Remember when the internet was a “place”?
UPDATE ON MY FIRST WEEK OFF INSTAGRAM
So I was nervous about how breaking up with Instagram would be, but I’ve had SO MUCH good feedback so far! And I’ve learnt that I’m definitely not the only one who’s over the bullshit of social media apps. It’s been my first week of breaking up with my Instagram/Facebook/TikTok addiction and I feel GREAT! There’s something so freeing about having all three of those apps OFF my phone.
Remember how in the 2000’s, if we wanted to access the internet, it was kind of like a “place”… we had to sit at the family computer (or go to the library), turn it on, log in, and we had that time at the computer to access the internet, check emails, look at the news or blogs we liked or watch some YouTube, look at FaceBook, or play some games. Then when we walked away from the computer, we were back to the real world. There was a clear boundary between being in the online world and being in the real world. I definitely feel we’ve lost that, now that we all have these smart phones on our person at ALL TIMES. It’s like we are constantly accessible (with every email, breaking news article, social media notifications, game notifications etc) and constantly connected to the interwebs.
Part of my shift is that I want to break away from this. I want the internet to be a “place” again. I’ve started by deleting my big three apps: Insta, FB and TikTok last week. I haven’t deactivated those accounts. Instead, if I want to go on those sites, I will now access them via my laptop. At first I did wonder, like what if I just end up scrolling for hours on a laptop instead of a phone, then I’ve hardly made a difference… But in the past week, I’ve really found that I don’t desire to actually be on those sites at all! (Okay, side note, I DID download Insta on Wednesday I think it was, just to post that snippet of my YouTube video about how I’m over Instagram lmao the irony, but I needed my community on there to know why I’ve disappeared and where I’m going) I think in the past 7 days, I’ve logged into Instagram on my laptop maybe 3 times, and it was just to catch up on some DM’s and reels my friends have sent me. It’s not as easy to scroll on there, so I couldn’t be bothered doing any scrolling. I’ve logged into FaceBook 2 times, and I didn’t even spend more than 5 minutes at a time on there, I mainly just checked our local community FB group. Then I felt like “okay, I’m done here now” and walked away from the laptop. It’s so freeing I don’t even know how to explain it. This might sound so silly saying all this, for anyone older than me… but I was born in 1999, I’ve always lived in a tech world of computers and internet and got my first iPod Touch at 11 and have been addicted to technology ever since then. So this is such a revolution for me. I say as I type this on my laptop lmao.
Anyway, future parts of this crisis/shift I want to do is eventually delete the email app off my phone, and just access that when I’m logged into my laptop. And this isn’t set in stone or anything, but I’m kind of contemplating completely breaking away from smart phones in the future.
I find it absolutely insane that we pay between $1,000 - $3,000 for a smartphone that’s MADE TO NOT LAST MORE THAN 4 YEARS! I did a Google search “how long are smart phones good for?” and the Google AI response was that they usually last around 2-5 years. Considering the cost, that’s actually insane! Aren’t we in a cost of living crisis? Then why is a smart phone a NECESSITY in this modern world? I don’t get it… Forking out THAT much money every few years is wild to me, but society has made me think that was the norm.
I then Googled “how long are dumb phones good for?” and the response was “if you replace the battery when needed, can exceed 10 years”, and dumb phones cost usually between $80 - $300! I’m thinking Apple/Samsung have got us all by the balls, and I want to break away from their greed!
VIDEOS I’M CURRENTLY WORKING ON
I’ve been playing around with different videoing techniques and also playing around with a different editing software this week and it’s been fun! I have a bit of a slow living vibe video I’ll be posting probably in the next week. There’s no substance to it, but it’s cute, it’s cozy, and it’ll be good for anyone who’s trying to test their attention span haha.
I’m also working on a long video (that will take AGES) about decluttering our digital spaces. I’m excited to see this one come together.
PHONE BOUNDARY DURING MOVIE NIGHT
Every Friday night, we put up the blow up bed in the loungeroom and watch a DVD for our weekly Movie Night and have a lil sleepover in the loungeroom. We’ve been doing this weekly for a year now, the kids love it! They each get a small bowl that they get to fill with their “movie night treats” like marshmallows, chocolates lollies and other junk that only comes out on Movie Nights.
I’m always on my damn phone during movie nights and I hate it, so for this week’s movie night, I forced myself to put my phone away, and watch the entire movie without looking at my phone. And mannnnn did I feel uncomfortable (especially for the first half of the movie). Literally I just had to squeeze my hands together repeatedly at times because I was feeling under stimulated and needed my hands to do something, I felt soooo uncomfortable! How embarrassing! Even the amount of times I was like “ooo this voice actor sounds so familiar, but I can’t pick who it is” and wanting to reach for my phone to do a Google search. Like bitch just wait till the end of the damn movie, you don’t need to know EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY! Patience girl! By the second half of the movie I didn’t feel that horrible level of unease anymore and was enjoying just watching the movie. I also noticed the difference in how much more connected I felt with the kids, it was really nice: chatting about the movie, and little intermissions to have deep convos, and being silly lol. I’m definitely going to force myself to have this boundary with my phone going forward. It should get easier too, right?
Oh and by the way, we watched Bolt! And the voice actor I couldn’t pick was John Travolta, can’t believe I couldn’t pick that! And I didn’t have to Google it, I just had to wait for the end credits, funny that… *facepalm* Also, the girl Penny in Bolt is voiced by Miley Cyrus!!!!! Can’t believe I didn’t even pick up on that the entire movie too! It must be an old movie, cause Miley sounds YOUNG!
WEEKLY BLOG?
I had way too much fun typing this blog post out!
I’m thinking maybe these blog posts should be a weekly thing on a Sunday. It was just so cozy and wholesome sitting at the dining table in my warm, fluffy pjs, drinking tea and typing away.
Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on this post.
See youse soon and have a lovely week!
Jess xxx