What was once an alternate universe of memes, oversaturation and hashtags is now filled with misleading and muted posts or is overrun with ADs. Now, with more and more people choosing the role of an influencer for their career path, can social media ever be used casually?

Instagram is all about curating the perfect feed and only posting what fits the aesthetic rather than utilising the creative freedom platforms like this one give users, even casual posters like me are guilty of this.

The influencers that run our explore pages and algorithms curate their posts to make the job seem easy and achievable even by the average person, leaving online presence something to be idolised and creates a constant craving for people to reach a certain amount of likes or views on whatever they post, no matter how many followers they have.

The unfortunate increase of AI usage has begun to boom on short form content platforms whether this is to create something that garners views, due to pure laziness to create or to exploit people and create conflicts; it is tools like this that have been created to strip freedom away from social media platforms, changing the algorithm to almost shadowland true, creative media.

On TikTok, an AD appears on the For You Page every three videos for every single account. This pushes what once was a comedy and dance app towards a more corporate and restricted level because although you are being shown the AD, is it really for you or is it being forced in front of you?

If social media is good for one thing, it is growing businesses. However, this tends to be a problem when you feel like your feed is becoming overrun with corporation rather than creativity. Personally, on TikTok, I am consistently seeing commission paid and monetised videos linked to TikTok shop that are being pushed forward by the creators of the app themselves rather than driven by my own interests, likes and comments.

Every year around autumn without fail, academia becomes romanticised. Just in time for the new academic year, which can be motivating in some ways, yet if we know we will be swamped with work in a few weeks’ time why are we using what is supposed to be our downtime to still think about learning and coursework?

The ‘Get Ready with Me’ content has been popular for at least a decade now, proving its longevity and enjoyability to watch. Surely people who have made a following from this type of content don’t enjoy this every day though? Do these people ever just want to get ready for their day as the average person does rather than taking twice as long to account for camera set up and recording?

Communal platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter) have been taken over by money hungry celebrities in the recent years, leaving what once was a hub for fans of music, tv and much more has now become overrun with AI bots, far right politics and hatred.

This isn’t to say all hobbies and creativity outlets exist on the online sphere. Physical activity like dance is a great hobby not only physically but also mentally and doesn’t require an online platform or presence to do. Yes, you can be inspired by content you see online or watch videos of other people’s dances for new choreography ideas but ultimately all you need is your body and your creative brain switched on.

Other more low effort hobbies like reading or ones that can be relaxing like arts and crafts can be done with no internet presence whatsoever. Reading and painting were taken up by people way before the internet was even a small idea so its definitely possible. But when it seems as though everyone around you is glued to a screen, it becomes easier to sit and scroll for hours on end as you don’t have to engage your brain, and it takes even less effort that picking up a book and flipping through some pages.

For many people, staring at a screen and internet surfing can seem a lot easier than something that requires slightly more work. This could be down to a number of things: laziness from newer generations, physical accessibility, or even costs of a hobby. However, face to face connection and conversing with people in real time is hugely beneficial to your happiness and mental health so I would urge you to leave the blue light behind and join and sports team or pick up a new book. Try something new and you might surprise yourself!

Image credit: Izzy Hollyhead