this is me. always trying a new app to fill the void (lol) instagram keeps coming up to haunt me as well, reminding me the horrors of being perceived, while also being jealous of the people who are flourishing by simply existing. anyway i feel that at least with substack i'll learn something new or find some new and interesting writers - like yourself! (btw would love to read some of the articles you found in your research!)
Thank you for your kind words Angelina. I might be overlooking something but I am not sure what you mean by the articles i found for my research. Could you elaborate? 😊
oh yeah! when you mentioned doing a deep dive on how to improve your substack and said you found some good essays. but also this feeds into the collective scrolling obsession 😂
Ahhh I see how you read it that way! I meant that i was just thinking about how i could improve my substack and write better, and for inspiration i just read essays of other people on here. Not on the subject of improving substack but just reading their work. For instance the one from Rayne fisher quann called “internet princess” love her work. I cannot remember all that i read but, you get the gist of it! 🤗
ty so much for responding. i share a similar sentiment. my issue is i feel like i read a lot of really good writing on here that's inspiring but still can't sit and get myself to write. also a huge fan of internet princess as well. wish i could write like that!
I think, at least for me personally, when I know the intention of why I am doing this, like for example doom scrolling on social media, I am able to understand where I come from when I’m dissociating or compensating …
im in a similar boat as you! i'm trying to curb my instagram addiction and doomscrolling on reels by reading articles on substack/aeon. in my opinion though, i think its much better than consuming short form content!!
Hi! I believe the boat is getting very cozy lol. In a way it’s good to see a lot of people seem to be done with the doomscrolling and social media maze. I agree fully! It is much better than consuming short form content. However I still have to be mindful of my time on my phone. I think inspiration also comes from just being aware in your surroundings and if I keep looking at my screen I’ll probably miss out on a lot. Thank you for your comment and subscribing <3 means a lot!
I hear you! I finally deleted TikTok after being on it for two years. I still have Instagram but am trying to be mindful with how often I use it. Substack doesn’t leave me feel the ick even if I use it a lot. And it think it’s for the reasons that you mentioned. When I read people’s articles and notes, it can help me be a better writer myself. Instagram doesn’t do that for me. I don’t want to to know how to take better photos or pose better or influence people on things. So it feels like it’s robbing me of something without providing anything back.
I fully agree with you Katharina. It’s definitely a better platform and more social than any of the other apps! I love how you can connect with strangers over a shared creative outlet. And of course insta and tiktok somewhat offer the same but it’s not the main focus anymore. Also the people in the comments are SO mean 😭 I really hope substack stays focused on being a platform for writers. Even though that last e-mail about collaborating with video content creators was a bit worrying 🫠 thanks for taking the time to read and comment ☺️
Totally relatable. The times I’ve deleted instagram, other apps just took its place. It’s like smoking cigarettes, you are constantly needing a dopamine hit. It is so much part of our reality, that I think that the more you fight it, the more it haunts you. We better just embrace that these apps are here.
Right? It feels like there is no way around at least some degree of addiction to something lol. As long as it doesn’t become troublesome in your day to day life and it’s actually causing mental or physical health problems, we should be ok. However I do think it’s harder to spot the repercussions of smart phone addiction, some people probably don’t even recognize it as an addiction. There are so many deeper levels of (subconscious) effects that social media for instance can have on us. But that’s a whole lot to unpack here 😆 thanks for reading and commenting 🥰
Personally I try the indirect approach. Once I’m feeling strong enough to confront myself with my habit, I try to find out what causes the habit. For me quite often it’s a way of not having to ‘sit’ with certain feelings that come with the challenges of life.
That makes sense. I understand it could be running from feelings, thoughts etc. I think in general an addiction is to “escape” something. Glad to hear you can confront yourself with it, but i also think we should be gentle with being critical of our behavior that is labeled as “negative”. We are all just trying to survive the challenges of life, like you said. Not saying we should ignore alarming behaviors and habits , but being kind to ourselves for having these “addictions” is, I think, the first step towards a solution.
i have been struggling with these things for a long time. i’ve had instagram deleted for over a year, though i redownload it at times. you’re right, reels are much harder to enjoy through safari. and instagram in general has started to feel like more and more of a time suck than an actually enjoyable and generative social tool. i’ve read article after article about people getting rid of their phones or using flip phones or what have you, and though ive genuinely considered those alternatives, i love my music through spotify and easy communication with my friends too much to lose them. it’s a difficult question. my temporary solution is 15 minutes of screen time on snapchat and 30 minutes on instagram and it’s password protected by a friend of mine who won’t tell me the password. only been doing it for two days but it’s been great. substack’s also been a great alternative that feels much more worthwhile to me. i think i’ll be working through my relationship with social media for a long time to come but i very much appreciate your words. and i relate to wanting to end on a positive note, just wrote about that in my last essay!
this is me. always trying a new app to fill the void (lol) instagram keeps coming up to haunt me as well, reminding me the horrors of being perceived, while also being jealous of the people who are flourishing by simply existing. anyway i feel that at least with substack i'll learn something new or find some new and interesting writers - like yourself! (btw would love to read some of the articles you found in your research!)
