Another millennial leaves social media

00:29:52
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiAUBQaWzRs

Summary

TLDRHaley Z, a licensed therapist and content creator, shares her journey of quitting most social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to prioritize her mental health. Growing up as a millennial with technology, she realized social media's adverse effects, including compulsive scrolling, negativity, performance pressure, and exposure to misinformation. Despite maintaining a presence on YouTube as a platform for creative passion rather than traditional social interaction, Haley emphasizes mindful consumption of content and personal connection through texting and direct communication. She highlights the dehumanizing aspects of social systems driven by engagement metrics and attention, choosing to simplify by focusing on genuine personal interactions and meaningful content creation. Haley also answers FAQs about her decisions and continues to use LinkedIn for professional purposes and a personal website to catalog her creative portfolio.

Takeaways

  • 📱 Haley quit most social media to improve mental health.
  • 🤳 Compulsive scrolling was a major factor for quitting.
  • 🎭 Social media felt performative and inauthentic to her.
  • 📰 She avoids sensationalized news on platforms like Instagram.
  • 💻 YouTube is a creative outlet, not traditional social media for Haley.
  • 🗣️ Direct communication is preferred over social media interactions.
  • 🤝 Real life connections are prioritized for community exchanges.
  • 🔗 LinkedIn is used solely for professional networking.
  • 🖥️ Her personal website showcases her creative work.
  • 🧠 Emphasis is on mindful consumption of digital content.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Haley Z, a licensed therapist, discusses her decision to quit most social media platforms, except YouTube, due to personal reasons and her status as a 'semi-digital native'. She cites reasons like wasted time on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, as well as the pressure of maintaining a performative online presence.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Haley elaborates on the negative aspects of social media, such as unnecessary drama, distressing news, and feeling compelled to post content like her cosplays. She describes her dislike for sensationalized content on platforms like Instagram and the attention-grabbing nature of such media.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Haley discusses the impact of constant comparisons and FOMO on her mental health, exacerbated by social media. She notes a shift from casual posting to curated content and the overwhelming presence of advertisements, contributing to a consumerist culture that she finds problematic.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Haley explains how her professions as a therapist and accountant require little to no social media presence. She stresses her personal preference for YouTube as a creative outlet rather than a social platform, appreciating its less intrusive and less consumer-driven environment compared to other social media.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:29:52

    Haley concludes by addressing potential skepticism about her ability to stay off social media, highlighting the value of meaningful connections off-platform. She promotes mindful social media use and plans to produce content focused more on media and mental health, inviting viewer interaction on YouTube.

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Who is Haley Z?

    Haley Z is a licensed therapist and YouTuber.

  • What type of content does Haley Z usually create?

    She typically makes videos about Indie animation and video games, incorporating mental health topics.

  • Why did Haley Z quit social media?

    Haley quit due to compulsive scrolling, the performative nature of social media, too much negativity, and to improve her mental health.

  • Which social media platforms did Haley quit?

    Haley quit Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat, but still uses YouTube.

  • Does Haley use social media for her profession?

    No, she mentions that she doesn't need social media for her roles as a therapist and accountant.

  • How does Haley Z feel about YouTube?

    She takes YouTube seriously as a creative passion, using it intentionally without treating it primarily as social media.

  • Does Haley Z still have any online presence?

    Yes, she maintains a professional LinkedIn profile and a website to showcase her creative work.

  • How does Haley handle staying informed about news without social media?

    She prefers more measured news sources over sensationalized social media content.

  • What alternatives has Haley found for social media functions like community sharing?

    She uses other methods like local connections and thrift stores for community exchange instead of platforms like Facebook.

