Very nice piece, Charlotte! I agree that we need to replace bad habits with good ones -- or fill that downtime with something. And, it's not an all-or-nothing kind of thing. We must, first, be aware that we've become slaves to the mindless scroll and the dopamine rush of notifications before we can change. Then create a discipline of some sort to integrate social media into our lives. Social media is like a knife: It can be used for good (surgery, cutting vegetables) or hurting or killing. The problem for us is that it's so damn addictive -- and the powers that be know that and utilize the technology to keep us addicted -- keep us as junkies. Awareness -- courage to change -- make the new changes a new way of life.
Thank you Eddie! I like the metaphor of social media as a knife, that makes a lot of sense. You're right that it is so addictive, it takes a lot of conscious effort to resist!
Thank you so much for the shout-out here, Charlotte! Or: sorry I have afflicted you with my nonsense ideas! (You can come back later and delete as applicable.)
Re. social media - I learned something about it a few years back, and it happened on Twitter. I spent ten years on that platform doomscrolling, feeling endlessly hopeless and very very stupid, every time I opened the app. All those smart people delivering those cynical zingers! I would never be that bleakly funny. All those smart people loudly and self-confidently being successful! I was not successful, and I was not self-confident. All those awful things going on in the world that everyone was yelling about! Instant downer.
But then the nature writer Robert Macfarlane arrived, and he immediately ignored all that stuff and started putting out tweets that were gentle, kind, wry, smart and thoughtful, and lots of people reacted in a big way, like they were clutching at a life-raft. He set his own tone, instead of trying to fit into the existing rage and cruelty and cynicism and sarcastic quote-shaming. And it instantly worked. He rewrote his corner of Twitter to fit what he wanted to see.
So I did it for a while too. I just posted threads of science stories that filled me with joy and wonder, and made a huge effort to just focus on the replies. In a really really small way, I did the same. It was a big mental effort, much much harder than just opening Twitter and reacting. Reacting to social media is a near-guaranteed way to feel shit about everything and everyone - with the irony that nobody *actually* feels that bad, they just *look* that way because they're just reacting to the same hopeless awful stuff. Social media amplifies extreme reactions, and the most extreme are the most negative. But sometimes, an "extreme reaction" can be people just being curious and nice to each other and filled with enthusiasm about things they only just learned about, that made them go "wow". That is rarer than the anger and rage-bait, but it's there....
And it can be created.
As you say - you can "add more in", and what you add can be *what you want to see*. There is powerful magic there.
So I did that until Mr Musk made the place extra-angry and awful. 🙃 (What a foolish waste.) But until then, it helped me grow my newsletter, and most of all, it taught me that using social media can feel good, even though it's hard work, especially at first. It doesn't mean social media can be A Good Thing For Everyone, I reckon the jury is out on that one, but it does make it tolerable to use and even a joyful thing at times...
Anyway. I'm rambling. Don't mind me. Habit of the extremely old.
You may enjoy this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e94Jnu2UgKQ It's a young, successful British graphic designer who chose, for over half a decade, to sleep in the woods. (I believe he's now married and living in a house again.) I loved this, because he looks the exact opposite of what you'd think when you hear the sentence "I sleep outside all year round". Wonderfully smart and normal and level-headed person doing a "crazy" thing. This endeth the lesson.
PS. Get a copy of Jenny Odell's "How To Do Nothing". That's my reading suggestion for you. Trust me on this.
Thanks for such a thoughtful comment, Mike! Big fan of your work!
Twitter always made me feel a bit thick too, I definitely prefer long form over trying to write a zinger. I admire the people who can but I am not one of them. Twitter has never been my poison of choice (perhaps partly for that reason) but I love your approach. Part of the reason I can't give up social media completely is because I do get genuine enjoyment and knowledge from people out there in the world sharing things I have no idea about. And sometimes I follow art pages just to see beautiful things in my feed.
It's somewhat ironic timing that I decided to do this just after I had a post go viral on TikTok that earned me new subscribers on here. But I'll find my way forward with where I put my energy, and writing here should be more of a priority than trying to funnel people here from social media—not much point doing that if there isn't much here for them to find!
Funny you should mention it, as I just downloaded "How To Do Nothing" on my Kindle (which I am now carrying with me everywhere so I can pick it up and read in quiet moments instead of picking up my phone). I shall have to start reading it forthwith! I will check out that YouTube channel too. Thank you!
The weather forecast is not great for our camping trip this weekend but if we get rained out I promise I won't blame it on you. Or: it'll be a great story, and at least I won't be on my phone (unless I have to call someone to tow us out of mud).
I've had this open in a tab for well over a week. Shared it before I read all of it. No regrets about that :)
Kudos to you! You figured out what you want more of and less of. And you're making it work for you.
