2 min read

·

Apr 29, 2025

Ditched the social media circus. YouTube’s my (slightly) saner escape.”

I didn’t get Snapchat until 2023, when I finally downloaded it because all my peers had shifted from Instagram to Snapchat to keep “streaks” — silly me, I had no idea what that meant.

The first time I used it, I added all my close friends because it made it easy to find them, constantly suggesting “people I must know.”

I guess Snapchat thought I was a bot and deactivated my account.

I remember trying to be moderate with its usage. Well, that moderation didn’t last too long, and I spiralled into its content vortex all over again.

If you want to know how TikTok almost stole my mind, you can read the full cautionary tale here:

Let’s just say it involved a dangerous combination of Amazon must-haves, fleeting micro-trends, and a serious neglect of sleep…

But I digress!”

So, I made the call: delete the app from my phone.

Guess what?

It felt like I’d removed a huge obstacle.

But I downloaded Snapchat again. One of my close friends rarely replies on Instagram, so I needed to reconnect with them on Snapchat to stay in touch.

Snapchat is so annoying for three reasons:

It always gives me a reason to check my phone — those damn notifications about “people you may know,”

2. Random strangers’ stories popping up,

3. Team Snap sends me messages.

4. And all the ads, plus a subscription? No, thank you.

YouTube has become my one-stop shop for entertainment. I tend to watch commentary and reaction channels from a variety of creators.

I just love hearing people yap.

I do love to yap in secret too (ssh, I talk to myself — don’t tell anyone).

Although the algorithm is sometimes completely broken (it keeps showing me videos I’ve already watched or ones I haven’t even finished!), I still enjoy that I can watch a variety of content on YouTube, and I’ve curated my feed to do just that.

Thanks for reading my gist.

What’s your experience with Snapchat and/or TikTok?

Leave a comment answering the question above!