There’s a problem with the definition of “social media”—we no longer differentiate between messaging apps and what we used to just call “social network sites”,

There’s a problem with the definition of “social media”—we no longer differentiate between messaging apps and what we used to just call “social network sites”, which are generally understood to be content feeds that are optimised for infinite consumption. I think that people would generally agree that messaging apps are not as harmful as the latter, but it’s usually the latter that most people are trying to avoid. I understand the need to communicate with loved ones, but really, you don’t even need to “keep up” because living one’s own life and reaching for one’s own ambitions should be time-consuming and tiring enough. And then I’m not willing to listen to any perspective that justifies the need for content feeds in one’s life—no news feed is innocent and all news feeds are just utilities for ads. If you really want to know what’s up with someone who matters in your life, you can and you should just ask them directly.