> - hangout, physically, where the folks you wanted to interact with were There's also nothing wrong with this! The more and more interactions we move online,

> - hangout, physically, where the folks you wanted to interact with were There's also nothing wrong with this! The more and more interactions we move online, the more purely transactional they become and we miss out on a lot of connection with our fellow humans, which have a multitude of benefits other than just professional networking. The other problem with social media is your choice is removed from you. I run a photography business as a side hustle, and without social media, it would have never gotten off the ground and if I want it to continue I'm required to basically not only be good at the photography aspect, but to be good at social media and having that social media persona. It's draining, and extremely damaging for one's mental health and if you run a small business chances are you just don't have a choice, you have to do it or you don't get to exist (up to a certain point until word of mouth can carry you, but even then not having a social media presence is a red flag for many). Social media itself doesn't need to be bad, or harmful, but that would require getting rid of algorithmic feeds, and to stop rewarding engagement, which will solve the "influencer" problem. I'd also go as far to say that social media shouldn't be the end game, but a tool that eventually leads to a real, physical connection/in person event. Social media should augment those communities, but not be the entirety of the community.