Okay, I have to go on a bit of a rant here. Normally, I like to keep things interesting, educational, and fun around here, but this week has really gotten to me…
As I attempted to check my personal Instagram account yesterday, I was met with a barrage of ads. Not just regular ads, though- AI “creator” ads. How many, you ask? I stopped counting at twenty-two. You read that right. TWENTY-TWO!!
What Is Going On?
It is insane to not only get that many ads, but AI-generated ones. These were ads for books, online courses, fashion, pet grooming services, some educational program for children, etc. It went on and on. Talk about a waking nightmare! I can only spend so much time blocking accounts or marking them as “Not Interested.” The book ads were the most infuriating. To make matters worse, I woke up this morning to discover that the Cara app had been scraped. This leads me to ask: What are we doing?
I am not going to go into why AI is bad or how it steals from artists because those topics have already been covered by many others online, like in this article I found from 2023. But, seriously, what are we doing?
Should Everything Be Digital?
While uploading all of our data to the interwebs may sound great. Access to all! It has its drawbacks. Digitizing everything is not foolproof. Technology is far from perfect; servers can crash, and data can be lost permanently. It’s smart to have hardcopy backups of vital information.
Does anyone really believe these ads and bot-generated products are good? Have we lost all sense of creativity and satisfaction from putting in actual… work? Another thing I’ve noticed is that the longer I have stayed on social media, the less social my life has actually become. I remember getting upset when I lost my original Facebook account (for no reason, but that’s another story). It’s just an app! An app that none of us really need.
Is Social Media Worth It in 2026?
Every time I try to have a conversation with others about this online, I end up getting unsolicited marketing advice or excuses for why we must stay on social media. But it’s not addicting or a crutch or anything. We all kept in touch with our friends and family just fine before the internet even existed. And for the younger crowd, it was great! Not being available 24-7 was actually a good thing. Also, the excitement and joy of receiving a letter or postcard from someone and recognizing their handwriting! Yeah, I guess this makes me old and unc! Haha! But, seriously, how much are you willing to sacrifice for AI and social media?
Is the FOMO enough of a reason to keep these apps? Are you seriously concerned that if you don’t have Facebook, or X/Twitter, or TikTok, you will:
- Lose contact with friends and family (aside from sending each other funny memes and reels)
- Be out of touch with what is happening in pop culture or with world events?
- Lose business
- Get bored
- Feel left behind
I posted about this on Threads, and one user who responded was refreshingly honest. They agreed that they don’t really need social media and are using it mainly out of habit at this point. They ended by saying, if their friends and family want to keep in touch, they have their number.
Weird Practices That Have Become Normalized
Another interesting topic of conversation that came up recently was practices that have become normalized that are very not normal since getting social media. Such as filming everything; oversharing with strangers online; parents making money off their children without their child’s actual consent; filming strangers and posting it online; gender reveal parties; making an entire career out of reaction videos or making fun of bad TikToks; filming yourself crying; faking content for internet clout; the list could go on.
Where to Go From Here?
Google already killed the original SEO-based algorithm; Instagram took away our hashtags. Pay-to-play seems to be what these mega corporations really want, especially from small business owners such as myself. Some users are reporting as much as a 40-50% drop in engagement. There are always solutions or alternatives to all of the above. It’s not a matter of being left behind, but rather choosing a different path. However, if being on social media is genuinely adding value to your life or business, keep at it! As for me, I am seeing fewer and fewer reasons to stay. I deleted my most recent Facebook account a couple of months ago and haven’t looked back. FREEDOM!!!
Thanks for reading my rant and attending my TED Talk! I don’t have all the answers or everything figured out, but I do try to keep things human, sane, and balanced. Let me know your thoughts below.