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  • 00:00:00
    hi guys welcome back to the channel or
  • 00:00:03
    welcome back welcome for the first time
  • 00:00:05
    if it's your first time I am Haley Z and
  • 00:00:09
    I am a licensed therapist I also usually
  • 00:00:12
    make videos that are about Indie
  • 00:00:14
    animation soon to be Indie video games
  • 00:00:17
    and things of that nature but it really
  • 00:00:20
    is over here I'm all about mental health
  • 00:00:22
    so I always find a way to weave it in so
  • 00:00:25
    today's topic is a little different and
  • 00:00:28
    this is kind of falling into to the
  • 00:00:30
    genre of more everyday topics and I'm
  • 00:00:34
    going to tell y'all a personal thing
  • 00:00:37
    that I did that is pretty still pretty
  • 00:00:41
    unusual for people my age uh as the
  • 00:00:43
    title implies I am your elderly
  • 00:00:46
    Millennial grandmother I say that
  • 00:00:49
    because like d the fandoms I'm in I
  • 00:00:51
    really do feel like I'm the oldest but
  • 00:00:53
    yeah I'm a millennial I am semi digital
  • 00:00:57
    native like I grew up definitely
  • 00:01:00
    for the longest time probably since I
  • 00:01:02
    was five or six with computers and so
  • 00:01:06
    you know technology was always a huge
  • 00:01:07
    part of my life and then of course I at
  • 00:01:10
    about 13 14 started to be part of the
  • 00:01:13
    social media generation so I grew up
  • 00:01:16
    with social media as something normal
  • 00:01:18
    too but I decided about two weeks ago to
  • 00:01:22
    completely get off social media to be
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    clear because I'm clearly making this
  • 00:01:27
    video on YouTube which is a form of
  • 00:01:30
    social media I when I say social media I
  • 00:01:33
    specifically mean things like Instagram
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    Tik Tok
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    Facebook uh Snapchat whatever like the
  • 00:01:41
    things that you typically think of in
  • 00:01:43
    terms of connecting with other folks and
  • 00:01:46
    engaging in a lot of back and forth with
  • 00:01:49
    them so yes I still have YouTube
  • 00:01:51
    obviously I I'll get into that a little
  • 00:01:54
    bit later but yeah YouTube I I know is
  • 00:01:57
    still technically considered social
  • 00:01:58
    media and I have it but those other guys
  • 00:02:01
    are completely eliminated from my life
  • 00:02:04
    now quickly as well I do want to say
  • 00:02:06
    that I haven't had Tik Tok in about a
  • 00:02:08
    year and a half yeah is that right yeah
  • 00:02:11
    like a year and a half or so I also
  • 00:02:14
    haven't had Snap Chat in about the same
  • 00:02:17
    amount of time and I wasn't really like
  • 00:02:19
    a power user on that by the time I got
  • 00:02:22
    off of it but you know for what it's
  • 00:02:23
    worth eliminated that and I'm trying to
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    think yeah Twitter Twitter I really
  • 00:02:30
    haven't used regularly in like the
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    better part of a decade I would say
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    maybe the last time I had a Super Active
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    Twitter was in like 2016 and we don't
  • 00:02:38
    talk about those times because they're
  • 00:02:41
    absolute unadulterated cringe but so I
  • 00:02:45
    don't have a Twitter it was really just
  • 00:02:47
    Facebook and Instagram that I had up
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    until very very recently that I
  • 00:02:52
    completely got rid of and y'all when I
  • 00:02:54
    say completely got rid of I mean like I
  • 00:02:56
    deleted those I didn't
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    deactivate I deleted that that I'm
  • 00:03:00
    done with it I am done done done so why
  • 00:03:03
    did I do this well I'm echoing what I'm
  • 00:03:06
    sure a lot of other people have already
  • 00:03:07
    said on here but the first thing was
  • 00:03:10
    just the scrolling the
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    scrolling no mat even when I wasn't even
  • 00:03:15
    thinking about it even when I was just
  • 00:03:17
    like literally wanting to do something
  • 00:03:19
    else without thinking I would pick up my
  • 00:03:21
    phone and look at Instagram and refresh
  • 00:03:25
    Facebook and Instagram was way bigger of
  • 00:03:29
    a problem I think for me because
  • 00:03:30
    honestly Facebook as you guys would
  • 00:03:33
    probably agree is not really not really
  • 00:03:36
    something that us Millennials jenzy and
  • 00:03:38
    younger are really like all about but it
  • 00:03:40
    was still something that I wasted time
  • 00:03:42
    on but yeah just tons and tons of
  • 00:03:45
    scrolling tons of just mindlessly
  • 00:03:47
    getting lost in random posts and things
  • 00:03:52
    like people I didn't even know and
  • 00:03:53
    that didn't even matter so I'm sure we
  • 00:03:55
    can all relate to that but yeah that was
  • 00:03:56
    obviously a big problem another big
  • 00:03:58
    problem is feeling really performative
  • 00:04:00
    for others so even though I am 34 like
  • 00:04:05
    I'm kind of coming into my own and
  • 00:04:07
    becoming a lot more secure about myself
  • 00:04:09
    as a person there was still a part of me
  • 00:04:12
    that felt like oh people are expecting
  • 00:04:14
    to know what going on in my life people
