotes tends to devolve into a bit of a mess.

i kinda think so lol
i feel like it promotes being terminally online
i know a couple of people whove gone far down the twitter pipeline and its terrifying how people fight over literally nothing :p

Honestly speaking I do feel a General disconnection when it comes to modern social media, like is not as easy to just wanting to make friends with someone on twitter dms, and often they find most of them intruded which is understandable specially on twitter, almost everyone respects everyone's boundaries but even if you have made mutuals there, still does not guarantee you can talk to them on dms and hoping you can be friends with them, I do believe the reason why is there boundaries is because of the amount of toxicity there has been in recent years on the site, the dramas, problems, the amount of politic stuff there has been has made the site feel unpleasant, and it sucks that the only way to get your art recognized is goin through sites like twitter, I rather use instagram but heck, i hate how twitter has changed and how bad lt has become, wish I can just meet peeps, talk and socialize normally without all of that bs that normally happens from the day to day basis there 

Oh yeah definitely. I've made so many friends on Tumblr and absolutely none on TikTok, which I've been on for years, since musical.ly. It's so algorithm oriented that while showing you user created content, you forget that it's even a community at all.

Absolutely!  Making online friends in this age is almost awkward and you just feel annoying. Plus bots make it hard to gain friends on Instagram. I never used any other social media so I can't speak about that. But you really notice it on Instagram bc the focus is set far from friends. 

Great post 

yeah maybe i'm just bad at it but the few 'friends' i've made online (tumblr and discord are what i use) are just somebody i add and then never speak to again. tumblr is a little better since we see and reblog eachothers' stuff but we don't talk. maybe i should just do it? i certainly wouldn't mind if someone messaged me to talk though i would take like 10 mins to decide if my response is good.

i feel very isolated on pretty much any social media that isn't dedicated to chat. even though you see tons of people. this doesn't explain it well, but they just don't feel real for some reason

Capitali

It doesnt help that social media literally creates celebrities nowadays. Im glad ppl can make livings w online stuff but i find it disheartening that the internet is just seen as a cash cow now.

Hey, you've put into words exactly what I've been feeling! It's like modern social media has become a numbers game that makes genuine connections harder. I'm with you on this one – it feels a bit isolating now. By the way, have you thought about giving your content a little boost, and get real SoundCloud plays? It's about focusing on the actual engagement rather than just numbers.

oh it totally is the net is so numbers focused and almost everyone wants to be famous although i was'nt here for  the "good days" i've seen the slow removal of social features from the big site and the only thing we have left is a teeny tiny bio box that people just stuff with links

[ES]

Las redes sociales están hechas para ser adictivas, te muestran solo cosas y gente que comparte el mismo pensamiento que tú para que te sientas más cómodo porque todos siguen apoyando sus mismas ideas entre sí, lo he sentido en piel propia como es que ver una gran cantidad de "me gusta" en un comentario o publicación te hacen sentir bien. A la gente le gusta saber que los demás están de acuerdo con ellos.

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[EN]

Social networks are made to be addictive, they only show you things and people who share the same thoughts as you so that you feel more comfortable because everyone continues to support their same ideas with each other, I have felt it firsthand how it is to see a great number of likes on a comment or post makes you feel good. People like to know that others agree with them.

I do use Discord and have made some good friends on there. I am trying to not use it as much because it feels super corporate, nitro adds everywhere.

I definitely agree with this post because I have accounts for tumblr, facebook, etc. but they are alll dead accounts for a reason. Glad this place exists :)

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Yes, and that's why I don't use them. Never have and never will. The only social media accounts I have out there are on this website and YouTube.