I have been contemplating going on a digital detox and cutting down on my social media use off lately. I am compulsively glued to my phone, iPad, and Macbook, and this has only worsened since the lockdown began. At times, I have often found myself infinitely scrolling on my phone without paying particular attention to the content. So, I went ahead and deactivated my social media accounts. Facebook’s complicity in spreading hate speech in India was the trigger.
Additionally (or rather, alternatively), I am thinking of switching back to regular blogging and see if I can create a space here to share my opinions and updates in my life. I do not want to be subjected to a barrage of information that I don’t need. Getting locked into platforms, where curating the information that comes to you is difficult, gets you nowhere. I would rather keep away from content streams where I do not have absolute control over how the information is served to me. For instance, to minimize the consumption on Facebook, I unfollowed all my friends and then followed a small list of people who share content that I am interested in. But the number of friend requests I would get on FB would increase and then managing it over time became a problem.
Another reason I want to be off social media is to keep away from the attention and visibility that comes with it. People who come here will find their way here because they are looking for something and not because Facebook decided to show my updates on their timeline. I have had my share of getting viral and it does nothing much beyond a point.
It has been a week since this exercise has begun. Incidentally, my phone is on a deathbed, which has been a blessing in disguise. It is helping me get rid of compulsively checking my phone for updates that I don’t want to know or care enough about.
Returning to blogging would also serve as an excuse to write daily, which is something I am missing since the lockdown. As an aside to the detox, I am using the additional time to catch up on reading fiction and watching films on Mubi. In future entries, I wish to write about the books I read and films/shows I watch. I have also started with my Basic Portuguese classes since last month. As I progress, I am maintaining a list of Portuguese words that are colloquially used in Konkani. I will soon update them on a separate page.
