30. A month off Instagram
and what I've noticed
Hi! Today’s newsletter comes to you from Washington DC as I attend the Nat Geo Storytellers Summit. As I tweak this newsletter I’m in a seminar about using social media as a tool to elevate my storytelling (I thought the seminar was about social issues storytelling) but today I’m going to talk about why I’m moving away from social media platforms.
It’s now been around 42 days since I decided to take a break from Instagram. If you saw any posts or stories from my account, it was from my student intern. I wasn’t sure how long the break would be, but I don’t feel compelled to go back. I mainly kept it as a tool for marketing sake, but now I’m not so sure. I thought about logging on whenever I had new work to share, but that doesn’t feel appealing to me.
At first, taking a break didn’t bring much change. The sudden disconnect was jarring. I was sad to be missing out on what my friends were sharing. But as time went by, that feeling faded.
Recently, Terry Gross interviewed Atlantic writer Derek Thompson about The Anti-Social American Life and he said something about how we’re using our dopamine in the wrong ways. “We are donating our dopamine to our phones rather than reserving our dopamine for our friends” It’s become the norm to be happy when plans get cancelled, and in general, we just don’t have energy left for anyone, let alone ourselves. This is the greatest gain I’ve had since leaving - mental energy for me, my work, my family and my friends.
Here are some things I’ve noticed and experienced since being off IG.
people are sending me snapshots of the funny things they see or a dinner they ate with friends or their child being goofy via text and vice vera. I sent photos to 4-5 people and didn’t need hundreds of people to know what I was up to. Maybe it seems weird because we’ve gotten so used to posting our lives on the internet, but I’m loving the intentionality of choosing who I’m showing my life and I’m grateful for the people that choose to send me random snippets from their lives.
I feel disconnected in a good way. I’m not aware of the chatter on IG or people’s opinions on the news
More phone conversations and voice memos. I know it’s become the norm to hate on phone calls, but I love them. I also love the voice memos and Marco Polo videos I exchange with friends. We send book and show recommendations to each other, ramble, get advice and show support.
Less clutter in my mind - IG stories and the explore page felt like an eternity of these doors that would open to content. There’s no end.
Instead of using scrolling as a way to decompress, I went to the gym at night. Running, lifting weights, or rock climbing. The more I went to the gym, the less I was on my phone.
Less freaking out about all the misinformation that was spreading about what’s going on. I stuck to reading the Times, listening to NPR and catching up on a few podcasts to be in the know.
I found myself going to reddit more often, which I’m also working on stepping away from.
I was not concerned about who was working or posting new work or sharing their "#ONASSIGNMENT stories for me to see. This allowed me to move in January with a lot of mental freedom. No comparing and no lamenting why I wasn’t being hired.
I used to think it was my job, as a journalist, to be on top of the news, but it’s not. Seeing less content these days allows me to move through the day with more peace
I can’t tell you if it’s impacted my work. All I know is I’m still being hired, I’m finding more ways to be creative, make personal work and have also connected with creatives beyond Instagram.
Instagram wasn’t even the most effective marketing tool for me. Whenever I posted, it was more of a signal to display my relevance and my busyness. Of course, I’m proud of everything I’ve posted, but I just don’t feel the need for that attention and I know my work holds value even without the likes. If anything, I think I’ve outgrown this space and this way of running my business. Maybe I’m entering into a new era though I’m not sure what that looks like.
Seth at the Social Media Escape Club shares good and different ideas to share your work that isn’t on social media. Amelia Hruby also has this amazing list of 100 ways to share your work beyond social media. I’m hoping to find other ways to get my work seen without depending on this one app. Less of me is out there for people to validate and see and I’m embracing it.
As always, thank you for being here and supporting me and my work. Would love to hear your thoughts on all this✨
Recent Work….
For NBC News, how a North Philly pizza joint became a community hub and a lifeline for formerly incarcerated folks. Their new cookbook was just released which features 65 recipes.
Down North employs seven staff members, most of whom have formal culinary training. If they don’t, they’ve learned from their colleagues in the kitchen.
Carter was laid off from another restaurant when it closed at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. So he bought a smoker and started selling food from his porch to make money. He’d pursued a degree in culinary management from the Art Institute and had experience cooking in an array of restaurants, but none, he said, offered the sense of community that Down North provides.
“In those restaurants, I kind of had to walk a tightrope,” he said. “Like the locked-up guys are in the back with the undocumented workers. And everybody has to be quiet. ... And we don’t have any of that here. It’s based on mutual respect, admiration, and we all share the same journeys.”
Words by Kaitlyn Schwanemann
Photo editing Elise Wrabetz
A profile on Pulitzer Prize winner author Anne Tyler for the New York Times. I loved spending an afternoon with Tyler because of how easy she was with these portraits. She rarely does interviews and rarely has her picture taken, so it was an honor to be able to do these. Her newest book Three Days in June, also her 25th book, came out recently.
Also, I finally got over my fear of using lights!
Words by Elisabeth Egan
Photo editing by Erica Ackerberg
Back in July I pitched this story to the New York Times about the popularity of hand-painted clothes. I focused on Swan Gossip Shop (@swan_gossip_shop), a business right here in Philadelphia. Emma Louthan lives nearby and I’d see her husband and her kids wearing cute sweaters with hand drawn rabbits and flowers on them.
As fast fashion is slowly, in my opinion, becoming a thing of the past, people are being drawn to clothes that have a more personal touch.
‘Though divisive and terrifying, the pandemic also brought out people’s softer sides. Suddenly, comfort was king. Everyone was baking or crafting. Small-batch ceramics and upcycled quilted coats soared in popularity. There was a compulsory return to the home — and a wholehearted embrace of the homemade.
Noticing that people were drawn to “anything that could replicate a tie-dye look,” Ms. Louthan learned different dyeing techniques: botanical, ice, brush-applied. She traded her stiff acrylic paints for fabric versions, which she used to produce more sweatshirts and loungewear under her brand, Swan Gossip Shop.
Ms. Louthan’s work is fantastical, depicting off-kilter, edenic scenes of cherubs, rabbits, butterflies, devils, swans, moons and streams. She creates storybook worlds, where the sun smiles and jesters run wild.’
Words by Miya Lee
Photo editing by Tanner Curtis
In early January, I spent time on the set of former Philadelphia Eagles’ player Jason Kelce’s late night TV show, “They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce.”
Photo editing by Hollis Johnson
Links, podcasts, blogs ✨✨✨
I loved this provocative piece by Vox about how “protecting your peace” can kill your friendships
This Code Switch episode about why laughing while crying is so Korean with comedian Youngmi Mayer was a beautiful, moving and hilarious listen.
The New York Times Morning newsletter writes about monthly intention-setting rituals and looking into a “Away/Toward” list at the beginning of each month.
Currently reading & listening:
✨✨✨ Until next time!
Always appreciate the way you openly process your decisions. Thanks for doing that! I find it helpful.
I'm still hopelessly hooked on social media, but I've found that my time on Instagram is far less than it used to be. These days, I post infrequently, but I still scroll through the feed to see my photography friends, and I enjoy that. Admittedly, there is more junk there than ever, so the returns are diminishing. Thanks for this post, Hannah!