how to go to war with social media - a practical guide

Let’s begin this article with a desperate plea for you to read a different article. Recently, I read video essayist CJ the X’s article “What Is To Be Done? A Manifesto To Return To Web 1.5.” The rest of this article will be a direct addition to said manifesto. X has done me the service of laying out the foundations of what we’re going to discuss today far better than I could, so I suggest you read it as well.

If you’re pressed for time or simply prefer my crude bluntness to X’s graceful prose, the manifesto’s main points are as follows:

1. The existing paradigm of the web (Web 2.0) is socially, emotionally, and politically destructive - and it is this way as a direct and intentional result of the business models of centralized corporate platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.).
2. This destructive nature is in sharp contrast with the previous paradigm (Web 1.0), where internet discourse, cultural exchange, and community-building occurred through decentralized networks of independent websites.
3. Online creatives, communities, and cultural commentators should respond to this situation by collectively and consciously trying to move their online presence back into the old paradigm - i.e. newsletters, blogs, and independent websites. X refers to this movement as “Web 1.5.”

X is the first person I have seen actually try to propose a complete counter-plan for how we interact online. They do not use this word in their article (and in keeping with my mission statement I typically refrain from using it myself), but I genuinely think the best term for what they’re proposing is counter-hegemony: the creation and promotion of an alternative set of social institutions with the explicit intent of undermining and dismantling the currently dominant ones. In this case, they’re proposing we create new networks of independent websites that are wholly separate from the dominant social media platforms, and then use our presence on the platforms to funnel people towards those networks instead. As they put it:

Use social media and mass communications as you must to reach out to people you value and people who value you.

Then take them away. Log off the app. Drop the tool, it has served its purpose.

Leave the casino while you’re ahead, cash out those precious human chips, and see how far we can get outside of the system. 

It’s worth trying, isn’t it?

I have spoken to some who are skeptical of X’s proposal here. There is a reason why Web 2.0 became the dominant paradigm in the first place: it offloaded the technical expertise needed to create and maintain an online presence onto a large corporation, and it did so for “free.” It made it very easy for the general public to fork over their social agency to Silicon Valley, and they’ve since built pretty high walls to keep you from taking it back.

To the skeptics: I hear you. But consider the following:

1. Social media will not get any better. The incentives that created the platforms of our age - pulsating masses of advertisements, clout chasing, and algorithmic gruel - are baked into the business models of these platforms. Whatever problems you’re tolerant of now will only continue to worsen.
2. The barriers that formerly existed to building and distributing content on the web in the late 2000s have dropped precipitously. If you have listened to any podcast in the last five years, you’ve almost certainly been overwhelmed by a barrage of ads for all-in-one website builders that have made it their sole objective to get you a “professional” looking online presence with as little time as possible. Also, as X’s inclusion of motherfuckingwebsite.com demonstrates, we have a bad habit of overthinking web design. At its conception, the web was chiefly about the delivery of information, rather than aesthetics. You don’t need a degree to get a web page on the internet. You just need twenty minutes to spare and some thoughts to share.
3. If you’re reading this article, you almost certainly came here from my Instagram or Twitter post about it. You are already part of the process X is describing. I have, for at least a moment, taken you “outside of the system.” You could do the same for others.

Perhaps you’re still unconvinced - or maybe you’re interested, but don’t know where to start. This is where I come in. X has laid out a strategy for the war against the platforms. Today, I intend to give you (at least a few) tactics.

1. Take back control over your content feeds.

One of the main problems with Web 2.0 is the way we have surrendered our agency in how content comes to us. We have been so accustomed to rule by the algorithm that we “jokingly” talk about praying to it like it is some kind of eldritch god - and, frankly, it is kind of an eldritch god. In the Web 1.0 paradigm, after checking your feeds you would eventually run out of new content to see, at which point you would either have to:

1. Actively seek out new things that interested you.
2. Go outside.

Despite what Silicon Valley might have you believe, this was not a flaw in Web 1.0. It was a feature. It ensured that your interactions with online communication and discourse were intentional, in sharp contrast to the Pavlovian relationship we’ve developed with algorithmic content feeds. Getting that intentionality back will require some legwork - but it’s not as hard as you might think. There are several ways to go about it:

