r/socialmediaSocial media has completely lost its identity, and I’m so exhausted by it
Does anyone else feel like social media has changed so much since the pandemic? I feel like the pandemic didn't just change our lives offline. It changed how we live online, too. Short form videos and apps like TikTok became huge.
Now it feels like every platform is trying to copy TikTok. Instagram and Facebook have Reels, YouTube has Shorts, Snapchat has Spotlight, and even other apps like Twitch are pushing short videos everywhere. It's like every company saw what worked during that time and decided that every app needed to work the same way.
I miss when different platforms had their own purpose. You went to YouTube to watch longer videos, tutorials, documentaries, or someone's vlog, and storytelling. Instagram was more about photo sharing and keeping up with friends, family and a place for small businesses to grow. Other platforms had their own style, too. Now, no matter which app I open, I feel like I'm looking at the same endless feed of short clips.
We lost the actual social part of social media. These apps aren't really social networks anymore. They feel more like algorithmic machines designed to keep you hooked. You barely see posts from people you actually know because your feed is filled with people chasing clout, platforms cramming ads everywhere and charging subscriptions just to remove them, and endless recommendations forced on you by an algorithm.
I miss when feeds were chronological and you could actually catch up on what your friends posted, reach the bottom, close the app, and go on with your day. Now there is no end its a big loop.
YouTube is probably the biggest example for me. I miss when it felt like a place to sit down and watch a proper video. Now there's so much focus on Shorts, views, and keeping people watching for as long as possible. Even already established creators like MrBeast post clips from their old content to recycle views instead of focusing on future content. They are just spamming 5 to 10 short clips a day to chase algorithmic reach and stay relevant. Small, aspiring creators are told to do the exact same thing for growing and becoming big; they are not told to post vlogs or stories explaining themselves and make meaningful content and organically grow. It’s just post clips, get views, and hope for exposure; even tutorials are now shrunk to 30 seconds from 30 minutes because that's what gets attention. It feels like generating quantity matters more than the quality of the content.
A lot of us got used to having time to watch something everyday. Whenever we're bored, we open an app and start scrolling. There's always another video, another trend, another thing to react to. It can make it harder to enjoy slower things or sit with our own thoughts without reaching for our phones.
I'm not saying short videos are always bad, or that everything was perfect before TikTok. But I don't want every platform to be built around the same kind of content. I don't want to open YouTube for a tutorial and end up with a 30 second sped up tutorial that doesn’t explain anything but forces me to endlessly start scrolling Shorts. I don't want every app to feel like it's fighting for my attention in exactly the same way. We need this to stop before it gets worse and ruins what made these platforms enjoyable.
It is taking a serious toll on our mental health, too. The constant stream of short clips and endless scrolling is destroying our attention spans, making it almost impossible to focus on a single task, read a book, or watch a full video without feeling restless. On top of that, being fed non-stop highlight reels and viral trends fuels constant anxiety, self-doubt, and intense FOMO. Instead of relaxing, you just end up feeling drained, overstimulated, and like you're always missing out on something.
I wish these platforms would remember what made people use them in the first place. Let YouTube be YouTube. Let Instagram be Instagram. Give people more control over their feeds, and let us turn off features we don't want instead of forcing them into every corner of an app.
I genuinely miss when the internet felt more varied and less focused on keeping us hooked all day. The pandemic changed more than our offline routines. It changed how we spend our free time online, and I wonder if we'll ever get back some of that balance.
If you agree with this, please share this post with your friends and family so maybe these corporations will actually look into changing how they design these apps.