Over the past six months, every time I alluded to “being offline” in my newsletters, I got responses from people asking for more information. “What do you mean offline?” “Do you still go on youtube?” “Do you have an iPhone?” “Do you feel like you’re missing out?”

I want to talk in depth about all of this today. Back in January, I recorded a podcast episode with Elsie and Emma about my first year without social media. It’s a good episode and worth a listen if you’re into podcasts. It’s been nine more months and I can confirm that year two without social media is better than year one. Year one was about getting back to baseline. Year two has been about climbing up to something better.

Let’s get into it.

First — I love the Internet. I love my iPhone. I enjoy having an amazing camera in my pocket whenever I want it. I enjoy listening to all the audiobooks and all the music whenever I want to. I love googling things whenever I want to know them. I love playing my morning games while drinking my coffee. I love watching my older daughter land a joke on our extended family group chat. The Internet is a tool! My iPhone is a tool! Leaving social media was never about becoming a Luddite or feeling wistful about the late 90s. It was about making sure that I am using my tools instead of my tools using me.

Second — I got bored with Instagram. In late 2022, I found myself completely overwhelmed and exhausted by my feed. People I know in real life were no longer posting much. People I followed because I admire their work were posting but with such caution that it was becoming less interesting (I get it; I was doing the same). When Instagram got boring, instead of just scrolling less, I scrolled more! I was looking for something (friends? excitement? depth?) that was becoming harder to find. Instagram fed my scrolling habit with little dances and smoothie recipes and toddler parenting advice and trending audio and click-bait chaos. It was so boring and yet so hard to look away. I decided it would be easier to quit completely than to moderate my usage. On December 31, 2023 I deleted the app so when I say I am “offline” I mean I do not scroll or post to Instagram (or Tiktok, but that was never my thing).