The circle concept is very helpful. It's a more concrete explanation for what I've been experiencing over the last month. I jumped in to Lore Wilbert's challenge to take 90 days off of social media, but still engage in creative work, which I think might be the equivalent to "diet vs. lifestyle" for my digital world. I'm still on Substack, trying to figure out how to work with it in a way that makes me feel human, but Notes may not be part of the equation going forward, because I feel so much better without it. Such clunky work arounds as actually receiving everything I'm subscribed to in my inbox and not having the Internet on my phone make a world of difference.
This makes so much sense to me, Annelise. Not to be “that person,” but as someone who’s been using Substack since 2019 (6 years already?!), it started going downhill when they introduced Notes. I die a little inside every time people sing its praises and say “it’s just like old-school blogging!” Um. It USED to be like old-school blogging — until they brought in Notes. The Debbie Downer in me is always cautiously looking for the next-best platform to use in case Substack becomes untenable for a healthy writing life. …Though I feel like I’ve done that the entire time I’ve been writing online since 2007. One can move around only so many times, you know?
Anyhoo, yells-at-cloud rant over… I’m glad this pause has been so life-giving for you. I admire so much of what you do! And I hope you discover some possible long-term parameters that work for you during this season of quiet. I’d love to learn more about what ends up working for you!
Yes. I have definitely wondered at the "Substack is not social media" thing -- mostly because the way I "use" it (like the addiction/maladaptive aspect) started to feel so similar. Not inherently bad in content, most of the things I was taking in were objectively good, or neutral, but I don't know if anything scroll based is good. It is stupid, and probably messes up e-mail stats, but I've been staying logged out and only clicking through on people's emails to comment. It lets me avoid the home page, see a few notifications and get out again.
The circle concept is very helpful. It's a more concrete explanation for what I've been experiencing over the last month. I jumped in to Lore Wilbert's challenge to take 90 days off of social media, but still engage in creative work, which I think might be the equivalent to "diet vs. lifestyle" for my digital world. I'm still on Substack, trying to figure out how to work with it in a way that makes me feel human, but Notes may not be part of the equation going forward, because I feel so much better without it. Such clunky work arounds as actually receiving everything I'm subscribed to in my inbox and not having the Internet on my phone make a world of difference.
This makes so much sense to me, Annelise. Not to be “that person,” but as someone who’s been using Substack since 2019 (6 years already?!), it started going downhill when they introduced Notes. I die a little inside every time people sing its praises and say “it’s just like old-school blogging!” Um. It USED to be like old-school blogging — until they brought in Notes. The Debbie Downer in me is always cautiously looking for the next-best platform to use in case Substack becomes untenable for a healthy writing life. …Though I feel like I’ve done that the entire time I’ve been writing online since 2007. One can move around only so many times, you know?
Anyhoo, yells-at-cloud rant over… I’m glad this pause has been so life-giving for you. I admire so much of what you do! And I hope you discover some possible long-term parameters that work for you during this season of quiet. I’d love to learn more about what ends up working for you!
Yes. I have definitely wondered at the "Substack is not social media" thing -- mostly because the way I "use" it (like the addiction/maladaptive aspect) started to feel so similar. Not inherently bad in content, most of the things I was taking in were objectively good, or neutral, but I don't know if anything scroll based is good. It is stupid, and probably messes up e-mail stats, but I've been staying logged out and only clicking through on people's emails to comment. It lets me avoid the home page, see a few notifications and get out again.
The Circle Concept—what a gut punch (in the best way). Enjoy the break! Can’t wait to read the book you’re working on now.
Thanks, Lacey!