Thank you Marjan, that's very kind of you! Still a work in process, but getting closer to what works.
Very nice piece, Charlotte! I agree that we need to replace bad habits with good ones -- or fill that downtime with something. And, it's not an all-or-nothing kind of thing. We must, first, be aware that we've become slaves to the mindless scroll and the dopamine rush of notifications before we can change. Then create a discipline of some sort to integrate social media into our lives. Social media is like a knife: It can be used for good (surgery, cutting vegetables) or hurting or killing. The problem for us is that it's so damn addictive -- and the powers that be know that and utilize the technology to keep us addicted -- keep us as junkies. Awareness -- courage to change -- make the new changes a new way of life.
Thank you Eddie! I like the metaphor of social media as a knife, that makes a lot of sense. You're right that it is so addictive, it takes a lot of conscious effort to resist!
Thank you so much for the shout-out here, Charlotte! Or: sorry I have afflicted you with my nonsense ideas! (You can come back later and delete as applicable.)
Re. social media - I learned something about it a few years back, and it happened on Twitter. I spent ten years on that platform doomscrolling, feeling endlessly hopeless and very very stupid, every time I opened the app. All those smart people delivering those cynical zingers! I would never be that bleakly funny. All those smart people loudly and self-confidently being successful! I was not successful, and I was not self-confident. All those awful things going on in the world that everyone was yelling about! Instant downer.
But then the nature writer Robert Macfarlane arrived, and he immediately ignored all that stuff and started putting out tweets that were gentle, kind, wry, smart and thoughtful, and lots of people reacted in a big way, like they were clutching at a life-raft. He set his own tone, instead of trying to fit into the existing rage and cruelty and cynicism and sarcastic quote-shaming. And it instantly worked. He rewrote his corner of Twitter to fit what he wanted to see.
So I did it for a while too. I just posted threads of science stories that filled me with joy and wonder, and made a huge effort to just focus on the replies. In a really really small way, I did the same. It was a big mental effort, much much harder than just opening Twitter and reacting. Reacting to social media is a near-guaranteed way to feel shit about everything and everyone - with the irony that nobody *actually* feels that bad, they just *look* that way because they're just reacting to the same hopeless awful stuff. Social media amplifies extreme reactions, and the most extreme are the most negative. But sometimes, an "extreme reaction" can be people just being curious and nice to each other and filled with enthusiasm about things they only just learned about, that made them go "wow". That is rarer than the anger and rage-bait, but it's there....
And it can be created.
As you say - you can "add more in", and what you add can be *what you want to see*. There is powerful magic there.
So I did that until Mr Musk made the place extra-angry and awful. 🙃 (What a foolish waste.) But until then, it helped me grow my newsletter, and most of all, it taught me that using social media can feel good, even though it's hard work, especially at first. It doesn't mean social media can be A Good Thing For Everyone, I reckon the jury is out on that one, but it does make it tolerable to use and even a joyful thing at times...
Anyway. I'm rambling. Don't mind me. Habit of the extremely old.
You may enjoy this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e94Jnu2UgKQ It's a young, successful British graphic designer who chose, for over half a decade, to sleep in the woods. (I believe he's now married and living in a house again.) I loved this, because he looks the exact opposite of what you'd think when you hear the sentence "I sleep outside all year round". Wonderfully smart and normal and level-headed person doing a "crazy" thing. This endeth the lesson.
PS. Get a copy of Jenny Odell's "How To Do Nothing". That's my reading suggestion for you. Trust me on this.
Thanks for such a thoughtful comment, Mike! Big fan of your work!
Twitter always made me feel a bit thick too, I definitely prefer long form over trying to write a zinger. I admire the people who can but I am not one of them. Twitter has never been my poison of choice (perhaps partly for that reason) but I love your approach. Part of the reason I can't give up social media completely is because I do get genuine enjoyment and knowledge from people out there in the world sharing things I have no idea about. And sometimes I follow art pages just to see beautiful things in my feed.
It's somewhat ironic timing that I decided to do this just after I had a post go viral on TikTok that earned me new subscribers on here. But I'll find my way forward with where I put my energy, and writing here should be more of a priority than trying to funnel people here from social media—not much point doing that if there isn't much here for them to find!
Funny you should mention it, as I just downloaded "How To Do Nothing" on my Kindle (which I am now carrying with me everywhere so I can pick it up and read in quiet moments instead of picking up my phone). I shall have to start reading it forthwith! I will check out that YouTube channel too. Thank you!
The weather forecast is not great for our camping trip this weekend but if we get rained out I promise I won't blame it on you. Or: it'll be a great story, and at least I won't be on my phone (unless I have to call someone to tow us out of mud).
Another great piece!
Yes to all of this, I related HARD
My condolences! You'll be next!