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    want to see what I'm doing if I'm doing
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    something fun I have to post it if I'm
  • 00:04:21
    doing something cool I have to post it
  • 00:04:24
    and one of the biggest problems for me
  • 00:04:26
    actually is that since I'm a cosplayer
  • 00:04:28
    and I used to do a lot more cosplay I
  • 00:04:31
    felt like I had to just post every
  • 00:04:33
    cosplay I made and even though I was
  • 00:04:36
    never really part of the community and
  • 00:04:38
    therefore didn't really get like a lot
  • 00:04:40
    of people who followed me for cosplay I
  • 00:04:42
    still felt like oh my God I need to put
  • 00:04:44
    this out there and I need it to have
  • 00:04:46
    traction and I needed to take off in
  • 00:04:49
    some way and I got really bummed out
  • 00:04:50
    because my stuff never really did I I
  • 00:04:53
    think that when you're from my
  • 00:04:55
    understanding when you're a cosplayer
  • 00:04:56
    dude you got to like hustle constantly
  • 00:04:59
    and you got to be doing the cosplays
  • 00:05:01
    that are like the most relevant and all
  • 00:05:03
    that stuff I mean someone else can jump
  • 00:05:05
    in if you want to say that yeah
  • 00:05:07
    essentially I just felt like I had to
  • 00:05:08
    perform and not in a way that was fun
  • 00:05:11
    for me but in a way where I felt like I
  • 00:05:13
    had to get likes and clicks and other
  • 00:05:15
    bull crap that doesn't really matter in
  • 00:05:18
    the grand scheme of Life another thing
  • 00:05:20
    too much negativity too much random
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    drama and bull crap I would be scrolling
  • 00:05:25
    and even though most of the people in my
  • 00:05:27
    like immediate circle are not exactly
  • 00:05:29
    like unhinged and dramatic and stuff
  • 00:05:32
    there would just be like maybe friends
  • 00:05:33
    of friends or there would be like a
  • 00:05:36
    creator that I don't know that I follow
  • 00:05:38
    and there would be something negative
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    and I'm all about calling out things
  • 00:05:42
    that need to be called out and stuff
  • 00:05:44
    trust me I for sure am but there was
  • 00:05:46
    just some there was just some stuff
  • 00:05:48
    where I was like yeah guys like this
  • 00:05:50
    just seems like it should have it should
  • 00:05:52
    have stayed in the drafts or it should
  • 00:05:53
    have stayed in the the private text in a
  • 00:05:57
    similar vein although its own category I
  • 00:06:01
    would say distressing news I do try and
  • 00:06:05
    I think it's very important for all of
  • 00:06:06
    us to stay apprised of what is happening
  • 00:06:09
    in the World At Large and I think that
  • 00:06:12
    when we can take action when we can
  • 00:06:14
    write to Congress when we can donate and
  • 00:06:18
    what have you I think it's very
  • 00:06:19
    important for us to stay apprised of all
  • 00:06:21
    that so we can take steps as needed to
  • 00:06:24
    ameliorate the world's problems however
  • 00:06:27
    when I'm on Instagram and I see a bunch
  • 00:06:28
    of extremely incendiary that is
  • 00:06:31
    questionable at best or very misquoted
  • 00:06:35
    statements from other people or what
  • 00:06:37
    have you it just it's just distressing
  • 00:06:41
    to me even if the underlying content is
  • 00:06:44
    important and I think that already the
  • 00:06:47
    TV does such a good job at
  • 00:06:49
    sensationalizing stuff even newspapers
  • 00:06:52
    to a degree can still sensationalize
  • 00:06:55
    things but Instagram is just this
  • 00:06:58
    perfect storm of like not only highly
  • 00:07:00
    sensationalizing stuff so that people
  • 00:07:02
    look and people click and people like
  • 00:07:05
    and people share and whatever but also
  • 00:07:09
    complete in some cases and and
  • 00:07:12
    I'm really I you know people in my
  • 00:07:14
    personal life know me like I'm really
  • 00:07:16
    not a conspiracy theorist I'm actually
  • 00:07:18
    very very critical of conspiracy and
  • 00:07:21
    constantly thinking like the world's
  • 00:07:23
    against you and all that I really really
  • 00:07:24
    don't like that mentality but I do feel
  • 00:07:27
    like with Instagram it's simple they
  • 00:07:30
    want you to click what you're clicking
  • 00:07:32
    on may be true it may not be true but I
  • 00:07:34
    I don't think that's conspiratorial or
  • 00:07:36
    controversial to say that yeah like
  • 00:07:37
    Instagram at the end of the day is
  • 00:07:39
    privileging pieces of um content that
  • 00:07:42
    attract attention it's all about
  • 00:07:44
    attention and what gets the most
  • 00:07:46
    attention even if it's just
  • 00:07:48
    brain rot or it's or it's
  • 00:07:51
    extremely distressing to the point where
  • 00:07:53
    like no one needs to see this and that's
  • 00:07:55
    another thing too is that like like I'm
  • 00:07:57
    personally someone who is very very very
  • 00:08:00
    upset by displays of extreme violence
  • 00:08:03
    and frankly you guys I really don't know
  • 00:08:06
    that we need to be sharing videos of
  • 00:08:07
    extreme violence that's going on in the
  • 00:08:10
    world we know there's extreme violence
  • 00:08:11
    going on and I'm personally not someone
  • 00:08:13
    who is who is wanting to see that so
  • 00:08:16
    yeah lots of that I prefer to get my
  • 00:08:18
    news in a much more measured way and in
  • 00:08:20
    a way that is not clearly trying to
  • 00:08:23
