Reclaiming
January is always a great time for a reset—not just for tidying up physical spaces but also for reflecting on life itself. So, I took the opportunity to make some changes.
Cleaning Up LinkedIn Connections
Lately, LinkedIn has started to feel more uncomfortable than useful. A few years ago, every connection request carried some meaning—whether professional or personal. But now, the platform seems flooded with fake accounts, bots, and baiters.
So, I decided it was time for a cleanup. I set a simple rule: only stay connected with real people I’ve actually met. With that guideline, I trimmed my network down to under 500 connections—still a lot, but at least it feels more genuine now.
Quitting Instagram & Threads
Meta’s recent policy changes weren’t the direct reason for this decision, but they did give me a moment to reconsider. I have been an avid Instagram user—with over 5,774 posts. It was a great space to document and share my life with friends, but over time, the constant flood of reels and highly targeted ads became exhausting (admittedly, too effective).
Threads initially felt like a promising refuge for those leaving Twitter, but it gradually started showing me more of what it wanted me to see rather than what I actually cared about. The fact that there’s still no default way to view only my follower feed—without extra steps—made it even more frustrating.
So, I decided to quit both platforms and find a new home on Bluesky. To my surprise, many of my old friends were already there. If you’re on Bluesky, you can find me at @dikoko.bsky.social.
Shifting Focus to Quality Information
Rather than constantly consuming instant, algorithm-driven content, I’ve decided to shift my focus toward more structured and thoughtfully curated information. To start, I reinstalled Reeder to rekindle my old habit of following RSS feeds and carefully selected a few high-quality sources.
I also set a New Year’s resolution: to read one engineering book and one non-engineering book every month. As one of the most thought-provoking posts I’ve seen this year put it, this is the first step toward becoming a property owner on the Internet—rather than just a tenant in someone else’s feed.
