As I put on the Addison Rae track, “New York”, I begin to write this confession.
I’ve reached a point in my life where my online avatar has been spread too thin and my focus is being lost.
Starting my journey with social media back in the late 2000’s, I have tried a good chunk of the major social media platforms at this point, and in the year of our lord 2025, it’s time to become smarter and more intentional about the kind of interactions, community, and attention I’m fostering for myself online.
In years past, my goals with social media spanned:
connecting with existing friends
trying to make new friends through shared interests
expressing myself either personally or artistically
getting attention and validation for my existence, unique perspective and/or creative output
This year alone, I have been experimenting and digging further down into myself to find what it is I want to create next, where I want to be heading career-wise, and what kind of relationship do I want to have with people in real life and online.
I’ve discovered the joys of trial and error, of taking the time to be bored and do nothing (which is very underrated), and through me allowing my mind, body, and spirit to rest without any outside influence other than my own thoughts and feelings, it has allowed me to see a more personalised pathway to express myself, connect, and grow in my artistry and other endeavours using the online space to my advantage while not letting me become lost in the noise of it all.
Currently, I still belong to the following online spaces:
Instagram - my favourite social media space. I am a daily visitor 🤩
Facebook - I still can only connect with certain people on here specifically, and I still find value in their Events and Marketplace spaces.
TikTok - I’d like to create and share more of my creative works in this space in the future.
BlueSky - enjoyed self-expression on here for a while and was part of a few communities where I would converge to chat with others about live events.
Tumblr - been a fun outlet to share and absorb visual inspo and share my written content as well.
Reddit - a great forum for finding advice and information from other humans on specific topics of interest.
Substack - is becoming one of my favourite online spaces, combining my desire for self-expression, connection with other writers, and growth both creatively and as an entrepreneur.
Etsy - I currently run my sticker shop here and am exploring if I can also utilise for selling my other artistic creations.
Wordpress - I have run blogs using this space in the past, before Substack became a thing. My other blog, Far Magazine was originally housed here.
YouTube - Recently, I have been posting my written works in audio format, and my recorded livestreams from Twitch on here. This is also another favourite of mine for listening to music and learning (I do have to catch myself sometimes to not let this outlet become a passive interaction, much like watching TV).
Twitch - In the past few years, I have experimented with livestreaming and creating/hosting semi-scripted shows on here.
LinkedIn - who doesn’t have a profile on here lol
Private messaging apps like Whatsapp, Google Chat, and WeChat - I mostly use for directly messaging people I know and have met in real life. I do my best to stay part of communities on Whatsapp (a new development on the app) only if I actively participate in the events being put on to bring members together.
Meetups - a good outlet for finding in-person/virtual get-togethers with others in your vicinity. Good for general socialising and finding groups focused on hobbies.
By the end of this year, I have decided to close shop (at least for the foreseeable future until I have a legit purpose for using a specific platform) at these outlets:
BlueSky - I’ve had fun on here especially when I was actively into watching live wrestling events, but now that I have lost interest, I find that the micro-blogging thing can also reside here on Substack and would be a better engagement tool for me to connect to my readers.
Meetups - I am part of enough groups at this stage and want to focus on cultivating my existing relationships with people.
Twitch - I don’t have any plans to do livestream events in the future and the livestream content that was saved in Twitch, which I wanted to share wider, I have also added to my YouTube page. I believe YouTube has more reach than Twitch and will continue to be a better option for me in terms of the content I’m thinking of producing in the future, including if I want to restart livestreaming at any point.
Wordpress - I’m happy to keep using Substack to publish my written works, and saying goodbye here will allow me to both save time as well as the costs that Wordpress charges for some of their features which purport to help with exposure and increased chances of earning money through ad revenue.
I think this is a good start to my online spring-cleaning routine and time will tell if I require any more cutting back, but I’m glad that I’m now setting boundaries and a clear intention for how I want to present myself online and what I want to expose myself to going forward.
I’ve found this exercise really fulfilling for myself and I hope this meditation gives others the inspiration to do a spring-cleaning of their online presence as well.
It’s crazy to think that in years past, we only needed to keep our IRL spaces clean and in check, but now I believe it’s a necessity to do the same for the online spaces we inhabit as well.
If you’ve done something similar as of late, let me know how you’ve found the exercise including the benefits and challenges that have come up for you as time went on.