Fantastic piece. I have a battle with what social media is for me constantly, to the point where I take two-week sabbaticals every month to give myself breath and to ensure what I create and who I am comes from experiencing the world without needing to capture it all in real time. There are things I want to share — that’s what I love most, curating thoughts and sharing them for others to discuss with me, but AFTER I’ve had time with the experience. I need time. We all do. The reactionary culture and the thirst for celebrity-ship gets us further away from the beauty of patience, privacy, and purpose. Bisan is seeking refuge and peace in her urgency, because that is literally all she has. While others are just addicted to its chains with no real tether to why they must wake up in the morning to endure the chaos and inconsistency of the timeline.
It’s such a mixed bag. I remember when platforms and outlets didn’t construct themselves for us to be hooked to them. We’re long gone from that.
Thank you for this piece. I’m a new reader (and now subscriber) ❤️
Sheesh. Thank you so much for subscribing and for sharing this comment, Cynthia. A lot here I want to sit with.
I envy the two-week sabbatical. So much of my pondering about social media comes from my career being in brand social media. On a personal level, I’ve enjoyed social as a way to express myself. But over the years, I’ve been struck by how disorienting the world is and, of course, how our feeds and timelines reflect that. I’d love to find small ways to create more separation because I agree with you being able to take a breath is important.
Also, I appreciate you sharing that note about Bisan and urgency. She doesn’t have a choice. It’s important for us to acknowledge that we do, but we can’t stop there. May that acknowledgment lead us to becoming radicalized toward action.
Great analysis of how social media can be such a double-edge sword and dilute important messages into just one more reel that pops up into our feeds. Without it, we wouldn't be able to get first-hand accounts on many situations and from the people on the ground; with it, these very same people risk becoming another influencer that people will pay attention to for as long as the headlines keep rolling, making them another trend to be aware of and forgetting the reality they experience and try to share with the rest of the world will still be there once people turn their eyes to the next conflict.
Thank you, Cristina! “Double-edge sword” is exactly what I was looking to convey. And I love that you mentioned dilution too.
I watched a webinar the other day titled “Is There (Really) A Black Feminist Movement?” and one of the panelists, Adwoa Owusu-Barnieh, shared this thought: “So many people have to dilute themselves to fit the algorithm. But who does the algorithm have in mind? White people.”
I’m always hoping we can re-examine our interactions with capitalism, celebrity, social media, etc., so we can be clear-eyed about our current reality while fighting for something new.
I was glad to have come across your analysis before as I could see so many overlaps, especially in how Shetty has tried to create a sort of spirituality that can encompass as many without being specific to anyone (???) and therefore, once again, all remains quite diluted and irrelevant but it's good food for the algorithm. And of course it makes white people feel great about liking someone ethnic :) which somehow makes them not question the foundation of their message and where it comes from. But what do I know? Following Shetty is easier than actually reading a book about Buddishm or learning from someone who actually practices what they preach instead of spreading one-lines on social media...
Ok yes! I saw someone share this on Twitter the other day and bookmarked it to read later. Thank you for sending. Definitely going to spend some time with this.
Alex, this is excellent. Loved the quote from Toni Cade Bambara: “As a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible.”
Especially loved your follow-up challenge/reflection: “What is the work we can't scroll past because the revolution it calls forth is so captivating?” You’ve again provided me something to gnaw on for a very long time.
Thanks, Brad! I appreciate you spending time with it. Also, I’m grateful for the work you do online and in person to help us better care for one another. I’m glad we’re in this together ❤️
I've been struggling with social media for a while now, there are days when it all feels like white noise in the background with nothing meaningful on. The constant push to create and consume content can be exhausting. I get hit with content fatigue that I sometimes have to block the apps on my phone for weeks just to find some peace. It’s like we’re all on this treadmill, trying to keep up with what algorithms say we should care about, while real life slips by.
Thanks for the comment, Ohenewah. I’m with you. It feels like everything happens on social media and nothing at all. It broadcasts our lives while often keeping us from living our lives. I often feel too far gone in my Internet obsession, but it’s helpful to understand there’s another way.
I loved reading this. It's nice to pull back from false realities to real and honest words. I'm new to Substack and so far, it has been a refreshing place. Your piece was really interesting and engaging throughout :).
