Coming Unplugged
After over a year of considering it, I finally deleted my Instagram. It feels like it shouldn't be as big of a consideration as it was, but part of the thing that makes leaving these social networks hard is that, well, some of the people I know locally, the only contact I have for them is their Instagram. And, well, have I ever contacted them through Instagram? As I came to that realization, the answer was, no, I haven't. And at least for some of the people, I have an idea of where they are some of the time. My favorite local earring maker is at Saturday markets, and sometimes at the local yarn shop. I have Ravelry for finding new patterns. It's clunkier, and definitely has more friction to it, but honestly, that's what I'm looking for in my life at this point. I want more friction.
I think, if I'm remembering correctly, this is also one of the new trends on TikTok, a platform that I am not on personally. And I think they have the right idea. I don't feel the need to get rid of everything. I still love YouTube, and I'm considering making videos to post on the platform sometime this year, but I don't need access to the scroll that they've created in a pale imitation of Instagram and TikTok. I still have my phone, for a variety of reasons. I think that, while understandable, the urge to completely divorce yourself from technology is a foolish one. It isn't going away, and it will never truly go away. Mina Le has a great video essay on this idea on YouTube. I don't feel the need to continue to wax on it further.
The final straw on this push was Discord, as I'm sure it was for many people. I've been considering what to do about it myself for the last couple weeks, and I've decided to move myself to an open source platform, Valour. I've really been enjoying the layout, how accessible theme customization is, and, as a Mac user, having to access it on my browser. It makes it feel more playful and intentional, rather than something I'm using because it's the easiest option.
Being able to customize the colors was, as silly as it sounds, really eye-opening for me. I've made an eyebleed combination of hot pink, acid green, and electric purple that both makes my migraines worse and brings me unbridled joy, and I'm thinking I want to bring that energy to my bearblog as well. You know, as soon as I can figure out how to do that. I'll ask some of my friends on the platform -- one of them at least has a cute custom situation going on that isn't too complicated.
I think I'll probably also be reworking my approach to my bearblog. I'll keep my current posts alive, and I might return to work on some of them, but I also want to engage more joyfully with the things I do. Which was another huge reason for deleting and switching out some stuff. I'm settling in to the boredom that has come to fill the gaps where scrolling used to be, and having that time to think has been refreshing. Hell, I even wrote this blog post (in Obsidian no less, another platform I have come to love). I feel better. I hope this keeps going.