    Viper my attention above all else so
  • 00:08:26
    moving back into like kind of the
  • 00:08:27
    personal sphere compar and fomo freaking
  • 00:08:31
    hell dude I don't care how old I get I
  • 00:08:35
    would log on to Instagram and I see
  • 00:08:37
    photos of like old friends getting
  • 00:08:39
    together where was my invite and I'm not
  • 00:08:42
    saying that I have to be invited to
  • 00:08:43
    everything by any means but it was more
  • 00:08:45
    like yeah this was a situation in which
  • 00:08:48
    I think most reasonable people would
  • 00:08:49
    agree that maybe it would have been nice
  • 00:08:53
    to invite me or just a situation in
  • 00:08:55
    which yeah it wasn't like that it wasn't
  • 00:08:58
    a situation where I should have
  • 00:08:59
    logically been invited but it was more
  • 00:09:02
    like oh that person's doing something
  • 00:09:04
    cool that I maybe wish I could do and I
  • 00:09:07
    can't do right now for whatever reason
  • 00:09:09
    and you get a lot of that and I and
  • 00:09:12
    people I want to make it very clear too
  • 00:09:14
    like I do not need to be involved in
  • 00:09:15
    everything and I do not need to do
  • 00:09:19
    everything that I see it's not about
  • 00:09:21
    that I'm sure people who kind of feel me
  • 00:09:23
    on this can can agree that it's just
  • 00:09:25
    more like the accumulation of it all the
  • 00:09:29
    constantly seeing it you're constantly
  • 00:09:31
    seeing vacations you're constantly
  • 00:09:33
    seeing people's highlights of their life
  • 00:09:36
    and we all know that social media is
  • 00:09:38
    very often more about the highlights
  • 00:09:40
    like yes people such as myself have
  • 00:09:43
    definitely taken to social media to
  • 00:09:44
    share really really difficult things in
  • 00:09:48
    life but most people don't trend towards
  • 00:09:52
    that most people Trend towards showing
  • 00:09:54
    stuff that is just freaking fabulous and
  • 00:09:57
    makes them look awesome and you know
  • 00:09:59
    what what I want to say this too I feel
  • 00:10:02
    a tremendous amount of Joy seeing my
  • 00:10:04
    friends family and people in general
  • 00:10:06
    experiencing Joy but I'm a human too I'm
  • 00:10:11
    a human too and so sometimes when I see
  • 00:10:14
    certain things especially if I'm not
  • 00:10:15
    having a good day or a good week I am
  • 00:10:20
    sometimes overwhelmed because I feel
  • 00:10:22
    like I'm just in this Echo chamber of
  • 00:10:24
    just positivity positivity positivity or
  • 00:10:27
    then over here it's like extremely
  • 00:10:28
    freaking negative negative and I just
  • 00:10:30
    don't think that there is quite enough
  • 00:10:32
    like just
  • 00:10:33
    normaly on the internet anymore because
  • 00:10:35
    again it's all about
  • 00:10:37
    attention whereas I think like you guys
  • 00:10:39
    if you look back to like I don't know
  • 00:10:41
    Instagram I think got started in like
  • 00:10:43
    2010 2011 I want to say don't quote me
  • 00:10:47
    on that but it was roughly around that
  • 00:10:48
    time people used to post just
  • 00:10:51
    the silliest things on Instagram like I
  • 00:10:54
    would seriously like like 12 years ago
  • 00:10:56
    15 years ago whatever I could take a
  • 00:10:58
    photo of like this cup and put it on
  • 00:11:00
    Instagram and that would be completely
  • 00:11:02
    normal it wouldn't be like why are you
  • 00:11:04
    bowsing that it'd be like it'd be like
  • 00:11:06
    enjoying a morning coffee and that was
  • 00:11:08
    what that was what mofos put on
  • 00:11:10
    Instagram back then and quite honestly
  • 00:11:12
    looking back at that I kind of missed
  • 00:11:14
    that I miss people just
  • 00:11:16
    posting really silly stuff instead of
  • 00:11:19
    like perfectly curated feed over here
  • 00:11:22
    someone getting beheaded over there
  • 00:11:25
    like I don't know bring me the boring
  • 00:11:27
    please like love that which brings
  • 00:11:31
    me to the next piece of it that is so
  • 00:11:32
    important to talk about which is too
  • 00:11:34
    many
  • 00:11:35
    ads everything is an ad and honestly
  • 00:11:38
    that was a huge like this is a change
  • 00:11:41
    from the last few years that has really
  • 00:11:44
    driven me off these platforms it's just
  • 00:11:46
    just ad after ad after ad and you can't
  • 00:11:49
    really avoid them it's really really
  • 00:11:50
    hard to avoid them you have to really go
  • 00:11:52
    out of your way at least last I checked
  • 00:11:54
    on Instagram you can have that like
  • 00:11:56
    following tab where you just are able to
  • 00:11:58
    look at people that you follow but very
  • 00:12:02
    often I feel like you're not just primed
  • 00:12:05
    to go do that and so what are what do
  • 00:12:07
    you do you log in you see a bunch of
  • 00:12:09
    that you don't even follow you see
  • 00:12:10
    a bunch of products and granted some of
  • 00:12:12
    those products it's like damn you know
  • 00:12:15
    me but at the same time like I we don't
  • 00:12:18
    need to be inundated with consumerism we
  • 00:12:21
    don't need to be inundated with
  • 00:12:23
    that we're going to accumulate only to
  • 00:12:25
    give away or throw away in a matter of
  • 00:12:27
    weeks or months or stuff that at at
  • 00:12:30
    worst is just harmful or breaks in two
  • 00:12:34
    seconds which is what a lot of that teu
  • 00:12:37
    bull crap on there is we don't need this
  • 00:12:40
    stuff we really really don't and so yeah
  • 00:12:44
    the ads and stuff are really out of
