Why do I have a website, instead of just using social media?

In the past few years, I've become very critical of social media. Specifically, how it's become so algorithm driven.

The original purpose for social media, was to keep up with friends and family. Now it's all memes, and short form content. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy both of those! But the latter can be very addictive, and it's intentionally designed to be that way.

Instead of us using the internet and our phones, a lot of times it feels like they're using us.

I started to look at the screen time on my phone, and I realized I was spending hours every day on social media. That time adds up. I can't remember the exact amount of time I was using it at the time, but let's be nice and say it was only three hours. Three hours every day, would equal twenty-one hours every week. Which would equal one thousand, and ninety-two hours a year, aka forty-five and a half days spent scrolling through memes every year.

That's a LOT of time spent just doing nothing, and I decided to make a change. I still use social media, but I've heavily reduced my time on it. And the time I do spend on it, I try to be more mindful of how I'm using it. I've tried to use alternatives, and one of those is having my own website!

Well, that's pretty simple. I wanted to learn how to make a website lol. It does have some other benefits though, like I can customize it however I want! I can stick blinkies everywhere, and have a page that's just full of gifs that I like. I can make it look exactly how I want, instead of only being able to change my profile picture, and maybe add a background picture. I'm still fiddling with things, and that's kind of the beauty of it. My website will never be done, because my tastes will change over time. I wanted a way to express myself, and share updates with my friends and family, without using social media. I found this solution, and I hope maybe I'll inspire others to do the same!