Haha this was great to read. I was a hard hell no when I heard about it and my low level of interest has been confirmed by you and a few others I follow. I couldn’t think of anything worse tbh. It feels like more opinions and well, bullshit. I just can’t do it. It’s not on my radar so no fear of fomo for me. Substack and Insta are my home for now ✨
I am glad I stumbled upon this and that's why I love notes here! I was thinking about trying Threads but I really don't need one more thing to waste my time on!
Love this and it totally echoes my thoughts. I succumbed quickly to the Meta messaging around 'claim your handle now' and so opened up threads. Since then I have opened it 4/5 more times and have never seen such a random home feed. Closing that one back down again straight away!
It's a hard 'No' to anything new from Meta. Partly for the same reasons in your points 8 and 10. I don't (yet) have a new online home, but I'm slowly working out where I want to be (instead of where I'm coerced into being). While I'm going to lose a whole bunch of creative connections by leaving Instagram, I simply cannot give Meta and their mates another second of my valuable life.
I haven't had an insta for some time and never got to grips with it. Same for twitter and the more I hear the less interested I am. I have no social media on my phone and I am sure it saves me hours every day. It's just all too exhausting. I want a real life. Thanks for sharing your expreience of it. :-)
Another wonderful article, Helen. I haven't felt any internal pull to try Threads as I really did not enjoy Twitter when I had it but when I went on my Instagram and saw all the people going on about it I thought "Should I?" I am glad I chose not to leave it. Substack is the place for me.
I’ve not tried and don’t want to for all the reasons you’ve said and I never entertained Twitter either so figured it would t be for me. I’ve only just started on Substack and I’m enjoying this so didn’t want to add another ‘thing’ and detract from this and my creative time. Thank you for your article though as it’s made me feel better about not going there and dappening the fomo feeling as Everyone is on about it!! 🙂❤️
All the desperate FOMO hype about Threads reminds me of the religious people who tried to scare me as a kid about missing out on heaven and going to hell because I wasn't in the uber-religious person's church. 🤔 If a platform is helpful or useful to people why is the FOMO tactic necessary? That tactic makes me suspicious of the folks using it...
Like anything, deciding to take part is a choice about what suits your purposes. I personally find Substack way too noisy now and have scaled back my use considerably (user since Feb 2022).
I suspect it’s a combination - Notes plus too many people clamouring for attention. To me, it’s overwhelming. I’m content to keep my writing on my website.
Re Threads: I’ve heard there will be an enhancement to allow users to choose to see their favourites. That will help. Nevertheless, all these apps are free to use so we can’t control them but we can decide whether to use them or not. 😀
Tried it. Wondered if you would. It’s still on my phone and iPad. I’m sticking with Substack. I like it here. I like the people here. If I miss out, I won’t know it because I won’t be there to find out.
This resonates with me. I joined Threads, and initially found it quite nice to use, but then, oh no, yet another social media site that would pull my brain away from my commitment to experience, a life of slower, more contracted thoughts and my writing. I literally had just made a lovely big plan to slim down all my socials, and yet the FOMO caught me up. Social media is draining, and I am a chronic people pleaser, chronic worrier of whether I fit in and am 'liked'. I need to move away rather than engage with it. Thank you for articulating so elegantly the pitfalls here. And your office is utterly gorgeous.
Yes! Totally yes! I signed up too (didn't want to miss the new must-have), I deactivated about 6 hours later (too much crap). I reactivated in order to promote my Substack, and then deactivated again two hours later. Nope. I just don't want all these random people in my life.
I like what you had to say here Helen. I am not joining Threads. I simply can’t do another social media. It’s too much. I enjoy being here on Substack and having lovely conversations on Notes 💛✨
Haha this was great to read. I was a hard hell no when I heard about it and my low level of interest has been confirmed by you and a few others I follow. I couldn’t think of anything worse tbh. It feels like more opinions and well, bullshit. I just can’t do it. It’s not on my radar so no fear of fomo for me. Substack and Insta are my home for now ✨
I am glad I stumbled upon this and that's why I love notes here! I was thinking about trying Threads but I really don't need one more thing to waste my time on!