  • 00:12:46
    control really annoying some of them are
  • 00:12:48
    not good products a lot of them are not
  • 00:12:51
    necessary products and I'm not trying to
  • 00:12:55
    demonize before anyone comes in and is
  • 00:12:57
    like well I bought my favorite like
  • 00:12:59
    like vibrator on Instagram or something
  • 00:13:04
    sorry I had to like my brain is just
  • 00:13:06
    clearly like not in a not in a
  • 00:13:09
    kid-friendly zone right now but yeah you
  • 00:13:12
    know if you bought a great product on
  • 00:13:13
    Instagram or Tik Tok shop or whatever
  • 00:13:15
    great super great that's awesome for you
  • 00:13:17
    love that for you I'm not talking about
  • 00:13:20
    the exceptions I'm talking about what
  • 00:13:21
    most of us experience when we log into
  • 00:13:23
    one of these platforms so I I think I've
  • 00:13:26
    listed some really good reasons so far
  • 00:13:28
    is to watch why I quit social media the
  • 00:13:31
    wasting of the time the being exposed to
  • 00:13:33
    a lot of bull crap or harmful material
  • 00:13:36
    the feeling jealous or insecure
  • 00:13:39
    naturally but when I'm inundated with
  • 00:13:41
    too much of people's highlight reels the
  • 00:13:43
    ads the consumerism Etc I feel like I've
  • 00:13:46
    touched on all of that and this isn't so
  • 00:13:49
    much a reason why I deleted it but this
  • 00:13:50
    is more of an aside to let you know
  • 00:13:53
    where some of my logic was coming from
  • 00:13:55
    as I mentioned at the top of the video
  • 00:13:56
    I'm a therapist that is my primary job I
  • 00:13:59
    also have a secondary job as an
  • 00:14:00
    accountant where I work with private
  • 00:14:02
    practice therapists to basically like
  • 00:14:04
    translate information financial
  • 00:14:06
    information for them and um I'm also
  • 00:14:09
    getting into voice acting and the the
  • 00:14:13
    latter one you can argue a little
  • 00:14:14
    differently we'll see but at least for
  • 00:14:16
    my first two jobs I've mentioned I don't
  • 00:14:18
    need social media at all for my job
  • 00:14:21
    people can also say oh yeah well a lot
  • 00:14:23
    of therapists of social media why aren't
  • 00:14:25
    you on it I have literally never never
  • 00:14:29
    known anybody this is on God never known
  • 00:14:33
    anybody in my Professional Circle who
  • 00:14:35
    has gotten a client from Instagram or
  • 00:14:38
    Tik Tok and someone can strike me down
  • 00:14:41
    if they actually have and they told me
  • 00:14:42
    and they want to take advantage of my
  • 00:14:44
    shitty memory and say yes I did tell you
  • 00:14:46
    that Haley fine fine come in the
  • 00:14:48
    comments tell me but as far as I'm aware
  • 00:14:50
    no that is not something that is that I
  • 00:14:55
    witness happening a lot and it's
  • 00:14:57
    certainly not something that ever
  • 00:14:58
    happened to me when I had Instagram or
  • 00:15:01
    Tik Tok like and and you guys like a few
  • 00:15:04
    years ago I was going ham on Instagram
  • 00:15:08
    when I was in the anti-mlm space because
  • 00:15:10
    that's something I'm really passionate
  • 00:15:12
    about and I was putting my name out
  • 00:15:14
    there as like yeah I want to help people
  • 00:15:16
    recover from mlms I consider them a
  • 00:15:19
    subset of cult and I think they're
  • 00:15:21
    terrible and I want to help
  • 00:15:23
    people I connected with so many folks
  • 00:15:25
    and honestly made some great connections
  • 00:15:27
    that I still have to this day not a
  • 00:15:29
    single one of them was a client so that
  • 00:15:31
    was kind of something that helped me
  • 00:15:34
    make my decision that you know what I
  • 00:15:36
    really don't need this for my job I
  • 00:15:38
    really don't need this for any of the
  • 00:15:40
    work I'm going to do including in my
  • 00:15:42
    opinion voice acting but obviously I I
  • 00:15:45
    want to say this because I know that not
  • 00:15:47
    everybody is that way not everybody can
  • 00:15:50
    get off social media some people
  • 00:15:53
    including some of my friends who are in
  • 00:15:54
    other careers they have to have Facebook
  • 00:15:57
    or Instagram for marke purposes or
  • 00:16:00
    they're in some type of media job and
  • 00:16:01
    it's important for them so pour one out
  • 00:16:04
    for for those
  • 00:16:06
    people um another thing I wanted to
  • 00:16:08
    point out again I mentioned obviously
  • 00:16:10
    that clearly I have YouTube still and uh
  • 00:16:13
    I actually take YouTube pretty seriously
  • 00:16:16
    and when I say seriously though guys I
  • 00:16:18
    mean like in the sense that I am working
  • 00:16:20
    hard to learn I'm working hard to create
  • 00:16:23
    and I'm working hard to hopefully in the
  • 00:16:26
    near future
  • 00:16:27
    connect this is not not something I'm
  • 00:16:30
    doing for money this is not something
  • 00:16:32
    that I'm on here to try to earn my
  • 00:16:34
    income from I already
  • 00:16:35
    have two going on three forms of income
  • 00:16:40
    that I'm engaging in so it's not really
  • 00:16:44
    that it's this is definitely more of a
  • 00:16:45
    creative passion for me this is
  • 00:16:48
    something that I want to look back and
  • 00:16:49
    be proud of and this is a way that again
  • 00:16:53
    hopefully I can eventually connect with
  • 00:16:55
    other people on interests that we share
  • 00:16:58
    because don't have a lot of people in my
  • 00:17:01
    real I guess IRL life who are interested
  • 00:17:04
    in things like Indie animation or Indie