1. Newsletters. X mentioned this in their manifesto, but it bears repeating - many of the artists, vloggers, and event venues have still-active newsletters that will let you keep up with what’s happening without having to dive into the abyss of your social media feed. Better yet - the fact that they come in the form of emails means they can be filtered, categorized, and archived exactly to your liking, rather than whatever arbitrary feature set your social media platform of choice has implemented.
2. RSS. I’ve spoken to many people recently who either don’t know about RSS or have forgotten about it. It’s a standardized format still available for the vast majority of blogs, podcasts, and news publications that allows you to read articles from around the web in your application of choice. The process is as simple as copy-pasting the link to the RSS feed in whatever application you’re using. I use NetNewsWire, but there are plenty of others. Since subscribing to the feeds of almost every writer and publication I follow on Twitter, I’ve spent much less time scrolling and more time actually reading the shit people are tweeting about.
3. Browser plugins. The “.5” in “Web 1.5” is there in part because X acknowledges that a complete break from social media isn’t feasible for most people - but that doesn’t mean you can’t mitigate the damage. I use this plugin to remove the “For you” tab on Twitter, this one to hide the trending tab on Twitter, and this one to hide “Explore” and “Reels” on Instagram. These are desktop only solutions, of course - but maybe it’s worth considering if you need to be posting / viewing these sites on the go in the first place.

Implementing these three things will almost certainly take an enormous chunk out of the time you spend doom-scrolling. For my part, my usage of Twitter and Instagram has absolutely plummeted since implementing these changes, and it’s paid enormous dividends to my mental health and attention span.

2. Curate the voices you listen to before the algorithm does it for you.

The fact of the matter is that reach on social media is a popularity contest. The algorithm selects for “engagement” at the direct expense of enrichment. If you rely on it to bring you what you’re looking for, it’s going to find the cheapest and easiest way to hit your dopamine button and do it over and over until you’re numb.

I allowed the algorithms to do this to me for many years, and then one day I decided to actively seek out and cultivate a collection of writers whose work I actually found interesting. These were not people that the algorithms would have had any interest in bringing to me, as their thoughtful explorations of art, media, politics, or whatever boutique topic they cover were not doing the kinds of numbers that would get them on the trending tab. I instead found most of them either by word-of-mouth or from recommendations that they would give to each other.

Go on your following lists right now, and find writers, artists, and musicians that resonate with you, and then find out who resonates with them. This the core principle of the Webrings of yore that X wrote about in the manifesto - a web where exposure is based on relationships rather than engagement.

Once you do that, you’ll find (as I did) that many of those writers, artists, and musicians often have channel to keep up with them that are outside the platform you found them on! Use those channels when possible - and repeat the same process with the writers, artists, and musicians that they recommend.

3. Create your own space.

The spirit of Web 1.0 lived in the creativity of those who built for it - overwhelmingly artsy and nerdy amateurs trying to create cozy rest stops on the information superhighway. We gave up that practice when the platforms arrived because it was easier to let Zuckerberg handle the logistics than to do it ourselves. The result has been a flattening of web design into a few boilerplate aesthetics and a flattening of online discourse into a few boilerplate arguments. We can do better. You can do better.

If you post a lot on social media, what exactly is the utility of those posts? Are you trying to be an influencer? If so, alright, I guess - post your heart out. However, you’re just trying to showcase your interests or express yourself as an individual, you are foreclosing so much of your creative potential by molding the shape of those interests and expressions to the shape that Zuckerberg and Musk et. al. allow you to put it in.

If you want to be creative online, don’t let Silicon Valley decide the shape of the canvas. Create your own site. X named neocities already - there’s also a ton of other easy ways to get online fast. You can do it - and if you do, send me an email and I’ll link to your site right here on the blog in the “pals” section. Which brings us to our final point:

4. Help other people declare independence from the platforms.

For X’s proposal to work, people not only need to disengage with social media individually, but they also need to create alternative networks dense and interesting enough to persuade others to do the same. I’m making a concerted effort from now on to specifically promote people who are being creative online outside the reach of social media. The “pals” section here is my way of doing this.

In your online space (should you choose to create one), you should do the same. Find the diamonds in the rough people aren’t talking about. Talk about things that aren’t trending. Actually tell someone you liked their work instead of clicking on their heart. Remind people that there is a reason why the early Internet had the magic that it did - and let them know that it doesn’t have to be lost forever.