Just as a regular social user, I get bombarded with information all the time. Most of it is noise, and occasionally I get a signal on what’s really important now and what could be important in the future. Most social applications want my attention, and boy, do they work hard to get it. I get to the end of the day, and sometimes I ask myself, ‘What actually happened today?’

Most days, I don’t really have a good answer to this, after watching YouTube, scrolling through socials, knowing about what so-and-so ate for lunch, the popular places they visited, and their political views. I don’t know what to do with it all. I think it’s a good thing to keep up with my friends and what they are up to, but I should do it actively. If I see something I like, I should like it (duh, lol) and comment on it.

Being a ghost social user who just consumes and doesn’t socialize means I don’t get the full benefits of what the service was designed for—and arguably, the best aspect of it: the interactions and conversations. During the time I consciously decide ahead of time to allocate to X, Reddit, Insta, etc., I should participate; otherwise, what’s the point? The times I fall into the doomscrolling loop are because I have been passively consuming with no predetermined limits.

Just as a regular social user, I get bombarded with information all the time. Most of it is noise, and occasionally I get a signal on what’s really important now and what could be important in the future. Most social applications want my attention, and boy, do they work hard to get it. I get to the end of the day, and sometimes I ask myself, ‘What actually happened today?’

Most days, I don’t really have a good answer to this, after watching YouTube, scrolling through socials, knowing about what so-and-so ate for lunch, the popular places they visited, and their political views. I don’t know what to do with it all. I think it’s a good thing to keep up with my friends and what they are up to, but I should do it actively. If I see something I like, I should like it (duh, lol) and comment on it.

Being a ghost social user who just consumes and doesn’t socialize means I don’t get the full benefits of what the service was designed for—and arguably, the best aspect of it: the interactions and conversations. During the time I consciously decide ahead of time to allocate to X, Reddit, Insta, etc., I should participate; otherwise, what’s the point? The times I fall into the doomscrolling loop are because I have been passively consuming with no predetermined limits.

I initially thought this predetermined time should vary depending on what’s happening—a big news event, election season, etc. But I have noticed there is diminishing utility, let’s say after 20 minutes of catching up, three times a day spaced out. Most of the time, it just becomes repetition, and I have sometimes fallen into the trap of continuous scrolling, but I can’t say I have seen something that’s a major headline or event that I wouldn’t have seen earlier. Most algorithms prioritize discussions or posts with high engagement, so if something is important, I will usually see it early enough.

Moving on to the relationships I have online and who I should follow—I have been thinking about how I can optimize this process to get the best signal and interactions. I should follow friends I intend to keep in touch with and public accounts that have a good reputation in what they discuss. Following public accounts is a bit tricky, and there is a risk I could fall into an echo chamber.

I should try to follow people who are actually doing things in the world, as that’s a good indicator of expertise I want to learn from. They are more grounded in reality. If they provide a good or service that I find valuable, or others do, then that’s usually a strong indicator of why I should follow them. If they have a competitor who is equally qualified, even better—I should follow both, learn from the information they share, and make my own decisions.