  • 00:17:07
    gaming or things like that so I keep
  • 00:17:12
    YouTube because to me the pros vastly
  • 00:17:14
    outway the cons and I think that YouTube
  • 00:17:17
    is also one of those things where like I
  • 00:17:19
    don't have it on my phone anymore
  • 00:17:20
    because I was scrolling a little bit but
  • 00:17:22
    I don't have it on my phone I am very
  • 00:17:26
    intentional with the time I spend on
  • 00:17:28
    YouTube and the type of content and I'm
  • 00:17:30
    and I'm getting better about the content
  • 00:17:31
    piece of it but I'm I'm becoming very
  • 00:17:34
    very intentional about what I intake and
  • 00:17:37
    I yeah it's just easier for me it's hard
  • 00:17:40
    to explain it's just easier for me
  • 00:17:42
    having it not on the phone is really
  • 00:17:43
    really important because I think that
  • 00:17:45
    the shorts literally attack you when you
  • 00:17:47
    have YouTube on your phone and you're
  • 00:17:48
    just like stop like even if some of this
  • 00:17:51
    is funny like it's just it some of the
  • 00:17:53
    shorts are so ass bro like they're just
  • 00:17:56
    like it's just so such unne necessary
  • 00:17:59
    brain rot and I so yeah so that's kind
  • 00:18:03
    of how I treat YouTube is like something
  • 00:18:06
    that is really a creative Pursuit for me
  • 00:18:09
    it's not really a social media other
  • 00:18:12
    than again connecting with people who
  • 00:18:14
    have my interest but it's not something
  • 00:18:15
    I use to keep in touch with family or
  • 00:18:16
    friends or friends of friends or distant
  • 00:18:18
    things or old co-workers and all that
  • 00:18:21
    it's just kind of like it's my space
  • 00:18:24
    it's my creative wonderful space another
  • 00:18:27
    thing I didn't mention that I figured
  • 00:18:28
    would be important to say too is
  • 00:18:30
    LinkedIn because LinkedIn sometimes gets
  • 00:18:32
    brought up in the social media
  • 00:18:36
    conversation and I don't really consider
  • 00:18:38
    it a social media in the same vein at
  • 00:18:41
    all as any of those other guys that I
  • 00:18:43
    mentioned because social not social
  • 00:18:46
    media LinkedIn really is about having a
  • 00:18:49
    professional profile and again I don't I
  • 00:18:52
    can't think of a single
  • 00:18:54
    person who uses LinkedIn to like
  • 00:18:57
    earnestly keep in touch with people on a
  • 00:19:00
    personal level it's about getting jobs
  • 00:19:03
    it's about befriending people in the
  • 00:19:05
    same industry sometimes it's about maybe
  • 00:19:10
    sometimes reading the Articles a little
  • 00:19:12
    bit but it for the most part it's just
  • 00:19:14
    it's just about the professional aspect
  • 00:19:17
    of life and so I do have a LinkedIn um
  • 00:19:19
    under my real name which I'm not giving
  • 00:19:21
    away yet sorry
  • 00:19:23
    people personal you know artistic and
  • 00:19:26
    professional lives y'all I got to keep
  • 00:19:28
    that sep separate like I just I
  • 00:19:30
    really I'm not trying to be judged out
  • 00:19:32
    here on my therapy work for what I do in
  • 00:19:36
    my personal and artistic life and vice
  • 00:19:39
    versa I'm really just trying to keep it
  • 00:19:40
    separate but anyways I've had it since
  • 00:19:43
    like 2010 2011 like it's the longest
  • 00:19:46
    social media I've had and I just keep it
  • 00:19:47
    because I'm like look I I don't know
  • 00:19:49
    I've connected with so many people over
  • 00:19:51
    the years and if people need to reach
  • 00:19:52
    out to me for like a reference or
  • 00:19:54
    something or just want to ask me a
  • 00:19:57
    question about therapy that's great
  • 00:19:58
    great and vice versa if I need some
  • 00:20:00
    support in that regard sick dude I can
  • 00:20:03
    message them but yeah so I just for good
  • 00:20:06
    full disclosure I wanted to let y'all
  • 00:20:08
    know I do have a LinkedIn obviously it's
  • 00:20:10
    not public but I do have it so I'll own
  • 00:20:13
    up to that but again I see this is a
  • 00:20:15
    very different category of online social
  • 00:20:19
    media others may be watching this video
  • 00:20:21
    and asking if I don't have social media
  • 00:20:24
    if I'm not really using YouTube to
  • 00:20:26
    connect to my friends and family
  • 00:20:29
    and same thing with LinkedIn I'm only
  • 00:20:31
    really using that for like occasional
  • 00:20:32
    work rated stuff and to have an online
  • 00:20:35
    resume so to speak what do I do instead
  • 00:20:38
    well I do have a
  • 00:20:40
    website and it is linked in my YouTube
  • 00:20:44
    profile so you can go check it out if
  • 00:20:46
    you want it's pretty Bare Bones it just
  • 00:20:48
    has some of my paintings some of my
  • 00:20:51
    cosplays it has a page for voice acting
  • 00:20:53
    that is completely empty because I do
  • 00:20:56
    not have anything other than what's on
  • 00:20:57
    my YouTube channel to really like put
  • 00:20:59
    out their's voice acting but one day one
  • 00:21:02
    day for sure y'all so that has been a
  • 00:21:05
    way for me to show what I can create
  • 00:21:10
    without relying or being tempted by
  • 00:21:13
    clicks likes comments views whatever the
  • 00:21:17
    hell because even though obviously there
  • 00:21:19
    are
  • 00:21:21
    some some metrics some algorithmic
  • 00:21:24
    metrics on Squarespace it's really you
  • 00:21:28
    know I haven't really enabled anything
  • 00:21:30
    else like I haven't enabled likes for
  • 00:21:32
    example you know it's like I didn't
