I used to love social media. It was a digital space where I could learn, make art, educate, and build community around shared interests. I was a pretty popular content creator, producing, shooting, and starring in videos critiquing media, culture, and society through a Latina feminist lens. But now I hate social media. I hate how capitalism has turned what was creative, fun, instructive, and communal into endless ads, product placements, and user-generated content created to gain the attention, and capital, of brands. Everything, from brunch with friends to home renovations, feels so deliberately and highly produced. And it’s exhausting. I long for the days when social media was this new virtual territory where we could meet people and create on blank canvases without the pressures of likes, shares, and follows. I so desperately want to return to that, to reclaim the youthful joy I once had using these platforms.Â
