The Social Media Use Thread

disneysamuraidisneysamurai
edited September 2025 in General

Which social media platforms do you use (or used to use, or will never use even if your life depended on it?). Here’s my personal take on platforms

Facebook- I was actually one of the first users of facebook when it was simply a tool for college students especially on relatively large campuses to meet each other. It was like a much cleaner and easier to use version of MySpace. I remember you had to have a college email to register and on your wall you could put what courses you were taking and meet people also taking those classes. Jump forward 20 years and shitshow is an understatement to describe Facebook. Time and energy-wasting arguments, conspiracy theories, etc. Final straw for me was at the very beginning of this year when the algorithm was set up to show me much less of what I’m interested in seeing and more ads, rage-bait news articles, etc. - stuff that I asked not to see that somehow keeps popping back up. I deactivated on Jan 2, and considering all the craziness that has been going around this year I can’t imagine how much worse it has gotten, so I just flat out deleted my account this past week.

Twitter/X - Never really used it. I had an account back in the mid 2010s to follow Game of Thrones actors but didn’t use it much and really haven’t used it since then, and let’s keep it that way.

TikTok - God awful. Epitome of worst of the worst. Never had an account and you couldn’t pay me to have one. When people speak about the ills of social media nowadays they are usually referring to TikTok. Problem is TikTok bleeds into social media platforms in the form of shorts and stories and has really had a negative impact on the way people think and act nowadays.

Instagram - My favorite out of all of them, but maybe that’s because I got lucky with the algorithm or the algorithm isn’t just feeing you crap. I get to see what I want and that’s all that’s on my feed. In other words you feel you’re more in control. But again that’s just my personal experience.

YouTube - Was once great but has gotten really bad as of late. I have premium membership so I don’t have to see ads (which I hear have gotten way worse over the last few years) but even then YouTube seems to favor shoving news broadcasts in everyone’s face. I guess because cable is going extinct, the news has to find another medium to broadcast and that medium is YouTube. Comment sections are also much like what you find on Facebook. I still like to use YouTube to watch entertaining videos but a lot of times it can be difficult navigating through what the algorithm wants to show you.

Snapchat - I don’t know if this counts as social media. I have an account, but I rarely use it. I recently rebooted it because some pros like to use it for virtual sessions. Other than that, I don’t look at it.

Reddit - Seems to have taken over Google searches and influences the AI results. Since Reddit is largely unfiltered, take what you see as a grain of salt.

Discord - mainly use it for specific Japanese groups I’m a part of. I don’t have much to say about it since I don’t really use it outside of that.

Comments

  • JubalJubal

    Facebook - for all it's flaws, it's useful for keeping in contact with my local communities, and I get a surprising number of new tax clients through it.

    Youtube is useful for me to record and display demonstration videos, although it is annoying to have so many of them age-restricted.

    Otherwise I generally don't use major social media.

  • disneysamuraidisneysamurai

    @Jubal oh nice you do taxes too? I mostly do corporate income tax but also have experience doing individual and partnership.

  • [Deleted User]WriterGF (deleted user)

    Facebook and Instagram. If you are getting a lot of news videos you don't want on YouTube, block the channels.

  • disneysamuraidisneysamurai

    @WriterGF problem is it’s like fighting a hydra. For every news video you block, five others appear in its place so you’ll be blocking essentially forever. Every news station has a YouTube page now and I’m getting shown local networks for some random town out in Kansas for example. Many channels also get around blocking by creating alternate accounts. Facebook has the same issue and that’s why I just deleted it.

  • SelfMadeJaySelfMadeJay

    In the listed order:

    Facebook used to be a favorite of mine dating way back to 2008 up to 2022. I've had friends IRL that were also on the site as well as some friends out of state that I kept in contact with during my 20's around the 2010's. Was also in a couple of sports and anime groups as well, FB was by far my favorite social media outlet the past decade and it wasn't even close. I would say around 2020 my interest in the site waned and it was about the time that it was getting flooded with ads and AI bots which is now becoming a norm on social media as a whole. I barely used it in my final year of it in 2022 but when I tried to log back into it, it got hijacked and I was forced to erase my account. Had that happened in 2016 or something I would've been PISSED but it happened when I was losing interest in Facebook so it's just an annoyance that it's gone but I don't feel the need to recreate another account. FB ain't what it used to be and some friends that I've met on there have since gone away from it as well.