  • 00:21:34
    create my own little social media site
  • 00:21:35
    it's more just like here it is here it
  • 00:21:37
    is take a look at it if you want don't
  • 00:21:39
    if you don't want to you can email me if
  • 00:21:41
    you want but it's just kind of there but
  • 00:21:45
    it's a way for me to still catalog all
  • 00:21:48
    the creative things that I do and so
  • 00:21:50
    that I can look back at things and be
  • 00:21:52
    proud or if someone does ask hey what do
  • 00:21:54
    you create what do you do I have
  • 00:21:55
    something to show them because of course
  • 00:21:58
    people in my IRL life will ask that and
  • 00:22:00
    I want to give them something to look at
  • 00:22:03
    and so boom there's my website it's
  • 00:22:05
    right there it's it's cool it's chill it
  • 00:22:07
    doesn't come with all the extra baggage
  • 00:22:09
    that like an Instagram account or a Tik
  • 00:22:11
    Tok account would and I love it so
  • 00:22:14
    that's what I do instead so another
  • 00:22:16
    thing that people have asked me in real
  • 00:22:19
    life and possibly you if you're watching
  • 00:22:21
    this is okay Haley but like you think
  • 00:22:24
    you're slick because you're two weeks in
  • 00:22:26
    dude but like you're not going to last I
  • 00:22:28
    know you're going to going to go back to
  • 00:22:29
    LinkedIn
  • 00:22:31
    or but you're not going to last I know
  • 00:22:33
    you're going to go back to Instagram or
  • 00:22:34
    one of those things because it's so hard
  • 00:22:36
    you know you need it you need it to keep
  • 00:22:38
    in touch with people and like honestly
  • 00:22:41
    you know it's you make a good point
  • 00:22:43
    there but I think what I've come to the
  • 00:22:45
    conclusion of is a couple things first
  • 00:22:48
    of all the people that are really meant
  • 00:22:50
    to be in my
  • 00:22:52
    life are going to make the effort
  • 00:22:55
    they're going to adjust to the change
  • 00:22:57
    they're going to realize that hey in
  • 00:22:59
    order to inform Haley of stuff I've got
  • 00:23:01
    going on in my life guess what I have to
  • 00:23:05
    email her or I have to call her or I
  • 00:23:07
    have to text her or I have to Whatsapp
  • 00:23:10
    her you know what like if that's too
  • 00:23:14
    hard for
  • 00:23:15
    people
  • 00:23:17
    bye bye like I'm I just don't I realized
  • 00:23:22
    in life that I just don't have the room
  • 00:23:24
    for people who are not willing to make
  • 00:23:26
    those small adjustments because I am so
  • 00:23:28
    someone who does a lot for people I have
  • 00:23:31
    had people who are not on social media
  • 00:23:33
    who I've had to adjust in Prior times to
  • 00:23:36
    texting or calling instead it didn't
  • 00:23:38
    kill me and it's not going to kill other
  • 00:23:40
    people if they really care about me or
  • 00:23:42
    their other loved ones who don't have
  • 00:23:44
    social media anymore and the second
  • 00:23:45
    thing is that if there are apps or
  • 00:23:50
    groups or activities or whatever that
  • 00:23:52
    incentivize people to have social media
  • 00:23:55
    in order to be a part of
  • 00:23:57
    them well well it's not really the thing
  • 00:24:00
    for me and there are things that I like
  • 00:24:02
    to do that are more challenging without
  • 00:24:04
    having social media for example when I
  • 00:24:08
    was writing up a little outline to this
  • 00:24:09
    the example that I thought of was this
  • 00:24:11
    group called buy nothing buy nothing is
  • 00:24:13
    a group where you join it on Facebook
  • 00:24:16
    for your respective region and you can
  • 00:24:19
    give stuff away or ask for stuff or pick
  • 00:24:22
    stuff up and there's no money exchange
  • 00:24:23
    everything is just given away for free
  • 00:24:25
    or you're you're picking something up
  • 00:24:28
    and getting it for free or sometimes
  • 00:24:29
    they have little like raffle not Raffles
  • 00:24:33
    but like you know you put your name in
  • 00:24:35
    and then they choose at random and then
  • 00:24:36
    the person gives it to you and I've
  • 00:24:38
    gotten some great stuff that way I've
  • 00:24:40
    also given away like untold amounts of
  • 00:24:43
    possessions on there in the past when I
  • 00:24:45
    had Facebook and you know what one of
  • 00:24:46
    the reasons that I held on to Facebook
  • 00:24:48
    so long was because of that group
  • 00:24:49
    because I really don't like accumulating
  • 00:24:53
    extra crap that I don't need and then
  • 00:24:55
    thinking about throwing it
  • 00:24:56
    away and I always love knowing that
  • 00:25:00
    something that I don't need anymore is
  • 00:25:01
    going to a good home and so at first I
  • 00:25:03
    was like oh man what am I going to
  • 00:25:05
    do without buy nothing and then I
  • 00:25:07
    realized that I have to leverage other
  • 00:25:09
    things but I can still create a similar
  • 00:25:12
    experience for example I have a bunch of
  • 00:25:14
    neighbors and they're all really cool
  • 00:25:16
    and I'm in touch with some of them and
  • 00:25:18
    so sometimes when I have to give away
  • 00:25:19
    something I will just text them simple
  • 00:25:23
    enough and if they don't need it they
  • 00:25:25
    may know someone else who needs it I
  • 00:25:26
    also have found a couple of really
  • 00:25:28
    amazing thrift stores in the area who
  • 00:25:31
    are not necessarily big box places like
  • 00:25:34
    Goodwill where I can donate and I know
  • 00:25:38
    that I'm helping out a company or a