I believe we are currently in a trial phase. The real consequences of social media have already been shown, yet we are still waiting to see how that will turn for the worse. We need to witness something more drastic, and I suppose that is what we are all anticipating. Our lives will never be the same, but we haven't been fully shaken yet. We will then have to make real choices about whether we want this to continue or not.
Hi Ruqiya, welcome! I appreciate you making time to read this essay. I’m glad it connected with you. I believe that’s an accurate assessment. I’m glad more people are waking up to the horrors and our collective power. Holding onto hope we’ll continue to see more people joining the fight. Thank you for being here.
oh wow, this was good and it's so much to think about. after being on social media since forever and studying communication, it's a little disorienting to be up there now. to notice the pull. to go from dancing videos to dead bodies is jarring. thank you for this piece.
Thank you, Kamil. I appreciate it. It is disorienting! Honestly, I’m still unsure of how much this shift has impacted my mental and emotional health. It’s a lot. I’m hoping we can reach for the care we need. Thank you again.
I wasn't expecting the turn this article took, but I loved it. This is a great read and really tapped into the helplessness I Have felt while watching our sisters and brothers in Palestine be slaughtered. Content Creation is such an interesting thing.
Lmao I was worried about making that turn. I hope it helped illustrate how disorienting the timeline feels. Thank you for reading and offering such kind words, Stanley. One thing I just thought about with content creation is how we’re all in on the joke. We know it’s weird. We know it’s unnatural. And here we all are doing it lol
You are not screaming into the void and I do believe that things are shifting. It is frustrating and mind boggling to see people arrange their life activities around 'creating content', I can't even begin to get into the discussion what 'creation' actually means :) - however, as someone who does not work in social media, I might have to offer a more hopeful perspective? Five months into this genocide I still see numbers increasing at protests, we hear stocks for brands falling because of boycotts, I see people change in my group of friends and even mainstream media has started turning in the tone they use, even more politicians are calling for a ceasefire , when they didn't before (of course that is also motivated by votes, but at this point I don't care why someone calls for cease-fire tbh). They thought we would let up after two weeks but I hear the noise get louder! I am devastated every day, but I remain hopeful when I see how many people are engaging with change every day. Just this week a friend of mine went to the Egyptian / Palestinian border with a group to donate food and clothes that they raised in just a couple of weeks.
I know the revolution is a marathon not a sprint, but I refuse to let social media take my hope.
What it has actually done for me is that I have lost all interest and desire in celebrity cult and influencers. They have lost all their appeal and meaning for me.
Many say social media activism doesn't work and it's pointless, there is truth to that. But it's not the only truth.
Without social media we would not know the extent of what's going on in Palestine.
And if social media can make stupid content famous, if it works to make people rich - than why would it not work to bring about change? It can be used as a force for good as well.
1000%. Thank you for amplifying the ongoing and ever-increasing progress. There is devastation, and there is also hope. I remain hopeful, too. Social media feeds and timelines are absolutely disorienting, but I'm glad we continue to speak. I'm glad we continue to find ways to join with others. Recognizing how the state works, how these platforms work, helps us to look beyond the distractions and focus on what really matters—bringing about change and being forces for good. Thank you for this comment, Nadia.
Thanks for writing this. Definitely softens something in me that needs it to see people looking at all of this through a critical lens.
I remember sitting in a coffee shop in 2015 watching a woman in line try to take a picture of her toddler. It took ~10 different takes and I wondered what kind of life it was going to be for this generation of kids growing up with cameras in their faces. A few weeks after that, I was on the beach in San Diego and a kid of about 12 was asking his mom to take pictures of him, and checking each one to make sure it was to his liking.
I think about everything you wrote here all the time. And I think about for those of us that have been on these platforms for many years and built communities and audiences for bodies of work, and how at a certain point the platforms said hey this whole community that you spent years building? Only a small % will be seeing what you post unless you pay for advertising. I wonder at what point people are going to start getting some shame and feeling silly each time they follow another trend. I wonder how many hours of the day some people spend brainstorming how to commodify their existence for the benefit of… What?
