Ever since I discovered Substack, I noticed how overstimulated scrolling on IG made me feel. The difference was night and day. Now I am also going to do an experiment to focus mostly on my own blog and substack. Go back to slow content, play to my strengths instead of spending an hour on creating a reel no one will see. Yes, substack feels like the early days of IG and blogging and I love it! I am calling the trend of slow social media coming back. When things lean too much to one side (ultra fast content), there will always be something to counter that ✨ And I am all here for it! Crochet (or knitting) is a slow craft after all. We were never meant to fit into a 5 second reel…
That's such a good point. Instagram has become busier, faster, louder - all the things that make me uncomfortable. Thank you for putting that feeling into words.
Definitely on Substack for the slower pace of life.
Yes absolutely! I have wondered for some time why Substack feels more at home for me and it simply is because I like slow, I like depth, I like long-form. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just that I never found a place that offered that as a rule. So I am so glad I’m here now :)
I was active on FB for years - hours lost each week on stuff I now can't remember. Never joined Twitter and had accounts on Pinterest and Instagram but seldom ventured to either. In March, I closed my FB acct and never looked back.
I have been writing and reading Substack since Jan2024 and the quality of content keeps me engaged and thoughtful. In fact, I have to manage my time on Substack because I could read for hours. I use Notes mostly to promote my own writing but I have found that commenting on other writer's essays actually garners a fair amount of followers and subscribers.
There's plenty of evidence supporting the damage social media does to our brains, our teenagers, our communities and our countries. A recent poll of US high schoolers revealed that almost half want to be influencers as their careers! Think about that...
Now with AI moving taking over technology, we don't really know what is real or not. Here in the US, tech bros have bought their way into our politics and it is ugly and in our upcoming budget bill, they have managed to remove all regulation and pre-empt future regulation. Their products are about addiction - getting us to stay for one more post, one more click. My partner spends hours each morning doing just that. He knows its a waste of time but he gets sucked into reels.
My adult son worked in corporate marketing for a few years and after he left that field, both he and his partner closed all of their social media. He told me awful stuff he was told to do to lure/entice/sell on SM.
For me, leaving SM was an act of rebellion against the tyranny of corporations and politics.
I've quit Instagram twice now - the first time was for around 6 months but I missed the ability to search pattern hashtags when I was planning a new knitting or sewing project so gradually got lured back. This time though, I have a feeling it might be permanent. I'm not experiencing any significant change in my mental health or free time (I hate all those articles that proclaim after giving up Instagram for a week the author felt some kind of earth shattering, revolutionary, life altering clarity/free time/creativity etc) but I just generally feel..better. I don't think in square photos any more, I don't imagine my day as an Instagram caption. I can feel the grip of it's claws digging into my brain lessening.
I've dabbled in Notes but tbh, found it kinda just became a replacement for Instagram for me. It's annoying, because if you want to promote your writing, you have to talk it up somewhere, right? But how do you do that without Notes becoming just another social media replacement? I don't have the answer to that yet. I guess I'm just hoping if I continue to write, eventually my people will find me. But that's probably extremely naive and probably explains why my follower count hasn't grown in a really long time!
It's tricky isn't it. I use Threads quite a lot (Instagram's version of Twitter) and for me that's replaced a lot of the social chat I used to get via Instagram. I'm left wondered what I'm still doing on there to be honest as there's so little traffic.
And yes - Notes here is definitely a balancing act for sure. I tend to go through phases. I'm either all over it or ghosting it completely 😂
I do love how I can come to Substack, choose who I follow and get to know them via their writing. My brain is wired in such a way that I wander down rabbit holes of information and aspirational lifestyles; this inevitably leads to overload. That, is my problem not Substack. I backed off and returned to Instagram. While IG no longer produces performance anxiety in me, the sheer volume of possibilities does take my breath away and cause my brain to short circuit.
Recently, in an effort to purge and reboot, I deleted my entire Substack blog (do we even call what we do here a blog?). Gone. And not a moment of regret. I had not found my focus and I believe that is one reason I got overwhelmed. Now, I have a clearer picture of what I want to say and share. A new publication is in the works.
That's so fascinating to read, thank you. I have similar periods of overwhelm and I think partly it's because, like you when I first joined Substack I didn't really know what to expect or how to get the best out of it - definitely a learning curve as it's unlike any other kind of media. And for those of us who are prone to rabbit holes it can take some getting used to 😂
I check FB once a day for a neighborhood group and crochet groups but I’m thinking of leaving altogether I quit X and IG. I really don’t miss it and it gobbled up time and often made me envious. So it’s just Substack now .
Oooh interesting? Sarah's point about using social media for work/ socialising is so interesting. Looking forward to seeing how your experiment goes! It's that thing we forget so easily - energy flows where attention goes xo
I definitely hear that and understand where you are coming from. My own boys are 19 and 20 now and neither of them have any social media accounts - they never wanted them - and I'm so glad they didn't.
I used to spend hours each day on Instagram and now it probably just about adds up to an hour over a week.
I'm just not sure what role it is fulfilling in my life now.
I love substack. In so many ways, be it, my love of knitting, gardening, creative writing and cooking, it fills my mind and soul with joy! Instagram has its place but it is not Substack.
So wise Louise! And thanks for the mention. I was chatting with one of my clients this morning about how we need to be willing to let things go and just trust the process. Maybe you'll go back to instagram, maybe you won't but it's trusting that nothing bad will happen in the meantime.
