I stopped using Facebook around 2010. As my first and only social media account, it met my needs for years. I used it to learn about upcoming events, to stay up to date on what shenanigans my friends were getting into, but mostly to communicate. Afterall, it was the dark days prior to unlimited texting. A text was 10 cents. Facebook was free.
But then unlimited texting became standard. And, as friends went to different colleges and fell out of touch, suddenly only our mom’s friends were commenting on our photos. It was a sign that Facebook?s usefulness had run its course for us. I, like many others, stepped away. 
Some went to Twitter, which had been growing in popularity for a couple years. Others went to Instagram, the hot new photo sharing app that our parents weren?t on yet. I stayed out of it. For an entire decade, I happily sat on the sidelines as social media trends came and went, oblivious to it all.
When I discovered horology, my watch world consisted of only two outlets. First, a welcoming group of local enthusiasts that met monthly and maintained a lively group chat. And YouTube, a platform where I could anonymously absorb information to my heart?s content. Marc from Long Island Watch taught me how to size a bracelet and use a bezel, and Marshall at Wristwatch Revival was nice enough to let me watch him service vintage watches. I loved my little self-imposed bubble. Between my anonymity on Youtube and the snobbery-free environment of local meet-u...