Elizabeth, thank you for reading. Also, thank you for this comment! This is a word: “ I wonder how many hours of the day some people spend brainstorming how to commodify their existence…”
Social media has become the marketplace, the workspace, the dressing room, the court room – you name it. And of course, it’s all a reflection of the systems that contain it: imperialism, capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, etc.
It’s this mental gymnastics of how we leverage social media for good while understanding it can only go so far because of all the factors and resulting behaviors you mentioned. How do we hold the online world loosely no matter how heavily we must depend on it?
Wonderful piece, man. Trying to really understand what it even means "to make revolution irresistible.” Especially in this age of performative protest and action. Then again, the way you wrote those I had to comment. You are doing the work.
Thank you, bro. Appreciate you spending time with it and sharing your thoughts.
I’m with you. I’m trying to understand what it means to make revolution irresistible too. Let’s figure it out together.
One of the books I’m curious to start reading is “Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century” by James & Grace Lee Boggs.
The preface begins: “We have written this book for those Americans of our time who have become aware of the need for profound and drastic change in this country, who want to do something to improve human life and are ready to dedicate their lives to this goal, but who are unable to see a path, a direction for their dedication…” Feels timely.
I appreciate you for calling me in. I think I should check it out. Reading this and reading Noha’s latest post really moved me this morning. I’ve been sitting on the sidelines like a coward. Maybe that’s what I needed.
Thank you for the grace, fam. I definitely didn’t mean for that to be a call-in. More so, I shared it in the spirit of learning and processing together. I’m right there with you, truly.
Grateful for you. Could I DM you. I would love to know how you are processing this as a brother who looks like me. I’m struggling, but also don’t want to labor you with my feelings. Just helpful to see someone else doing the work so boldly. I hope you are holding space for yourself to feel the love and care you deserve.
Fantastic piece. I have a battle with what social media is for me constantly, to the point where I take two-week sabbaticals every month to give myself breath and to ensure what I create and who I am comes from experiencing the world without needing to capture it all in real time. There are things I want to share — that’s what I love most, curating thoughts and sharing them for others to discuss with me, but AFTER I’ve had time with the experience. I need time. We all do. The reactionary culture and the thirst for celebrity-ship gets us further away from the beauty of patience, privacy, and purpose. Bisan is seeking refuge and peace in her urgency, because that is literally all she has. While others are just addicted to its chains with no real tether to why they must wake up in the morning to endure the chaos and inconsistency of the timeline.
It’s such a mixed bag. I remember when platforms and outlets didn’t construct themselves for us to be hooked to them. We’re long gone from that.
Thank you for this piece. I’m a new reader (and now subscriber) ❤️
Sheesh. Thank you so much for subscribing and for sharing this comment, Cynthia. A lot here I want to sit with.
I envy the two-week sabbatical. So much of my pondering about social media comes from my career being in brand social media. On a personal level, I’ve enjoyed social as a way to express myself. But over the years, I’ve been struck by how disorienting the world is and, of course, how our feeds and timelines reflect that. I’d love to find small ways to create more separation because I agree with you being able to take a breath is important.
Also, I appreciate you sharing that note about Bisan and urgency. She doesn’t have a choice. It’s important for us to acknowledge that we do, but we can’t stop there. May that acknowledgment lead us to becoming radicalized toward action.
Thank you bro 🙏🏿
Love you fam
Great analysis of how social media can be such a double-edge sword and dilute important messages into just one more reel that pops up into our feeds. Without it, we wouldn't be able to get first-hand accounts on many situations and from the people on the ground; with it, these very same people risk becoming another influencer that people will pay attention to for as long as the headlines keep rolling, making them another trend to be aware of and forgetting the reality they experience and try to share with the rest of the world will still be there once people turn their eyes to the next conflict.
Thank you, Cristina! “Double-edge sword” is exactly what I was looking to convey. And I love that you mentioned dilution too.
I watched a webinar the other day titled “Is There (Really) A Black Feminist Movement?” and one of the panelists, Adwoa Owusu-Barnieh, shared this thought: “So many people have to dilute themselves to fit the algorithm. But who does the algorithm have in mind? White people.”
I’m always hoping we can re-examine our interactions with capitalism, celebrity, social media, etc., so we can be clear-eyed about our current reality while fighting for something new.