Thank you for your kind words Angelina. I might be overlooking something but I am not sure what you mean by the articles i found for my research. Could you elaborate? 😊
oh yeah! when you mentioned doing a deep dive on how to improve your substack and said you found some good essays. but also this feeds into the collective scrolling obsession 😂
Ahhh I see how you read it that way! I meant that i was just thinking about how i could improve my substack and write better, and for inspiration i just read essays of other people on here. Not on the subject of improving substack but just reading their work. For instance the one from Rayne fisher quann called “internet princess” love her work. I cannot remember all that i read but, you get the gist of it! 🤗
ty so much for responding. i share a similar sentiment. my issue is i feel like i read a lot of really good writing on here that's inspiring but still can't sit and get myself to write. also a huge fan of internet princess as well. wish i could write like that!
I think, at least for me personally, when I know the intention of why I am doing this, like for example doom scrolling on social media, I am able to understand where I come from when I’m dissociating or compensating …
im in a similar boat as you! i'm trying to curb my instagram addiction and doomscrolling on reels by reading articles on substack/aeon. in my opinion though, i think its much better than consuming short form content!!
Hi! I believe the boat is getting very cozy lol. In a way it’s good to see a lot of people seem to be done with the doomscrolling and social media maze. I agree fully! It is much better than consuming short form content. However I still have to be mindful of my time on my phone. I think inspiration also comes from just being aware in your surroundings and if I keep looking at my screen I’ll probably miss out on a lot. Thank you for your comment and subscribing <3 means a lot!
I hear you! I finally deleted TikTok after being on it for two years. I still have Instagram but am trying to be mindful with how often I use it. Substack doesn’t leave me feel the ick even if I use it a lot. And it think it’s for the reasons that you mentioned. When I read people’s articles and notes, it can help me be a better writer myself. Instagram doesn’t do that for me. I don’t want to to know how to take better photos or pose better or influence people on things. So it feels like it’s robbing me of something without providing anything back.
I fully agree with you Katharina. It’s definitely a better platform and more social than any of the other apps! I love how you can connect with strangers over a shared creative outlet. And of course insta and tiktok somewhat offer the same but it’s not the main focus anymore. Also the people in the comments are SO mean 😭 I really hope substack stays focused on being a platform for writers. Even though that last e-mail about collaborating with video content creators was a bit worrying 🫠 thanks for taking the time to read and comment ☺️
Totally relatable. The times I’ve deleted instagram, other apps just took its place. It’s like smoking cigarettes, you are constantly needing a dopamine hit. It is so much part of our reality, that I think that the more you fight it, the more it haunts you. We better just embrace that these apps are here.
Right? It feels like there is no way around at least some degree of addiction to something lol. As long as it doesn’t become troublesome in your day to day life and it’s actually causing mental or physical health problems, we should be ok. However I do think it’s harder to spot the repercussions of smart phone addiction, some people probably don’t even recognize it as an addiction. There are so many deeper levels of (subconscious) effects that social media for instance can have on us. But that’s a whole lot to unpack here 😆 thanks for reading and commenting 🥰
Personally I try the indirect approach. Once I’m feeling strong enough to confront myself with my habit, I try to find out what causes the habit. For me quite often it’s a way of not having to ‘sit’ with certain feelings that come with the challenges of life.
That makes sense. I understand it could be running from feelings, thoughts etc. I think in general an addiction is to “escape” something. Glad to hear you can confront yourself with it, but i also think we should be gentle with being critical of our behavior that is labeled as “negative”. We are all just trying to survive the challenges of life, like you said. Not saying we should ignore alarming behaviors and habits , but being kind to ourselves for having these “addictions” is, I think, the first step towards a solution.
i have been struggling with these things for a long time. i’ve had instagram deleted for over a year, though i redownload it at times. you’re right, reels are much harder to enjoy through safari. and instagram in general has started to feel like more and more of a time suck than an actually enjoyable and generative social tool. i’ve read article after article about people getting rid of their phones or using flip phones or what have you, and though ive genuinely considered those alternatives, i love my music through spotify and easy communication with my friends too much to lose them. it’s a difficult question. my temporary solution is 15 minutes of screen time on snapchat and 30 minutes on instagram and it’s password protected by a friend of mine who won’t tell me the password. only been doing it for two days but it’s been great. substack’s also been a great alternative that feels much more worthwhile to me. i think i’ll be working through my relationship with social media for a long time to come but i very much appreciate your words. and i relate to wanting to end on a positive note, just wrote about that in my last essay!