Are we tired of social media once and for all? On the downfall of social media

Summary

I've been asking this question to myself a few times now. When I speak with other peers, many are tired of social media. Without any hope for a change? I remember how different the times were like 20 years ago. Us fellow internet users weren't connected 24/7. We used to be online when we were in front of our desktop or laptop computer. Our ways of communicating happened via instant messaging systems or client-server based chat systems. ICQ, MSN, IRC, Skype, TeamSpeak, Ventrilo or Mumble were systems that were widely used. Plus we had forums. Do you remember ICQ? It was really a hype, something new to explore, exciting and more like a wild, wild west. However the Internet became more and more commercialised. And with many years passing by, social interactions have been taking place on a few big player networks, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter, etc. Forums were one way to organize communities As a result of the recent shifts, I, personally, experienced some tiredness in socializing. The Internet drove us more away from each other, and this is also a shift that I feel takes place in real life as well. Of course, the internet and real life have become more interwined and there is definitely a correlation between these phenomena. Mumble was one of the popular VoIP systems Bubbles have emerged, hatespeech, plenty of ads, misinformation, et cetera. Bad news, controversial content and ragebait are things that bring plenty of financial revenue. Has the internet not become a giant capitalistic market place? Do we go online to entertain ourselves? Or do we go online merely as a consumer, a customer, to be spoonfed with marketing ads, while also getting flooded with news how bad everything is, that the world is practically doomed? And it only gets worse with the rise of AI generated rage/click-bait content across all social media platforms. This is not the Internet of the past. Nor is it the Internet as it should be. Source: World Happiness Report When I got m...