synthetic social media

Back when cell phones were smaller than our hands, social media was used for its intended purpose: connecting with people. Your feed showed photos of your cousin’s pet, your friends’ vacations, and your aunt’s recipes. Eventually, people who are now known as “influencers” began to emerge. They upload content for their audience, ranging from video games and technology to fashion and lifestyle. But they are still people, human beings.

Nowadays, I don’t even know what’s real anymore. Everything is oversaturated with AI-generated content, and our feeds are filled with repetitive, lifeless posts that are only designed for engagement. And worst of all, this isn’t just an accident or a consequence of the proliferation of AI, which it is too, but it’s mainly because social media was engineered to keep us hooked, not fulfilled.

But, ironically, major platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram are finding that the more content there is, the less engaged we are. And this makes perfect sense because, although we are surrounded by more voices than ever, we rarely feel spoken to or truly heard. This is creating a subtle kind of burnout and emptiness among us.

Younger generations are the ones who seem most aware of all this. They know that most of what they see online is fake or misleading, not real (AI), or just plain rubbish. But they keep scrolling endlessly, either because it has become a habit or because they are afraid of missing out on something truly authentic.

So it’s no surprise that many of us are leaving the big, noisy platforms in search of smaller, more intentional spaces. As I mentioned in a previous post, on these parts of the internet, the goal isn’t about going viral or performing. It’s about feeling like you belong.

Thanks for reading.

This post was inspired by James O’Sullivan’s article, “The Last Days of Social Media”, published in Noema Magazine. You should really check it out!