Yup! Social media is designed to make us buy. Like, there are teams of people whose job it is to make us feel like we should buy things. I am not anti-capitalism. I am anti-buying stuff we don't need and unnecessarily feeling like our lives are not "enough."
And, I am *really* anti how social media is designed to make us feel like we are not enough.
There are great "free" and low cost ways to feel like we have more- try new outfit combos, make a new recipe, read a book from the library, go for a walk and, literally, smell the roses.
Yes to all of this!! I also realized that I saved money on using Signal to communicate with my wife. Here’s the insight I had: WhatsApp and Instagram are the same company and they cross share information. So WhatsApp learns about your intimacies, and Instagram sells ads (a devil’s classic).
Private conversations between partners are extremely prime and monetizable… especially if they have a kid. We talk all the time about groceries, amounts, furniture, and things that are easily targeted for a successful sale.
By simply changing the communication between me and my wife to a real encrypted chat, I saved money!!!
Brilliant post. I’ve been influenced to buy A LOT over the past however many years I’ve been using social media and owned a smartphone. Something that helps me think twice before I spend is my goal of buying my own home/apartment in the next five years. I’m being so strict with myself, that I’m only buying something if I actually need it. It feels really satisfying to overcome my desire to buy a thing just because I’ve been influenced to :)
I've caught myself buying things just because I was influenced, without even questioning if I really needed them. One of the last things I bought was a sunrise alarm clock. It seemed like a brilliant idea—until I realized... couldn't I just look out the window? That’s when it hit me: the internet was convincing me I had problems I never actually had—and selling me solutions I never really needed.
Yup! Social media is designed to make us buy. Like, there are teams of people whose job it is to make us feel like we should buy things. I am not anti-capitalism. I am anti-buying stuff we don't need and unnecessarily feeling like our lives are not "enough."
And, I am *really* anti how social media is designed to make us feel like we are not enough.
There are great "free" and low cost ways to feel like we have more- try new outfit combos, make a new recipe, read a book from the library, go for a walk and, literally, smell the roses.
Yes to all of this!
Yes to all of this!! I also realized that I saved money on using Signal to communicate with my wife. Here’s the insight I had: WhatsApp and Instagram are the same company and they cross share information. So WhatsApp learns about your intimacies, and Instagram sells ads (a devil’s classic).
Private conversations between partners are extremely prime and monetizable… especially if they have a kid. We talk all the time about groceries, amounts, furniture, and things that are easily targeted for a successful sale.
By simply changing the communication between me and my wife to a real encrypted chat, I saved money!!!
Wow. We live in a wild world that you can't communicate with your partner without someone exploiting that conversation! Good move switching to Signal.
Even if you're super tight-fisted. Targeted ads will over time get to you.
Brilliant post. I’ve been influenced to buy A LOT over the past however many years I’ve been using social media and owned a smartphone. Something that helps me think twice before I spend is my goal of buying my own home/apartment in the next five years. I’m being so strict with myself, that I’m only buying something if I actually need it. It feels really satisfying to overcome my desire to buy a thing just because I’ve been influenced to :)
Ig I’ll delete substack.
I've caught myself buying things just because I was influenced, without even questioning if I really needed them. One of the last things I bought was a sunrise alarm clock. It seemed like a brilliant idea—until I realized... couldn't I just look out the window? That’s when it hit me: the internet was convincing me I had problems I never actually had—and selling me solutions I never really needed.