Replacing Facebook with newsletters
I replaced newsfeeds of Facebook, Twitter with newsletters. I thought I was wasting time on Facebook and also working for free. I found myself “liking” items instead of engaging conversations, tagging people instead of saying: “Hey, how are you? This might be of your interest” or “Please let me introduce you to [insert name]” or something else. Too much tagging, liking; not enough meaningful conversation. So I left. I replaced my newsfeed’s udpates with newsletters organised by topics: reading, regions, cities.
At least when I send emails, I don’t find myself chasing “social media rewards” i.e. likes or shares, but engaging in conversation.
Emails feel healthier.
One more advantage: there is no algorithm.
Emails rely on SMTP protocol, not on some mark-zuckerberg-wants-to-connect-the-world algorithm. I just want to message some of my friends, not 2.2 billion people. If I send an email to you, you get it — and most likely read it. You might even reply :)
There is no centralized platform playing middle man. We do not need that.
For those who FOMO deleting Facebook:
- I still have friends;
- they call me directly when they organise events, if they want to invite me;
- I still catch my friends when traveling concurrently to the same place;
- I reclaimed 183 hours per year (30min/day)
I understand some people don’t have the freedom to delete Facebook e.g. running ads for their business.
I use Groups in Contact app on Mac to manage those other newsletters.