Ever since I discovered Substack, I noticed how overstimulated scrolling on IG made me feel. The difference was night and day. Now I am also going to do an experiment to focus mostly on my own blog and substack. Go back to slow content, play to my strengths instead of spending an hour on creating a reel no one will see. Yes, substack feels like the early days of IG and blogging and I love it! I am calling the trend of slow social media coming back. When things lean too much to one side (ultra fast content), there will always be something to counter that ✨ And I am all here for it! Crochet (or knitting) is a slow craft after all. We were never meant to fit into a 5 second reel…
That's such a good point. Instagram has become busier, faster, louder - all the things that make me uncomfortable. Thank you for putting that feeling into words.
Definitely on Substack for the slower pace of life.
Yes absolutely! I have wondered for some time why Substack feels more at home for me and it simply is because I like slow, I like depth, I like long-form. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just that I never found a place that offered that as a rule. So I am so glad I’m here now :)
Exactly, this place just naturally lends itself to more leisurely conversation doesn’t it. And I love that we have found a pace that works for us.
I was active on FB for years - hours lost each week on stuff I now can't remember. Never joined Twitter and had accounts on Pinterest and Instagram but seldom ventured to either. In March, I closed my FB acct and never looked back.
I have been writing and reading Substack since Jan2024 and the quality of content keeps me engaged and thoughtful. In fact, I have to manage my time on Substack because I could read for hours. I use Notes mostly to promote my own writing but I have found that commenting on other writer's essays actually garners a fair amount of followers and subscribers.
There's plenty of evidence supporting the damage social media does to our brains, our teenagers, our communities and our countries. A recent poll of US high schoolers revealed that almost half want to be influencers as their careers! Think about that...
Now with AI moving taking over technology, we don't really know what is real or not. Here in the US, tech bros have bought their way into our politics and it is ugly and in our upcoming budget bill, they have managed to remove all regulation and pre-empt future regulation. Their products are about addiction - getting us to stay for one more post, one more click. My partner spends hours each morning doing just that. He knows its a waste of time but he gets sucked into reels.
My adult son worked in corporate marketing for a few years and after he left that field, both he and his partner closed all of their social media. He told me awful stuff he was told to do to lure/entice/sell on SM.
For me, leaving SM was an act of rebellion against the tyranny of corporations and politics.
I've quit Instagram twice now - the first time was for around 6 months but I missed the ability to search pattern hashtags when I was planning a new knitting or sewing project so gradually got lured back. This time though, I have a feeling it might be permanent. I'm not experiencing any significant change in my mental health or free time (I hate all those articles that proclaim after giving up Instagram for a week the author felt some kind of earth shattering, revolutionary, life altering clarity/free time/creativity etc) but I just generally feel..better. I don't think in square photos any more, I don't imagine my day as an Instagram caption. I can feel the grip of it's claws digging into my brain lessening.
I've dabbled in Notes but tbh, found it kinda just became a replacement for Instagram for me. It's annoying, because if you want to promote your writing, you have to talk it up somewhere, right? But how do you do that without Notes becoming just another social media replacement? I don't have the answer to that yet. I guess I'm just hoping if I continue to write, eventually my people will find me. But that's probably extremely naive and probably explains why my follower count hasn't grown in a really long time!
It's tricky isn't it. I use Threads quite a lot (Instagram's version of Twitter) and for me that's replaced a lot of the social chat I used to get via Instagram. I'm left wondered what I'm still doing on there to be honest as there's so little traffic.
And yes - Notes here is definitely a balancing act for sure. I tend to go through phases. I'm either all over it or ghosting it completely 😂
I do love how I can come to Substack, choose who I follow and get to know them via their writing. My brain is wired in such a way that I wander down rabbit holes of information and aspirational lifestyles; this inevitably leads to overload. That, is my problem not Substack. I backed off and returned to Instagram. While IG no longer produces performance anxiety in me, the sheer volume of possibilities does take my breath away and cause my brain to short circuit.
Recently, in an effort to purge and reboot, I deleted my entire Substack blog (do we even call what we do here a blog?). Gone. And not a moment of regret. I had not found my focus and I believe that is one reason I got overwhelmed. Now, I have a clearer picture of what I want to say and share. A new publication is in the works.
That's so fascinating to read, thank you. I have similar periods of overwhelm and I think partly it's because, like you when I first joined Substack I didn't really know what to expect or how to get the best out of it - definitely a learning curve as it's unlike any other kind of media. And for those of us who are prone to rabbit holes it can take some getting used to 😂
I’ve barely added to my Instagram in months! Not sure if I’ll ever post again!
It gets harder and harder to show up there doesn’t it.
I check FB once a day for a neighborhood group and crochet groups but I’m thinking of leaving altogether I quit X and IG. I really don’t miss it and it gobbled up time and often made me envious. So it’s just Substack now .
Oooh interesting? Sarah's point about using social media for work/ socialising is so interesting. Looking forward to seeing how your experiment goes! It's that thing we forget so easily - energy flows where attention goes xo
I definitely hear that and understand where you are coming from. My own boys are 19 and 20 now and neither of them have any social media accounts - they never wanted them - and I'm so glad they didn't.
I used to spend hours each day on Instagram and now it probably just about adds up to an hour over a week.
I'm just not sure what role it is fulfilling in my life now.
I love substack. In so many ways, be it, my love of knitting, gardening, creative writing and cooking, it fills my mind and soul with joy! Instagram has its place but it is not Substack.
So wise Louise! And thanks for the mention. I was chatting with one of my clients this morning about how we need to be willing to let things go and just trust the process. Maybe you'll go back to instagram, maybe you won't but it's trusting that nothing bad will happen in the meantime.