Yesterday I was thinking of you as I was reading this - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2024/feb/29/jay-shetty-self-help-empire
I was glad to have come across your analysis before as I could see so many overlaps, especially in how Shetty has tried to create a sort of spirituality that can encompass as many without being specific to anyone (???) and therefore, once again, all remains quite diluted and irrelevant but it's good food for the algorithm. And of course it makes white people feel great about liking someone ethnic :) which somehow makes them not question the foundation of their message and where it comes from. But what do I know? Following Shetty is easier than actually reading a book about Buddishm or learning from someone who actually practices what they preach instead of spreading one-lines on social media...
Ok yes! I saw someone share this on Twitter the other day and bookmarked it to read later. Thank you for sending. Definitely going to spend some time with this.
I was just reading The Cut’s interview with Reesa Teesa and saw a lot of overlap too, especially on the note of all of us being susceptible to becoming celebrities whether we want to or not – https://www.thecut.com/article/reesa-teesa-who-tf-did-i-marry-interview.html
Oh need to check that out! Exchanges like these is why I love Substack
Same 🥰🥰🥰
Alex, this is excellent. Loved the quote from Toni Cade Bambara: “As a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible.”
Especially loved your follow-up challenge/reflection: “What is the work we can't scroll past because the revolution it calls forth is so captivating?” You’ve again provided me something to gnaw on for a very long time.
Thanks, Brad! I appreciate you spending time with it. Also, I’m grateful for the work you do online and in person to help us better care for one another. I’m glad we’re in this together ❤️
This was so good to read and so well written.
I've been struggling with social media for a while now, there are days when it all feels like white noise in the background with nothing meaningful on. The constant push to create and consume content can be exhausting. I get hit with content fatigue that I sometimes have to block the apps on my phone for weeks just to find some peace. It’s like we’re all on this treadmill, trying to keep up with what algorithms say we should care about, while real life slips by.
Thanks for the comment, Ohenewah. I’m with you. It feels like everything happens on social media and nothing at all. It broadcasts our lives while often keeping us from living our lives. I often feel too far gone in my Internet obsession, but it’s helpful to understand there’s another way.
I loved reading this. It's nice to pull back from false realities to real and honest words. I'm new to Substack and so far, it has been a refreshing place. Your piece was really interesting and engaging throughout :).
I believe we are currently in a trial phase. The real consequences of social media have already been shown, yet we are still waiting to see how that will turn for the worse. We need to witness something more drastic, and I suppose that is what we are all anticipating. Our lives will never be the same, but we haven't been fully shaken yet. We will then have to make real choices about whether we want this to continue or not.
Hi Ruqiya, welcome! I appreciate you making time to read this essay. I’m glad it connected with you. I believe that’s an accurate assessment. I’m glad more people are waking up to the horrors and our collective power. Holding onto hope we’ll continue to see more people joining the fight. Thank you for being here.
oh wow, this was good and it's so much to think about. after being on social media since forever and studying communication, it's a little disorienting to be up there now. to notice the pull. to go from dancing videos to dead bodies is jarring. thank you for this piece.
Thank you, Kamil. I appreciate it. It is disorienting! Honestly, I’m still unsure of how much this shift has impacted my mental and emotional health. It’s a lot. I’m hoping we can reach for the care we need. Thank you again.
Alex this is so so good
Thank you so much, Steph. Thank you for reading.
You've got me speechless. This might be my new favorite piece from you. Great writing.
Damn. Thank you, Jonathan. Holding this close. I deeply appreciate it.
This is so good.
Thank you so much, Frankie. I appreciate you making the time to give it a read!
I wasn't expecting the turn this article took, but I loved it. This is a great read and really tapped into the helplessness I Have felt while watching our sisters and brothers in Palestine be slaughtered. Content Creation is such an interesting thing.
