In my tarot journaling today I drew the Four of Swords - an invitation to lay down your sword and rest from the battle for a while. It’s a reminder that things don’t need to be so hard. They shouldn’t feel so hard. And if they do, maybe it’s a good idea to stop, regroup and reflect on how you can improve things a little.
And honestly, this card couldn’t have come at a better time. Exhausted and frankly depleted by Instagram - the final straw yesterday was when I logged in, scrolled slightly and left a comment on two friends’s posts. That was enough to elicit a behavioural warning for ‘breaching community guidelines’ and to lock me out of both Instagram and Threads. At the time of writing I am still locked out, although posts I scheduled last week to publish have auto-published just fine apparently. I wouldn’t know - obviously.
I’ve deleted both apps off my phone so I’m not tempted to keep sneaking back to see if the ban has lifted and I’m giving myself the gift of the weekend off social media to tap into my inner four of swords energy
There is a definite mood in the air right now, with Instagram but also with social media in general. I’ve seen a lot of posts about people breaking up with Instagram, deleting their accounts and moving on. This piece in particular by
really struck a chord with me.So many people are burned out, disillusioned and frankly discouraged. Since when did social media have to feel so hard? It was supposed to be a tool to connect us, not to drive us further into isolation and anxiety.
As much as we say not to focus on the numbers it’s hard to get away from the fact that you can put hours and hours of work into content for Instagram only to have it seen by three people and a grumpy jack russell. We are doing more and more to achieve less and less. Eventually there has to come a time when you stop pushing that boulder up hill, look around and ask yourself what the heck you are doing.
And as a consumer of content, I get it. I’m fed up the content I see there - there I’ve said it now. With a few notable exceptions a lot of the content I see there is repetitive and formulaic. A lot of gurus banging on about trending reels, ‘hacking’ the algorithm or sponsored posts. I rarely see a post from a friend, despite my efforts to seek them out.
And yet in spite of that, or maybe even because of it my appetite for scrolling is seemingly insatiable. And ironically, at the same time as my scrolling time has increased I’ve noticed that I am reducing the number of interactions I make.
It’s been largely subconscious but after scrolling for 5-10 minutes the other day I ‘came to’ and realised that I hadn’t liked or commented on a single post, I’d been reduced to the role of a totally passive observer. Scrolling on autopilot. And it’s not a nice feeling at all
.Why that is I don’t know. I used to scroll down my feed and double tapping to leave a little heart was the bare minimum. More often than not, I’d leave a short comment, sometimes a longer one, sometimes a whole conversation would unfold. Now that’s an exception rather than the rule.
People are busy, I tell myself. No one needs my comments adding to that noise. Or, I’m too busy to leave a comment says that inner voice (although strangely I am never too busy to scroll).
Then I read an article on dopamine culture - and a lot of thoughts started clicking into place.
I remember back in the day how I would scroll Instagram with my morning coffee until I’d caught up with my friends posts. I would literally have reached the end of my feed. I could stop then, knowing I was all caught up and I could go about my day. These days there is no end. Thanks to that all pervasive algorithm there is no end. Just a constant stream of content being served up to us.
And in the same way that diners have been proven to eat more when faced with ‘all you can eat’ buffets, we consume more and more content without even realising it. The algorithm has one purpose and one purpose only - to keep us from closing down the app and walking away.
And it will do that by whatever means necessary. It will ensure that we are fed content that will annoy us, upset us, anger us, even outrage us. Because our reactions will keep us using the app. Keep us scrolling. The one thing the algorithm won’t ever tell us is that we’ve had enough.
And if that sounds sinister, controlling and manipulative - that’s because it is. It’s purposely been designed that way.
The concept of infinite scrolling has been taken to extremes and used to turn our brain chemistry against us.
My word for 2024 is ENERGY and in particular I’ve been paying attention to what drains my energy, every bit as much as what recharges me. This article by
really spoke to me the other day - highlighting what I had already noticed with myself - that a long scrolling session on Instagram or whatever had the effect of making me feel depleted, low in energy, restless in a way I couldn’t quite put my finger on. In short the session had left my brain craving more dopamine and it was grumpy that it’s supply had been taken away.In a similar vein Sarah Raad was talking this week about habits, both good and not so good. And how we can use the concept of addition rather than subtraction to help build good habits. We tend to think of habits in terms of things we want to give us - less scrolling in my case, but Sarah encourages you instead to focus on what you can add into your life. Something that might help to nudge the less good habits out of the way and make time for something that does genuinely fill your cup rather than deplete you.
So how does this relate to my Instagram ban? I’m not sure yet but I am certainly in no hurry to reinstall the app on my phone. I might try a week a way from the app (assuming it gives me a choice of course and reinstates my account). Talking to Sarah yesterday made me realise that I love baking, but I haven’t made time for it in ages.
Time to get the cake trays out I think and make a few treats for the week ahead. Baking is the ideal ‘good habit’ to add in as far as I’m concerned. It’s fun, it makes your house smell nice and it gives a pleasingly smug domestic goddess vibes in the manner of Nigella Lawson (I can dream that I look that glamorous while wearing a pinny and covered in flour).
It also has the added advantage that my phone needs to be out of the way where it can’t experience any baking related mishaps.
Will it curb my scrolling addiction? I don’t know. But I’ll report back soon - and I’ll bring cake.
Thanks for the mention Louise. This post resonates so much with me! Instagram feels so endless and just filled with random content I didn’t ask to see. That’s why I’m enjoying Substack so much more. Although the notes page can feel a bit like that, I try to avoid just scrolling there too. I hope you manage some baking, it sounds lovely 👩🍳🧁
Great post! I vowed to take a month off instagram last August and ended up never going back. I remember the days when you could reach the end of the scroll (as you mentioned) - there was such satisfaction there. The word I chose for 2024 is similar to your tarot card: "ease". Success and happiness don't always require such hard work, sometimes they come when you ease the grip. That's how I'm trying to approach things right now. I hope your baking goes well, sounds like a great Sunday plan! xx