  • 00:25:40
    nonprofit that could really use those
  • 00:25:43
    materials so I just keep you know I have
  • 00:25:46
    to adjust certain things in my life with
  • 00:25:48
    that but I'm still able to do the thing
  • 00:25:49
    that I want to do and another example I
  • 00:25:52
    suppose could be this whole voice acting
  • 00:25:54
    Venture that I have you know I'm not on
  • 00:25:56
    Twitter I'm not on Instagram I can't
  • 00:25:58
    just tweet people and get into like
  • 00:26:01
    conversations that way but you know what
  • 00:26:04
    I can do is I can maybe like talk to
  • 00:26:07
    people on YouTube If I ever am so
  • 00:26:09
    inclined again I may download Discord
  • 00:26:12
    like there are so many other things to
  • 00:26:15
    do I can go to cons and I understand
  • 00:26:17
    that some of the stuff that we may have
  • 00:26:18
    to adjust is like maybe like for example
  • 00:26:20
    going to a con costs more money than
  • 00:26:22
    being on social media I get that but I
  • 00:26:26
    think if something's really important to
  • 00:26:27
    you you make it work even if you don't
  • 00:26:29
    have some of the tools and if you and if
  • 00:26:31
    social media is a needed tool to do the
  • 00:26:34
    thing like truly needed at least for me
  • 00:26:37
    then that just means that it's not
  • 00:26:39
    something that I truly care about then
  • 00:26:41
    if that's really what it's about right
  • 00:26:43
    so those are my two realizations I want
  • 00:26:46
    to make it really clear before I go that
  • 00:26:49
    I really don't judge you if you've
  • 00:26:50
    watched this video and you're like okay
  • 00:26:52
    too long didn't watch going to keep
  • 00:26:54
    social media or even if you watch the
  • 00:26:55
    whole thing and you're like yeah like
  • 00:26:57
    I'm not convinced I'm going to keep my
  • 00:26:59
    social media I think that's fine I think
  • 00:27:01
    that everyone has the right to use
  • 00:27:04
    social media in the way that they want
  • 00:27:06
    as long as they're not harming other
  • 00:27:08
    people or being like a complete Menace
  • 00:27:11
    to Society so you do you for sure like I
  • 00:27:15
    don't want to judge anybody about that
  • 00:27:17
    stuff but what I will say is that I hope
  • 00:27:20
    that what I've talked about today gives
  • 00:27:22
    y'all something to think about or at
  • 00:27:24
    least makes you I don't know think about
  • 00:27:27
    how to mindfully use social media
  • 00:27:28
    because again for example I'm not
  • 00:27:30
    getting off of YouTube anytime soon I
  • 00:27:32
    have no reason to I'm loving my time on
  • 00:27:34
    here I feel like there are so many
  • 00:27:38
    wonderful shows and like communities
  • 00:27:41
    that have come out of YouTube and I
  • 00:27:43
    intend to stay here for as long as it
  • 00:27:44
    feels comfy and fun for me I I have to
  • 00:27:47
    admit there are some days that I spend a
  • 00:27:49
    lot of time on like hasb been Hotel side
  • 00:27:51
    of YouTube or something or the FNAF side
  • 00:27:54
    of YouTube and I'm like commenting and
  • 00:27:56
    engaging but I I hope that we all can
  • 00:27:59
    think about how to be more mindfully
  • 00:28:01
    involved in whatever social media
  • 00:28:03
    communities we're involved in because
  • 00:28:04
    there's a whole big world out there and
  • 00:28:07
    social media is just not the whole world
  • 00:28:11
    it's just not it's not everything it's a
  • 00:28:13
    tool that we can use to see more of the
  • 00:28:15
    world but if we get too involved in it
  • 00:28:17
    then we end up disconnecting from
  • 00:28:19
    reality and disconnecting from things
  • 00:28:21
    that can be really meaningful so what
  • 00:28:23
    it's worth that's what I think again
  • 00:28:25
    thank you for joining me for yet another
  • 00:28:27
    yapping sesh if you're brand brand brand
  • 00:28:31
    brand new here please know that this is
  • 00:28:32
    not really the bulk of my content at the
  • 00:28:35
    moment I do usually tend to Loop in
  • 00:28:38
    other media as I talk about mental
  • 00:28:39
    health topics but I don't know man we're
  • 00:28:42
    waiting on a new hell of a Boss episode
  • 00:28:45
    we're waiting on a new amazing digital
  • 00:28:47
    circus episode and I honestly I'm
  • 00:28:50
    thinking also legitimately of making a
  • 00:28:53
    video about FNAF and like how I got into
  • 00:28:55
    the fandom as like a legitimate
  • 00:28:57
    33-year-old like old as hell like the
  • 00:29:00
    again the grandma of the whole the whole
  • 00:29:03
    community so I have a lot of media
  • 00:29:05
    related mental health analyses and the
  • 00:29:06
    works but if this was helpful please let
  • 00:29:08
    me know I would love to talk in the
  • 00:29:10
    comments I'm a really big yapper in the
  • 00:29:12
    comments too so please feel free to show
  • 00:29:15
    up engage stay as long as you like uh
  • 00:29:18
    make requests for videos I always love
  • 00:29:20
    that I usually am pretty good about
  • 00:29:22
    heaing those and making something that
  • 00:29:24
    can appeal to other people so yep that's
  • 00:29:27
    me all right y'all so please have a
  • 00:29:30
    wonderful day eat some good food I'm so
  • 00:29:33
    hungry I need to go eat so I'm
  • 00:29:34
    going to go do that and I hope you all
  • 00:29:36
    have a good day bye
  • 00:29:44
    [Music]
  • 00:29:50
    [Music]
Tags
  • mental health
  • social media
  • millennial
  • technology
  • creativity
  • content creation
  • digital detox
  • YouTuber
  • personal growth