Social Media Day 2026: It used to be fun, now we dread it

June 30 was Social Media Day.

In the summer of 2010, my best friend Norbert and I were sitting outside Tia Maria’s in BGC. We had just picked up one of the first Android smartphones on the market, the HTC Magic, and imagined traveling back to 2004 to ask ourselves what the next big thing in tech would be six years later. Would Personal Digital Assistants still exist? Will main roads like EDSA have free WiFi?

Norbert faced me and began to act weird: “Hi Norbert and Reggie of 2004! This is Norbert from the year 2010! PDAs are gone and totally replaced by smartphones. WiFi in EDSA? We’re not there yet. But the big thing in 2010 are not gadgets. It is Social Media! You guys will be hooked to Facebook, Twitter, and tumblr. Social Media is the future!”

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We laughed at that thought. 16 years later, am I still laughing about it?

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The first social media platform I used was Twitter in 2007 before I joined Facebook in 2009. On June 30, 2010, a website called Mashable.com declared it Social Media Day to spotlight social media platforms revolutionizing our culture and the way we people connect with each other all around the world.

I attended my first Social Media Day meetup on June 30,2010. There were only a handful of us but we ended up bonding with each other for the next few hours. We celebrated it again a year later, but this time with more people coming from our Twitter community. Then in 2012, we held the first major Social Media Day event at the Ayala Triangle led by my friends Rosario Juan of Commune Coffee and Manila Bulletin Columnist Tonyo Cruz.

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We celebrated it because we used social media for the good reasons. We shared valuable and useful information that were beneficial for others to read and learn from. We used social media for having a civilized discussion from national issues to choosing between Hany or Choc Nut. We used it for crowdsourcing to help us make the best decisions. Remember Ondoy in 2009? Users of social media became an emergency response network. Information of missing people were posted and tagged people and organizations to request help for donations.

During those years, I couldn’t breathe if I am not able to access any of my social media apps. I’m always excited to find out about my friends’ latest food discoveries, updates about their families, posting of jokes among others. Nowadays, I’m sick of it.

It went downhill when “fake news” started spreading on Facebook. Twitter, Instagram and eventually TikTok. This tactic was used to manipulate public opinion and advance their propaganda for political gain. The fake news peddlers involved not only Politicians, but also “Influencers.” Imagine, we used the term “Influencers” before who spread good vibes and promote their advocacies, but nowadays the same term is also used for those content creators who spread lies.

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Spreading of fake news became rampant no thanks to these troll farms funded by politicians, wealthy and influential people who have an agenda of their own. Just observe a Facebook post by a news media organization and see how these trolls work. Check their profiles and you’ll find out they have 10 or 0 friends with no prior activity. If someone tries to engage with them, they respond with ad hominem attacks. Worse, they will even threaten you. Where was the civilized discussion which we used to have years ago?

We also see content creators using the platform for the wrong reasons to make themselves famous. Pranks that have gone wrong, Influencers doing poverty porn, relying on clickbait to mislead their followers – All just for content. Unnecessary thirst traps were being done by both male and female content creators without doing anything sensible just to rack in views of their “thirsty” followers.

Regular netizens sometimes use social media to bash and shame people, restaurants, and service providers publicly instead of sending them a Direct Message to resolve the issue. Netizens search for individuals involved in a viral issue by searching their names on Facebook or Instagram, bash them then share their profiles to be bashed by other netizens. It’s absurd and barbaric!

We haven’t celebrated Social Media Day like we used to years ago. Personally, I think this is because it’s part of our daily lives. I also think it’s because social media, at least here in the Philippines has gone too toxic there’s no reason to celebrate anymore. While my work relies on it, as much as possible I stay away from it. I do digital detox occasionally to save my sanity.

Going back to that conversation with Norbert, it was only his 2010 version who appeared to claim that Social Media is the Future. I would’ve added the Reggie of 2026 and he will say otherwise.

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