Update (2025/12/31): I have a Mastodon account again. Long story short, 95% of my upset was Bluesky and it being the “Golden Era Twitter” heir apparent.

Update (2026/02/04): I have a Bluesky account again too. I missed the #BelieveInFilm folks too much and, well, I’ve found most trans-with-a-camera types were either there or on IG, which is one I won’t return to.

Nowhere, really.

(And most certainly, not Antarctica.)

But I did delete all of my texty-type social media accounts. It’s not the first time I have, but I do hope it’s the last. What may be different is that when I did before, it was in a fit of pique.

Aside from a persistent desire to leave, my final push this time was actually recent research on social media and the political sifting and sorting that has happened. The sifting and sorting is no surprise and – as a trans woman – the strong rightward shift on most platforms (and trench-digging on others) is clear and admittedly, often quite frightening.

What served as the final push was that the researcher found that both older (65+) and younger (18-29) cohorts have begun to disengage from social media entirely, while those between 30 and 64 (Gen-X and Millennial) have mostly stayed put. As someone who is of the age most likely to keep (miserably) engaged, knowing that people both older and younger were much more likely to leave made it look more possible.

Probable.

Doable.

Done.

I will definitely miss the pals I’ve made along the way, first on Twitter (which I left in 2022), then Bluesky and Mastodon, but as it turns out, for me, that form of social media is what I find to be stressful and toxic. Even when people are being lovely, it all feels inherently adversarial and mean.

I will continue to post my photos here and I have accounts on more photo-centric websites, including Flickr and Glass. I also now have a Signal account in what I’m hoping will eventually work in the same way that instant messaging did for me decades ago.

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This past Monday, I chose photographic chaos.

It was only a day or two after I posted “this lens [58mm Rokkor-PF] is testing my will to avoid purchasing another XG-1…” that I opened a new tab to eBay, found a working XG-1 for a good price, and hit order.

When it arrived, I loaded fresh batteries in it, clicked the shutter, and opened and closed the aperture to see if the meter responded well the changes in light. It all looked good.

Then, seeing that the forecast called for nothing by clouds for the rest of the week (culminating in 50mm rain yesterday) and seeing that I had mixed my E6 chemistry a month ago, I chose chaos.

The first roll in a new-to-me camera would be a fresh roll of Fuji Velvia 100 instead of something less expensive and scarce that I wouldn’t mind losing if there were problems.

Notwithstanding the unremarkable photos above, it turns out that there were horseshoes within, and the meter seems quite accurate, there were no light leaks, and my chemistry is fine.

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