Lmao I was worried about making that turn. I hope it helped illustrate how disorienting the timeline feels. Thank you for reading and offering such kind words, Stanley. One thing I just thought about with content creation is how we’re all in on the joke. We know it’s weird. We know it’s unnatural. And here we all are doing it lol
You are not screaming into the void and I do believe that things are shifting. It is frustrating and mind boggling to see people arrange their life activities around 'creating content', I can't even begin to get into the discussion what 'creation' actually means :) - however, as someone who does not work in social media, I might have to offer a more hopeful perspective? Five months into this genocide I still see numbers increasing at protests, we hear stocks for brands falling because of boycotts, I see people change in my group of friends and even mainstream media has started turning in the tone they use, even more politicians are calling for a ceasefire , when they didn't before (of course that is also motivated by votes, but at this point I don't care why someone calls for cease-fire tbh). They thought we would let up after two weeks but I hear the noise get louder! I am devastated every day, but I remain hopeful when I see how many people are engaging with change every day. Just this week a friend of mine went to the Egyptian / Palestinian border with a group to donate food and clothes that they raised in just a couple of weeks.
I know the revolution is a marathon not a sprint, but I refuse to let social media take my hope.
What it has actually done for me is that I have lost all interest and desire in celebrity cult and influencers. They have lost all their appeal and meaning for me.
Many say social media activism doesn't work and it's pointless, there is truth to that. But it's not the only truth.
Without social media we would not know the extent of what's going on in Palestine.
And if social media can make stupid content famous, if it works to make people rich - than why would it not work to bring about change? It can be used as a force for good as well.
1000%. Thank you for amplifying the ongoing and ever-increasing progress. There is devastation, and there is also hope. I remain hopeful, too. Social media feeds and timelines are absolutely disorienting, but I'm glad we continue to speak. I'm glad we continue to find ways to join with others. Recognizing how the state works, how these platforms work, helps us to look beyond the distractions and focus on what really matters—bringing about change and being forces for good. Thank you for this comment, Nadia.
Thanks for writing this. Definitely softens something in me that needs it to see people looking at all of this through a critical lens.
I remember sitting in a coffee shop in 2015 watching a woman in line try to take a picture of her toddler. It took ~10 different takes and I wondered what kind of life it was going to be for this generation of kids growing up with cameras in their faces. A few weeks after that, I was on the beach in San Diego and a kid of about 12 was asking his mom to take pictures of him, and checking each one to make sure it was to his liking.
I think about everything you wrote here all the time. And I think about for those of us that have been on these platforms for many years and built communities and audiences for bodies of work, and how at a certain point the platforms said hey this whole community that you spent years building? Only a small % will be seeing what you post unless you pay for advertising. I wonder at what point people are going to start getting some shame and feeling silly each time they follow another trend. I wonder how many hours of the day some people spend brainstorming how to commodify their existence for the benefit of… What?
Elizabeth, thank you for reading. Also, thank you for this comment! This is a word: “ I wonder how many hours of the day some people spend brainstorming how to commodify their existence…”
Social media has become the marketplace, the workspace, the dressing room, the court room – you name it. And of course, it’s all a reflection of the systems that contain it: imperialism, capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, etc.
It’s this mental gymnastics of how we leverage social media for good while understanding it can only go so far because of all the factors and resulting behaviors you mentioned. How do we hold the online world loosely no matter how heavily we must depend on it?
Wonderful piece, man. Trying to really understand what it even means "to make revolution irresistible.” Especially in this age of performative protest and action. Then again, the way you wrote those I had to comment. You are doing the work.
Thank you, bro. Appreciate you spending time with it and sharing your thoughts.
I’m with you. I’m trying to understand what it means to make revolution irresistible too. Let’s figure it out together.
One of the books I’m curious to start reading is “Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century” by James & Grace Lee Boggs.
The preface begins: “We have written this book for those Americans of our time who have become aware of the need for profound and drastic change in this country, who want to do something to improve human life and are ready to dedicate their lives to this goal, but who are unable to see a path, a direction for their dedication…” Feels timely.
I appreciate you for calling me in. I think I should check it out. Reading this and reading Noha’s latest post really moved me this morning. I’ve been sitting on the sidelines like a coward. Maybe that’s what I needed.
Thank you for the grace, fam. I definitely didn’t mean for that to be a call-in. More so, I shared it in the spirit of learning and processing together. I’m right there with you, truly.
Grateful for you. Could I DM you. I would love to know how you are processing this as a brother who looks like me. I’m struggling, but also don’t want to labor you with my feelings. Just helpful to see someone else doing the work so boldly. I hope you are holding space for yourself to feel the love and care you deserve.
Absolutely, I’d love that!
Very good piece.
Thank you 🙏🏽