Last year, I wrote about where I was spending time online and how I was feeling about it. Most days, I’m just not that interested in what strangers have to say about sports, tech, or whatever else is trending. Still, I haven’t quit completely. Here’s where things stand today:

Bluesky is probably my favorite platform at the moment. The vibes are okay, especially during football and soccer seasons. I find myself checking in a few times a week, more often during Liverpool, Atlanta United or Buccaneers games. That said, my use is artificially limited right now because I’m mostly stuck with the PWA on desktop. I’m really looking forward to Phoenix, a new Bluesky client from the team behind Ivory. Once that drops, I imagine I’ll be on the platform more regularly.

Mastodon is still solid. The community there is thoughtful and kind, but I just don’t think to check it very often. It’s just a bit too homogenous for me. I have, however, continued to subscribe to Ivory even though I barely use it. That’s mostly out of respect for the developers. At some point I’ll probably cancel, but I haven’t quite talked myself into it yet.

Every once in a while, I’ll fire up Threads but it feels less like a social media app and more of an algorithmic firehose of content that Meta thinks I might like.

Instagram is a familiar trap. I go through cycles of installing it, getting sucked in, then deleting it again. It’s too addictive and not particularly rewarding (other than the dog videos).

Facebook continues to be the worst. I deleted my account years ago, but had to create a new one recently because my son’s Boy Scout troop uses it for communication. I’ve done my best to keep the new profile barren — no friends, no interests, no algorithm — and I’d love to delete it again as soon as I can.

In terms of actual usage, I’ve got a 30-minute screen time limit set on my phone and I honestly can’t remember the last time I hit it. Most of my social browsing happens on my computer in between other tasks, which helps keep things in check.

Both Bluesky and Mastodon still feel relatively healthy. The sentiment is mostly positive and the stakes are low, which is nice. But I still catch myself wondering: what’s the actual value here?