I so much relate to this. My Twitter account is still active (for some reason) although I haven't been on it in years. I felt the urge to delete all Meta products but honestly, much like yourself, it's in places like Instagram that I've really been able to shine as a gay man - albeit with a locked profile, but that's mostly to discourage the fembots lol. And Facebook *sigh*, I play Words With Friends with my mom on there so I won't be deleting that but I do find that I engage less and less on that platform.
What you said about the rush of online engagement is what keeps me coming back and from becoming like Gabriela. And it's been such a part of my queer journey that I just can't quite quit it.
For better or for worse, social media has provided me a space to "test the waters," too. And I don't really have a way to re-establish those connections outside of it. That's partially because I'm afraid to make that leap to being more out publicly but also because the queer community where I live is pretty siloed and insular (for good reason).
I so much relate to this. My Twitter account is still active (for some reason) although I haven't been on it in years. I felt the urge to delete all Meta products but honestly, much like yourself, it's in places like Instagram that I've really been able to shine as a gay man - albeit with a locked profile, but that's mostly to discourage the fembots lol. And Facebook *sigh*, I play Words With Friends with my mom on there so I won't be deleting that but I do find that I engage less and less on that platform.
What you said about the rush of online engagement is what keeps me coming back and from becoming like Gabriela. And it's been such a part of my queer journey that I just can't quite quit it.
For better or for worse, social media has provided me a space to "test the waters," too. And I don't really have a way to re-establish those connections outside of it. That's partially because I'm afraid to make that leap to being more out publicly but also because the queer community where I live is pretty siloed and insular (for good reason).