This is HN, so complaining about Facebook and similar social media sites isn’t really an unpopular opinion. As I get older I actually enjoy social media more.

This is HN, so complaining about Facebook and similar social media sites isn’t really an unpopular opinion. As I get older I actually enjoy social media more. Keeping touch with friends who have moved away and having spontaneous interactions with people I like but don’t get to see very often is easier than ever. My social media experience doesn’t really match the weirdness that gets described in alarmist articles or the compulsive, addictive patterns that some users describe. I haven’t found it difficult at all to shape my feeds to display what I want while hiding what I don’t want to see. I suspect if I just randomly followed people and never gave the platform any positive or negative signals (likes or hiding posts) then I’d have a less enjoyable experience. If I had addictive tendencies and had uncontrollable urges to scroll forever I’d also have a bad experience. But that’s not my experience. I log in occasionally, enjoy updates from my friends and their families, share some photos from my family, and have some quick conversations with people I like to talk to. And honestly it’s great. I guess that’s my contrarian tech opinion. Social media is fine and even great when used appropriately. If it’s not for you, just don’t use it. I will note that HN is absolutely a form of social media, though, so it could be that your preferred social media experience is just a different format than what others enjoy.