Social Media Detox - Tumblr Posts

Removed Most Social Media-Thoughts

Right at the beginning I want to mention that this is not a sweeping piece about how social media and algorithms are ruining our lives and culture. I'm not that dramatic, but I do have moderate thoughts about it and it may find its way onto another post.

But over time I've been cleansing myself of my social media accounts and reducing access to others (I'm on tumblr for 20 minutes a day). And trying to not use algorithmic aspects to apps like Spotify and tv streaming.

My biggest concern of course was missing out on events that happen and staying in the loop on a lot of things and communicating with my friends. I'm happy to report that this has not been the case. In fact, I've been more engaged than ever.

I've been thinking a lot about news sources and what I need to be reading. I've manged to find news outlets I trust and some less so, but still feel relevant so I know what's being discussed. In addition to a solid variety of news outlets (and news letters), I've been hitting up more library resources including JStor and Newsbank to read more about topics that pique my interest. I feel more informed because I'm not being overwhelmed with oversimplification and headlines built to elicit a strong emotional response.

Instead of hitting up playlists that the algorithm recommends I have a list of film and albums I want to listen to or explore. It's been great to find these books, movies and albums on my own (or through these same sources), and I've stopped rating things on goodreads and letterboxd. I merely use them to track and put my thoughts down on the things I consume.

I've had more time to read and do deep dives. It has given me time to tackle things that matter. Instead of doom scrolling through nothing I can meditate or tackle things like writing, journaling, and other projects I have going on. If i just have my phone, I enjoy chess.com and mango language apps. I've been organizing my email and beefing who I actually want to receive alerts from.

Speaking of other projects, the extra time I have is able to be used to further the groups I'm apart of. This includes the contract team for my union, my union's women's committee, and the voting rights group I'm apart of. I making deadlines stress free, and more engaged than ever. The involvement in this and being able to plan time to go to protests at the Israeli consulate and Atlanta City Hall (Cop City) has been great to be out in the community and doing even more work than before.

And there's my mental health. I am bipolar type 2 and its caused a lot of anxiety and depression. My meds have been somewhat helpful, but reducing my screen time has been incredible. The big benefit has been my attention span. I can engage more deeply with long form content and even just quiet moments where I don't feel the need for a dopamine hit from social media. I feel better about the fact that I'm more focused and getting more done. It gives me time to bike, walk or take public transit to see more of the world. I've been using my pass to the museum more too.

I've also spent less money on things that don't matter. No more being hit with algorithms and ads for things I don't need. I do get texts from my favorite t-shirt company (nothing can stop me from buying black t-shirts). But I can now track plane tickets on apps and concerts coming into town. I'm following local groups to see local shows.

As far as friends go, I don't communicate with people like I used to, but that's for a best. Instead of things getting posted in front of me, I get to hear about life events and things my acquaintances are into from them directly when I do see them. As far as my friends, I've been texting, emailing and sending them snail mail more than ever which give me more wonderful feed back and communication. I do love to send the occasional meme, but actually having conversations has been great for my relationships.

Everyone has their own relationships with social media. I'm fortunate that I don't live too far from my family (6 hours), and I have access to a vehicle and public transport in a pretty large city. I have a union job, which my finances have taken a massive hit after the writers strike, but I do work for decent wages that allows me to have a savings account and get out every so often. But overall, cutting these apps out or down has been successful and easy to replace. I'll probably post more about each of these aspects, but I just wanted to share my thoughts somewhere.

If y'all have questions, please message me or comment below.

Third year Instagram-free;

I've had two babies

Taken up gardening

Reading more

Unbecoming who I thought I was

Becoming who I'm meant to be

10/10 would recommend

First day since deleting Instagram;

I did a lot more laundry

I also sat in grass/clover and made a little flower crown🌼

10/10