I have constantly avoided using popular social media like Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat etc when I was on reddit. I thought I had best of all worlds being on reddit as it has cumulated posts from all social media. I was feeling that I'm being much more ahead of all the people around me by consuming qualify stuff and not algorithm driven stuff.
But since I have left reddit, I have been closed to all the stuff I used to follow and stuff which aren't there on lemmy yet. I don't usually follow mainstream news either, feeling if something is big enough iit will reach me some way or the other. After my exit from reddit, I have been closed from the news about my interests too. Currently my only source of any news is one small discord server where people share stuff from twitter and thats it.
Recently I have been starting to think if it's all worth it to live like a perfect outcast who has 0 relatable things to share with people irl. All people around me talk about that funny meme that's been trending, that news which got viral and that trendy song which got hype recently and I don't have any idea what they're talking about. I have been feeling very confused on what I've been doing till now. Idk if it's all worth it being the way I am.
Also since I have become a privacy freak too, it adds more repulsive feelings to use mainstream social media. And this also got me thinking maybe privacy thing is not something I should even fight for. Just blend into the public and just enjoy stuff.
Idk, I have constructed this "superior" all different character of mine only to find I just don't have the personality irl to back up the character I've created and was longing to have something to be relatable to people.
( I know lemmy has majority population who are older who would feel easy to say I'm doing great being way from normie media but I'd like to be more open and hear some thoughts from gen z people or a perspective from gen z a bit more. All views are welcome tho <3)
Tldr: Having mixed feelings about staying away from mainstream social media, being a privacy freak and feeling if it is all worth doing this all anymore.
I use Lemmy and moved here in protest of the Reddit API pricing changes, but I'm not entirely opposed to other forms of social media. I'm aware of the privacy implications of a lot of them, and try to manage my use of them accordingly. I have Instagram and Snapchat etc which I have used for years to keep in touch with friends. 90% of my friends use Facebook messagenger to IM and I think that's pretty standard in Australia. I can't justify cutting that many people off for privacy reasons. I understand the privacy implications of using these. It's a balance. Social media can be bad for mental health, but a lack of social connection can be too. You need to find your own balance.