Social media is dead
It's time to call it
Did it begin with Elon Musk? Or was it in some milky dreamy time before then - somewhere in between Zuckerberg facing Congress and the uncertainty around Meta’s impact on international, generation-defining national elections?
It doesn’t matter. Point being: the death throes will be slow, but they have an inevitable conclusion. Social media is dead. The near ubiquity of Meta, Twitter, and short form video will not be the same in five years. In ten years I think it will be virtually unrecognisable.
As early as 2015, the idea that social media could die seemed impregnable. We were still in the afterglow of the Arab Spring and the 1% protests. They insisted that social media was a tool for monumental good. In 2025, that argument has slightly lost its potency, but it is nonetheless substantial. Social media has given visibility to all kinds of social issues and minorities. It has made abuses of power exceedingly public. The town square became global.
But that came with a cost. Death by public trial has become the norm. Nuance and understanding have become replaced by opinions and clickbait. We are less connected than ever before. 'The very concept of truth has become so slippery, and all of us so sceptical of everything, that our lives online feel beyond even what Orwell or Bradbury could’ve imagined.
None of this will kill social media. Ultimately, the platforms are run by bros with elderly degrees in computer science. In an orgy of cannibalism that befits their Dionystic hubris, they have begun destroying themselves. Musk bought Twitter and demolished its relevancy in the space of twelve months. Zuckerberg can’t shake the whiff of political stink now upon him. Facebook has become irrelevant for most people under 45 in the world. Instagram is next.
And, of course, the TikTok ‘ban’ in the United States, which currently sits on a precipice, is just a sign of its inevitable obsolescence. India has already banned it. Australia - after considering the huge wealth of evidence that shows that social media is a nuclear bomb for adolescent mental health - has banned most platforms for those under sixteen.
Almost a year ago, I detailed my long, painful journey to rid myself of social media. I am addicted to it - precisely because it has been designed to be addictive. I’m on my longest stint of sobriety, having successfully shaken it off now for three months. I have slowly felt my humanity come back to me. I recently summed up my reading effort for January - eleven books in all. That wouldn’t have happened if I was still on social media.
Good riddance to social media. May you be dead before my daughters are old enough to find you.
Last year, paid subscribers got access to an entire play I wrote about social media with some teenagers. That is here.
Last week I wrote a post on Linkedin suggesting we start calling it what it is - anti social media. interestingly, given it was on a form of 'social media' I don't think the algorithums liked it and it got much less tractions than others I'd posted. Not that I post that much but it was interesting to witness. And given when we are with the world - with the nerds and the maniacs in charge - stepping away from the systems they created seems like a sensible plan - and a step towards regaining power. Will be following your lead!
Absolutely. The death has begun. So glad you wrote this because as someone who had a lot of fun there from about 2008 - I have been thinking this too.