Admit it. You’re probably scrolling on your phone right now, constantly switching between social media apps. Each platform gives you a different experience while also feeling the same.

YouTube is probably the first platform you were on. It didn’t require you to have an account which is nice when you’re under thirteen but want some form of entertainment. YouTube back then used to be pretty nice. People at least attempted to make something somewhat original. These days, YouTube videos made by people who do it for the sake of fame feel hollow. There isn’t a pinch of passion made and feels like a festival of nothingness. The best videos these days are the ones with some sort of educational value. Reaction videos made by experts such as doctors, vocal coaches, and other people with some sort of knowledge are the best because it’s more than just reacting to something and seeing if you enjoy it. There’s a level of analysis that’s taking place, offering interesting insight into what they’re experiencing. One of the best features that have been removed is the ability to respond to videos with a video you have on your channel. Since then, people just started responding with videos in the comments section, which can be a little bit cleaner but it can get lost. Contests that required you to respond with a video now have to be sent elsewhere for they to not get completely lost.

(Rego Kerosi / Flickr)

Facebook is probably the platform you think of when you hear the words “Social media.” Back then, it used to be the place when it came to posting whatever you want. You probably just posted pictures, videos, and whatever thoughts you had. You also had games like Farmville which was a fun experience. Everyone started hopping on it and it felt like you were connected to the entire world. Over time, younger generations started to slowly fade away which now makes Facebook the platform that your relatives are on. My experience with Facebook used to be okay. Most of my friends were usually talking about education-related things such as science fairs and music events. Once my relatives found my Facebook page, it hasn’t been the same since then. All I see now are their shenanigans and family gatherings that I don’t care about. At least with my school friends, I interacted with them on a somewhat daily basis. The same can’t be said about my relatives. The ones who I don’t know usually end up being my relatives. The platform has been ruined for me since then.

(Esther Vargas / Flickr)

Instagram has kind of taken over that role. It’s a lot more streamlined with features being accessible in only a few clicks. The only thing that can be kind of annoying is the fact that you can’t do text-only posts (not counting posting pictures of texts or using the create mode in stories). Instagram has been pretty much the same since 2016 until they started messing with people’s timelines. First, they started putting accounts you don’t follow on your main timeline. Isn’t that what the explore page is for? Also, the abundance of ads started to become annoying. I didn’t install Instagram to see ads. I want to see what my friends are up to, not what a company is trying to sell me. One of my major criticisms is the lack of ability to put links outside of your story or bio. People will try to put links in their posts or comments but it’s rendered useless by what Instagram is capable of. Also, the amount of direct messages and bots is concerning. When I used Instagram, there were always bots seeing my stories or in my message box. If you posted on your story anything about them they would never show up. The ones that message you are always asking you to promote their product or want to collaborate with you. The accounts that do this claim to work for a company. If they really wanted to work with you, the company itself would probably ask you from their company account rather than someone message from their personal account. Other than that, Instagram is still fine for what it is, even if some of the changes aren’t that great.

Twitter is easily the one people laugh at today. It’s mostly text-based posts and people will post anything on their mind, regardless of how ridiculous it is. This is the place where people will get into feuds over anything such as politics and current news. The number of ridiculous takes is crazy, especially the ones that are explicitly discriminatory. Twitter is often the place where you find out people’s views, which can be disappointing at times. Political Twitter is something you should avoid as much as possible unless necessary. Most of the time it isn’t useful and all it is are people arguing over basic human rights rather than discussing real issues. If you ever retweet a news article, the platform will now ask you if you’ve read it yet just to make sure you’re actually informed, rather than the title alone. This doesn’t guarantee that people will read it but at least there’s a good warning.

(Esther Vargas / Flickr)

While people like to talk about how TikTok is popular, it’s not the giant as it seems to be. Sure, there are 1 billion active users, but most TikToks don’t even become popular through the platform itself, but rather people re-uploading the videos on other platforms. TikTok is pretty much YouTube but can be easily scrolled through, which can lead to lower attention spans. It’s shocking how a platform like this was able to become popular since Vine, a similar platform that become popular, was shut down after platforms such as Instagram started adding videos.

You do have other platforms such as Snapchat, Reddit, and Twitch, but those are their own entities compared to more traditional social media.

Social media is here to stay whether you like it or not. How your experience is like is up to you to decide.