Love this and it totally echoes my thoughts. I succumbed quickly to the Meta messaging around 'claim your handle now' and so opened up threads. Since then I have opened it 4/5 more times and have never seen such a random home feed. Closing that one back down again straight away!
It's a hard 'No' to anything new from Meta. Partly for the same reasons in your points 8 and 10. I don't (yet) have a new online home, but I'm slowly working out where I want to be (instead of where I'm coerced into being). While I'm going to lose a whole bunch of creative connections by leaving Instagram, I simply cannot give Meta and their mates another second of my valuable life.
I haven't had an insta for some time and never got to grips with it. Same for twitter and the more I hear the less interested I am. I have no social media on my phone and I am sure it saves me hours every day. It's just all too exhausting. I want a real life. Thanks for sharing your expreience of it. :-)
Another wonderful article, Helen. I haven't felt any internal pull to try Threads as I really did not enjoy Twitter when I had it but when I went on my Instagram and saw all the people going on about it I thought "Should I?" I am glad I chose not to leave it. Substack is the place for me.
I’ve not tried and don’t want to for all the reasons you’ve said and I never entertained Twitter either so figured it would t be for me. I’ve only just started on Substack and I’m enjoying this so didn’t want to add another ‘thing’ and detract from this and my creative time. Thank you for your article though as it’s made me feel better about not going there and dappening the fomo feeling as Everyone is on about it!! 🙂❤️
I still occasionally get a bit of FOMO but I'm fighting it!
I have no desire to go to Threads. The last thing I need is another social account I don’t use. I am sure we won’t regret it.
All the desperate FOMO hype about Threads reminds me of the religious people who tried to scare me as a kid about missing out on heaven and going to hell because I wasn't in the uber-religious person's church. 🤔 If a platform is helpful or useful to people why is the FOMO tactic necessary? That tactic makes me suspicious of the folks using it...
A delightful dose of common sense. Very good to read
Thanks Tom!
Thank you! Dodging that bullet ;)
Haha, yes!
Like anything, deciding to take part is a choice about what suits your purposes. I personally find Substack way too noisy now and have scaled back my use considerably (user since Feb 2022).
Oh that’s interesting, Erica. Is that because of the introduction of Notes or just more people using it?
I suspect it’s a combination - Notes plus too many people clamouring for attention. To me, it’s overwhelming. I’m content to keep my writing on my website.
Re Threads: I’ve heard there will be an enhancement to allow users to choose to see their favourites. That will help. Nevertheless, all these apps are free to use so we can’t control them but we can decide whether to use them or not. 😀
Tried it. Wondered if you would. It’s still on my phone and iPad. I’m sticking with Substack. I like it here. I like the people here. If I miss out, I won’t know it because I won’t be there to find out.
Good plan!
This resonates with me. I joined Threads, and initially found it quite nice to use, but then, oh no, yet another social media site that would pull my brain away from my commitment to experience, a life of slower, more contracted thoughts and my writing. I literally had just made a lovely big plan to slim down all my socials, and yet the FOMO caught me up. Social media is draining, and I am a chronic people pleaser, chronic worrier of whether I fit in and am 'liked'. I need to move away rather than engage with it. Thank you for articulating so elegantly the pitfalls here. And your office is utterly gorgeous.
Yes! Totally yes! I signed up too (didn't want to miss the new must-have), I deactivated about 6 hours later (too much crap). I reactivated in order to promote my Substack, and then deactivated again two hours later. Nope. I just don't want all these random people in my life.
Well done on only taking six hours! I’m impressed.
I like what you had to say here Helen. I am not joining Threads. I simply can’t do another social media. It’s too much. I enjoy being here on Substack and having lovely conversations on Notes 💛✨
Yes, me too🧡