Welcome to Make life easy, Breezi.

Your friend who sends you a weekly update on what she's working on, reading through, and thinking about – in a list.

Social media apps I spent the most time on last week

• TikTok: 8h and 44m

• iMessage: 5h 39m

• Youtube: 5h 20m

• Instagram: 5h 8m

• Spotify: 1h 42m

*Technically, Youtube and Spotify are considered entertainment apps but with the increased Shorts and Friends Activity in both, I'll loop them with the others

Why I call our generation the "social media in-betweeners"

• We can't be classified as digital natives like today's Gen Z

• We also didn't make it to adulthood pure and unscathed by social media like the older generation

• For you and I, social media was something that was born in the hospital room beside us

• It grew up as we did, fuelled our deepest insecurities and uncovered our biggest dreams

• As an "in-betweener", I find myself thinking a lot about the kind of internet my kids will experience and not knowing whether to feel excited about that, or fearful

Proof that I'm a social media addict

• My longest Snap Streak is 2,276 days long, meaning I haven't missed a day of Snapchatting with my friend for over six years ... talk about retention rate

But why do I still feel so sad, uninspired and detached from it all? Here's my problem with social media today:

• We are ruled by an algorithm code: What we see online these days no longer depends on who we're connected with but rather, by by platform-defined algorithms that favor attention and engagement from consumers – this is known as recommendation media. If we're constantly only shown things we already know and like, how do we expand our horizons? How do we learn to challenge our beliefs? Or are we just stuck in our perfect little algo-curated world?

• We are obsessed with strangers: Last week, I caught myself scrolling through TikTok while sitting on a park bench after work. Before I knew it, 30 minutes had passed and I'd completely missed the sunset. I realized instead of being present in my own life, I was immersed in the lives of complete strangers: listening to them talk, watching them put on makeup, remembering stories on their lives, etc. I was choosing to be an active part of a stranger's world instead of my own, and I hated it.

• We are disconnected from our friends: I'm a huge fan of Rex Woodbury and his piece on Consumer Social Is Dead, Long Live Consumer Social does a great job of highlighting why we feel so removed from our friends, even though we still "follow" them on every platform.

• We are self-conscious of abundance: "Can't post today, already posted yesterday" – there are all these unspoken rules about being on the internet and we're all trying to tip toe the line of "sharing" versus "annoying". Which sucks because now everything feels performative and exhausting.

• We crop out all the mess: We're always in some ways curating the version of ourselves that we are presenting. Take photo dumps for example: they're supposed allow us to be carefree and yet, they are perfectly curated to a tee. No wonder this TikTok has 2M views.

My top 3 predictions for future trends we can expect to see in social

1. Text will making a comeback: All eyes are on short-form video content right now (no wonder CapCut installs are through the roof) but I have a feeling most of us will crave text-based platforms because of how lightweight and simple they are

2. Platforms will win over tools: A few months ago, I tweeted that BeReal would start seeing declines – to me, BeReal is an example tool and not a platform, something that could be replicated elsewhere and wasn't sticky enough for retention

3. The rise of digital nomads, on and offline: As humans, we all need a home. It used to be one home, one address, somewhere we put down our roots and stayed for a long time. Now, we find joy in calling multiple places our home. Just as nomads are a rising trend in the physical world, I think it's the same in the digital world. We'll have multiple persons on multiple platforms and divide our time across different apps that service the different needs for us

How does social media relate to our happiness?

• The Good Life is a book based on the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which is among the longest-running adult life studies ever conducted

• The study tracked the lives of 724 Boston men for 80 years, starting from 1938

• President John F. Kennedy was even part of the original group!

• The men filled out questionnaires and participated in interviews where they revealed their fears, hopes, disappointments, accomplishments, regrets, life satisfaction, and more

According to the research, the number one predictor of your happiness is:

1. Contrary to what many people think, it’s not career achievement, or exercise, or a healthy diet. Instead, one thing continuously demonstrates its broad and enduring importance: Good relationships

The top 3 impactful quotes from The Good Life on our happiness

1. "People who are more connected to family, to friends, and to community, are happier and physically healthier than people who are less well connected"

2. "A troubled marriage/ long term relationship can be as hazardous to physical health as cigarette smoking"

3. "You can find happiness at any time. It’s common for people to feel ‘trapped’ in their unhappy lives but that's not true. Your ways of being in the world are not set in stone. It’s more like they are set in sand. Your childhood is not your fate. Your natural disposition is not your fate. The neighborhood you grew up in is not your fate. The research shows this clearly"

So how does this all relate to building Breezi?

• There are two things that I'm extremely passionate about:

• The connections we have with each other + the future of social media

• My vision for Breezi is a social product that allows us to fully express ourselves on the internet and by doing so, form authentic and meaningful connections that fills the void that exists right now

Speaking of connections and relationships, here's what my current dating resume looks like:

• First boyfriend: 10th grade

• Second boyfriend: 12th grade

• Third boyfriend: junior year of college

• Single since: October 2021

• First dates I went on in last year: 7

• Second dates I went on in last year: 3

• Third dates I went on last year: 1

• Relationship status last year: Situationship*

• Length of situationship: 10 months

• Currently talking to: 0

*Here's a TikTok I made last year that got 1.2M views on what a situationship is

Why dating in your 20's is so difficult (at least for me)

1. It feels too early to be dating for marriage and too late to be dating for fun

2. Dating apps and bars feel like the only place you can meet people

3. There are way too many rules to abide by and games to play

4. Most people are scared of labels and commitment

5. Balancing work, friends, family and personal life is already hard enough

The most important things I've learned about relationships

• There always has to be three relationships going on at once: mine with myself, his with himself and ours together. Our relationship can't be the only relationship we're dependant on – loving yourself is just as, if not more, important

• Hard conversations are hard, but they have to happen: I used to avoid arguments and disagreements like the plague – I thought if we didn't fight, there'd be no problems. I've learned since that actually having fights and resolving them is the best way to grow your relationship

• There is no such thing as right person, wrong time: maybe a hot take, but I believe wholeheartedly, if it's the right person – you'll do anything to make it work. Because if you won't, then it just wasn't the right person for you

With all that being said

• I'm still a hopeless romantic

• Definitely a certified lover girl

• Still believe my soul mate out there somewhere

An amazing podcast on love and relationships by Jay Shetty

• Drew Barrymore ON: Reframing Society's Expectations of Love & How to Know When to Let Go of an Unproductive Relationship

People you should follow on Twitter

• D’Arcy Coolican (consumer, investing, fellow Canadian)

• Eliza (building Corner app, funny, super funny)

• Rachel Cantor (my best friend, thoughtful, brand builder)

In case you need to hear this

What to look forward to in the next newsletter

• My secret tips to being great at networking

• Breezi updates!

• Help me choose travel plans for 2023

If you found anything in this newsletter helpful, I'd love to connect on Twitter – tweet me a screenshot of your favorite part and let's chat 👋

I'll be back next week with more lists!