    As far as Twitter/X goes, I've only used it for the purpose of farming memes, checking out alternative news sites and info on new releases on movies or games. It's a decent site to garner info as it happens but I've stopped engaging in conversation with certain people there. Especially when it's election year, way too much toxicity in that site.

    Tiktok, you would not catch me dead on that platform. If anything I pin that as the solid source on everything that's wrong with social media today. Not for nothing it does have people who put out solid, informative content but it's easily drowned out by the brainrot that constantly trends on it. Too many cons for the pros to get noticed.

    Instagram is currently my go to social site and where I now keep up with friends and even contact a few strangers if they're up for conversation. I do agree with you OP that the algorithm there "Gets you" and it has learned enough of my likes and dislikes on the site. Some people might see that as invasion of what they check for online but to me it's beneficial. It's also great for those starting businesses for I have even shopped for products that are advertised to me.

    YouTube was GOATED in it's first 10 years of existence. It's far from what it used to be but it's serviceable. It's my 2nd most liked platform behind IG and I do watch some videos to my liking at least a few times a day. The YouTube Movie section has definitely become a lot more optional now and MANY gems of old and even some solid movies from a few years back can be seen for free (with ads of course) so you could go on a nostalgia trip for a day if you wanted to. My net negative is the comments section though. I've gotten tired of certain comments of mine getting randomly deleted and I just don't bother with that part of YouTube anymore.

    Snapchat kinda seemed like a pre-evolved form of Tiktok so I never bothered with it. In present day I would deem it obsolete because you can also use IG and even YouTube for short form content so yeah, never cared for it.

    Reddit, depends on what community you go on. One day you can have a civil conversation with some people on a forum even with those that don't agree with you and the next, you're dragged into a war of text with some unhinged basement dweller filled with profanity, ad hominems, gaslighting and just plain clownery. It's truly a double edged sword.

    I once used Discord to keep tabs with an anime group that I followed 7 years ago and it was fun but when the group closed, I never had much use for it because I had Facebook for that type of engagement back then.

    Forgive me if that was a lot more ramble than intended. 😄I couldn't help but to go into detail

  • Carrie_AnneCarrie_Anne
    edited September 2025

    Reddit
    and Instagram

  • disneysamuraidisneysamurai

    @SelfMadeJay yep, forgot about how annoying it is how your comments randomly get deleted on YouTube as well as certain videos not allowing you to comment when there’s something you really want to say or you want to see other peoples reaction. I think the bulk of frustration on YouTube though is for the content creators, especially those who made YouTube their full time job. It has gotten to the point where any tiny infraction will get a channel demonetized or deplatformed. One guy I follow recently got demonetized just due to a glitch on YouTube’s part and he has to go two months without getting paid.

  • TxTomTxTom

    I still have nostalgic feelings for those pioneering days of the "information superhighway." It was all very exciting and new, and most people had no idea how the "world wide web" would revolutionize society.

    My first foray into this new digital world was via...

    These were the days when sites were mostly text, before the bulky graphics monopolized all of a screen's real estate---requiring seemingly endless scrolling.

    I had a good time conversing in the chat rooms, selecting either a topic or a geographic region. But mostly I played chess with complete strangers from who knows where.

    Dating sites were in their infancy, as well. It was very, very easy to connect with someone and then transition quickly with them to the real world. Alas, these were the idyllic days---before paywalls, before the site's gimmicks, before all the fake accounts, and before the creeps and con artists spoiled it for everyone.

    However, I experienced burnout within a couple of years, and life just got busy. The social media explosion of the early 2000s, and for the next ten years or so, largely passed me by.

    I created a MySpace account, but did nothing with it. Later, I created a LinkedIn account, primarily because all the other professionals at the architect firm had one. I still have that account, recently updated it, but I don't really utilize it.

    After my marriage ended, I recalled how years earlier I had heard about this thing called "professional cuddling." And so here I am... on cuddlecomfort.

    I really enjoy the dichotomy of this site. For me, the forums are reminiscent of those days so long ago on Yahoo! chat. And, yet, the real world side of the site keeps everything fresh and prevents burnout. CC is really my first longterm relationship with any social media.

