I admit that I fell prey to the Instagram scam a for a few years. I say a scam, because the idea is out there that Instagram is a good way to promote art or a business, and I don't think it is, not for a small artist anyway. For ten years I did art shows and markets, had an online shop and had social media accounts for my artwork. Social media got me only a handful of sales in a decade. Art shows provided the bulk of my sales, and fueled my online shop as well. Etsy provided some sales through its own search function. But throughout all that, I felt an obligation to promote myself and my work on social media. But I think it was primarily me and other artists all following one another, not reaching new customers and art lovers. I think that shows and markets are the best way to sell and promote and that's what I'll be pursuing again in the future. Even for sharing personal photos, I think it's a bad method, because the feed is so clogged with suggested posts and advertisements.
For a long time I only checked Instagram on my computer but still found I was looking at it too much, and it felt compulsive. I noticed that the number of ads and irrelevant "suggested posts" dramatically increased over time. It feels like more and more of the internet (youtube shorts, for example) is just a ploy to get us to click on random, distracting things.
In order to make the instagram experience somewhat tolerable, I only checked it from a browser or desktop, and I installed a Firefox plug-in, to remove the suggested posts and ads, and switch to a chronological feed, which does help. The funhouse-style distractions, and bells and whistles vying for your attention feels awful, like its goal is to make everyone ADHD under its influence, whether they normally experience ADHD or not. It feels unhealthy and it alarms me that subjecting themselves to these influences is the norm.
As a next step, I am in the process of dismantling my art Instagram account. I exported and downloaded all my data, so I have my images and captions. I am going to add that galley to my website, because it's actually a nice collection of photos. I may put them on Pixelfed as well, but I haven't decided. I unfollowed everyone and I am deleting all of my content. I will just put a message saying to find me elsewhere. That feels more of an active pushback than just deleting my account in case anyone comes looking for me.
The plug-in I have for making the feed chronological and blocking ads and stories is called Antigram, on Chrome. I haven't found a parallel version on Firefox, unfortunately.
If there are accounts you want to cheek, you can use a tool like www.anonyig.com to see stories and posts without an account. I think that's valid if you need to peep at something on Instagram without having a whole account.
The other evening I watched the film the Social Dilemma on Netflix on the recommendation of a buddy.
The film talks about social media - Facebook and Instagram, but also Google and youtube, and any software with an algorithm that gathers data and tries to serve up the content that is most alluring to the individual user. That means the most emotionally engaging, provocative or inflammatory content is likely to be presented, fueling polarization and targeting people based on data gathered, with wildly differing information and interpretations of the world we live in. It's enlightening and disturbing. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. It makes me very interested in disconnecting myself from those kinds of systems. I don't want to fuel them or be influenced by them.
While I am a privacy-minded Linux aficionado, I still Use Google for some things and have Instagram and Facebook and Reddit accounts. I don't use them much but I'm not proud that they are still there.
Rather than being some sort of absolutist, I am going to list my accounts and break down their use and how I am attempting to manage them. I am aiming for a Cal Newport style digital minimalism, where things serve a purpose, but don't pull me away from a sense of focus.
I'm not talking about phone apps because I haven't had social media apps on my phone for years.
Facebook
Facebook is pretty terrible. I only keep this account for Facebook marketplace, and a bit of local mom networking, and the off chance that a family member I haven't talked to in years wants to look me up.
A while back, Facebook changed settings so they were inserting historical photos into the feed, and I couldn't get rid of them. Some of them were sad or upsetting. I sure don't need extra exposure to upsetting stuff that I didn't ask for! So I installed a firefox extension that removes the home feed altogether, replacing it with a tiny quote. So now if I go to Facebook, I see a mostly blank page, and I can select the marketplace or moms group directly. It is nice that because FB has become so unpleasant, I don't feel I am missing out on anything. I would like to delete the account entirely but those few functions are actually useful and I don't have another way to access them.
I do have the Firefox extension Facebook Container installed, which hopefully keeps Facebook from tracking my data so much.
![A colorful sunset through the trees and houses][1]
I have been trying to better navigate my relationship with technology. It feels like a silly concern - I'm an adult, I should just be able to make sensible choices. But I am not always sure where the lines are between technologies being intentionally addictive, craving escapism as a way to avoid my problems, and just needing better habits. Probably a combination of the three.
Regardless, I notice the craving for distraction in myself. Every moment I'm distracted, is a moment I'm not fully present in my life. That's not to say that all distraction or escapism is bad, but I want it to be conscious and intentional, not compulsive or accidental.
I would love to take some sort of dramatic, symbolic action, throw my phone off a cliff and embark on a picturesque, romanticized lifestyle. But that's just not real. I have a house, pets, family, all the responsibilities. I just need to be better at managing it all.
For information and inspiration, I have read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, How to Break up With Your Phone by Catherine Price, and Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee, all of which are helpful and I recommend them. I appreciate the perspective and information about the addictive manipulation built into apps and websites, and strategies for simplifying.
Regarding phones, I make minimal use of social media in general and don't have any social media on my phone. But I do have periodically check email on my phone, along with having a look at the headlines on a news site. It's a sort of stress compulsion I think, to check to see if anything dreadful has happened since the last time I looked, which is why I'm trying to change that habit. It helps when the news is boring.
In order to use the phone less, I like to use single-function and low-distraction devices when I can, such as the Supernote tablet for blogging and writing, my old iPod Classic with a portable speaker for music, and good old-fashioned paper notebooks and fountain pens for planning, lists and some of my journaling. I also turn off the internet a fair amount of the time. And I like to use simple software for writing when I do use my computer - a simple text editor (GEdit lately), and Zim Wiki. I'd like to try using terminal based programs where I can on the computer, to reduce visual clutter and overstimulation. But that will take some research and practice, so no promises.
I make heavy use of the Night Light feature in Ubuntu and on my phone. My eyes are sensitive, and harsh blue light really bothers me. I keep the lights in my house a warm tone too, which is more calming. that's why I have these little orange pumpkin silicone night lights. Biologically speaking, we should all just have firelight after dark, so that's the light spectrum I aim for at night.
It's all just trying to find a way to use the advantages of modern technology, without whacking out my nervous system. That should be easy peasy, right?
Well, it's an ongoing pursuit.