    A few years ago, one of my first Pro cuddlers introduced me to Instagram. She urged me to create an account so I could get up to speed on social media for the sake of my kid. But like most of my other accounts, that page, too, has remained mostly devoid of content.

    And that's my social media use story.

  • disneysamuraidisneysamurai

    @TxTom yep, I remember when Yahoo looked like that and also played chess/checkers with random people. I also remember search engines like Alta Vista, Lycos, etc. and website hosting sites like geocities, angelfire and tripod. Also remember chat rooms and how you could get hacked to oblivion on one because there weren’t nearly as many safeguards in place and your IP address was visible.

  • TheDave90TheDave90

    I use Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and reluctantly X but I very rarely post anything on them.

  • [Deleted User]WriterGF (deleted user)

    @disneysamurai That's interesting. I usually only get that if I have watched similar videos and then the algorithm goes nuts. I watched a couple of courtroom videos and then had to spend a few days blocking channels.

  • KatotaKatota
    edited September 2025

    My preferred social media site aside from CC, cannot be named here...🤫🤐🤫🤐

    My name can be found on Facebook, but you will never find ME on Facebook. 😁😆

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    I have an X account for my business and a Signal account for staying in touch with some former colleagues. I also have a Reddit account I never post to but that I use for keeping up with a couple niche topics I follow.

    I’ve never used Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or anything else.

  • MeltWithMilesMeltWithMiles

    Great Q!

    I'm embarrassed to admit that I still log in to Facebook. The food reels and friend updates are still compelling enough, even through all the slop.

    YT is my primary source of video entertainment. I watch a lot of content on engineering and rocketry, as well as food "shows".

    Discord is really my only social platform. I have online friends from a few different communities. It's geared towards social interaction, unlike FB and YT these days, which are much more about consumption, IMO.

  • graceangelgraceangel

    I'm on youtube ((mostly tarot vids, but sometimes gaming clips)), twitch, facebook, instagram, reddit but I rarely use that. i mostly read google searches that come up for there. quora where i'm a follower and sometimes contributor in spaces for borderline disorder. I maintain a server on discord that's meant to tie all of it together. on instagram; i have both a personal account and an account for writing that's just writing and no personal photos.
    technically not social media, but i am also a google maps guide for detroit, and I'm level 7 on there. I have over 2.5million views on photos I take of food to show people how your food will really look if you're just the average person and not an actual food reviewer for a big local outlet.
    i used to practically live on gaia online. I'm not really on there much for a few years.
    I recently got onto nextdoor. I went looking to find someone who wanted bottles. i've used it to find local repair stuff. it's also fun if i can't find anyone good to talk to and just in that gregarious energy.

    I did a myspace way back in the day. I used to love that place. I liked that you could put music on your profile. I ended up migrating to FB because a girl i worked with at toysrus asked me over there in the early days when it was actually the place to find ppl in college. she was in college then. as the gaming developed on it, i started living on there all the time.

    I am on steam, but i don't consider that social media.

    Technically, i have a tiktok so family can send me stuff. and i have a twitter for checking game statuses when servers go down.

    not all but a lot of subreddits on reddit have their own discord servers. If you ever want to get into it, and you need to learn how that ecosystem works; i'm happy to help with basics. I've been on discord since 2016.
    with gaia online, i was on there in 2004, and i was pretty active till early 2022.

    If you'd like a link to my yt readings; i'll be happy to share if anyone wants it.

  • MorpheusMorpheus

    LinkedIn

  • disneysamuraidisneysamurai

    Instagram is starting to get bad with the irrelevant ads popping up every third page on my feed.

  • UREverythingUREverything

    Quora

  • Carrie_AnneCarrie_Anne
    edited November 2025

    @disneysamurai
    I have always liked instagram (and I don’t have TikTok so never watch it).
    My algorithm for IG shows only art/painting, dance fitness, funny cute dog videos, music, interior design, travel, etc all very PG content.
    Anyway recently in a dance video it was interrupted with a sex toy ad. I started to laugh and immediately set preference to block the ad. But seriously??? 😡 I’ve never gotten any adult-only shorts before so why??

    Anyway I was watching funny Halloween shorts with my 9 yr old GSon but am now worried that an ad like that will pop up again. Very annoying.

  • EnnDubEnnDub

    Threads 🧵 is my one true social media now.

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