Stop Scrolling

I don’t have the experience that so many people describe of social media, how scrolling through your feed just makes you feel like your own experience is inadequate, because you don’t go on fancy vacations and have never had the means to hire a decorator, and have never once had your photo taken in a field of sunflowers.

And yes indeed, part of the reason I don’t feel those feelings of inadequacy is because I have a pretty nice life, with health and happiness—even if I’ve never had the means to hire a decorator and while we once did indeed visit a lavender field, all the plants had been stunted by a late season frost.

But that’s only part of it. A huge reason why I tend to have a positive experience on social media is because, like many others, I don’t use these platforms passively, but instead I engage with them in an active way. I post photos, tell stories, reach out to friends, solicit feedback, share jokes, and heartaches, frustrations, insights and ideas. Each of my posts, no matter the platform, a kind of message in a bottle—except that it’s different from a bottle for the likelihood I’m going to get some kind of response.

And it’s that response I’m looking for, actually, every time I log in to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram—the first thing I do is check my notifications. (Not unrelated: turning OFF all notification alerts, so that I ACTIVELY have to seek them out, has improved my quality of life. So does not having Twitter or Facebook on my phone.)

So that what I get from social media (when I seek it out. Being deliberate is important) is actually community, genuine connections, friendship and support. And yes, I also want to see photos of your vacation, but it’s easier to not feel depressed when you’re in Hawaii and I’m in Toronto and it’s February when I don’t feel like I’m utterly alone in the world and also when I can scroll back and see a photo of the pretty mug of hot chocolate I posted yesterday. (Instagram is also about the beauty of small things and quiet moments. This matters to me a lot.)

I first started thinking about this the other week while I was listening to this radio interview with Mark Kingwell (“Canadian philosopher Mark Kingwell examines the idea of boredom and our digital devices”) about the dangers of passive scrolling. Kingwell says, “We’re not participants; we’re lab rats and the advertisers are gathering our data, and they’re feeding it back to us in forms like triangulation of desire. They are treating us as resources and they don’t care about you as an individual. They care about your data and about your preferences. So yes I do think that all kind of feeds back.”

But when you do participate, you complicate things with your humanness. (When you participate by blogging on your own website, you complicate things even more, and challenge the idea that the web is a corporate space wholly navigable by algorithm, and this is no small thing!) The opposite of passive is active, and the opposite of scrolling is creation. Yes, for some the answer might be to disconnect from social media and online life altogether, but for most of us something more nuanced is required. (Jenny Odell writes about this splendidly in How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.) The answer is first to be more conscious of how we use our attention online. The second answer to aspire to have a rich and engaged life off the internet. And the third is to be an active participant in online culture. Stop scrolling, and make stuff.

Because you’re Somebody. In fact, we all are.

And even better? I really believe that being an active participant in online culture can improve other parts of your experience IRL. (This is what I mean when, in my blogging course, I talk about how having a blog can make your life richer.) Yes, much of online experience is aspirational, but I think it’s weird that we wholly dismiss aspiration as a bad thing. How can it be, really, if these aspirations are ones it’s possible to realize?

There are so many books I’ve read, and places I’ve visited, cakes I’ve baked, and things I have seen that have been so incredible to experience—things I never would have known about if I hadn’t seen them on Instagram first.

I also remember in the months after my first child was born, when I was (though this was only evident to me in retrospect) deeply unhappy and the online images I was presented with of “perfect motherhood” didn’t actually make me feel less-than, but made me better, that a life beyond “lying on the floor half-naked and weeping” was actually possible. It was important for me to believe that it was, that one day I’d get dressed again.

So many times, the things I’ve seen online have kicked my ass (in the best way) and forced me to get out there in the world.

Because the world is interesting, but also because, otherwise I’d have nothing to blog about, to write about, to post about. And yes, there was that vastly overpriced soft-serve place near my house whose ice cream cones looked fabulous in my Insta-feed, but didn’t taste any better than an ice cream a quarter of the price that came off a truck—but that place actually went out of business. And it’s really not all as superficial as that.

What would happen if you went out of your way to find a flower to photograph tomorrow?

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

What kind of blogger are you?

It’s a burning question—and you can take my quiz to find out.

And okay, to say there are but five kinds of bloggers is definitely reductive, but I give you these five different kinds of bloggers just to demonstrate how divergent people’s different approaches to blogging can be. And to emphasize that these five categories aren’t meant to be the end of the question of “how should I blog?” but instead the beginning of a process of the blogger gaining a broader understanding of their approach to and vision for their blog and then daring to venture forth to make/design/shape a blog that suits one’s own creative purposes and even makes one’s experiences richer.

Project-Adjacent Blogger: Your ideal blog is part of another project that you’re working on—this is great for artists, writers, or entrepreneurs. You use your blog to keep track of your progress, to share interesting ideas and revelations about your work, and to incite interest in your project. (You can also do this kind of blogging on your social media platforms.) Your blog can be easy to maintain because—ideally—your central project delivers you content all the time and it can fit nicely into your schedule. Your blog can also help you maintain your passion, connect with a like-minded audience, and think through problems with whatever it is you’re working on.

A Long-Form Blogger: Brevity is not for you, and Twitter is stupid and exhausting. No, your blog is all about depth and connections and who says that a blog can’t have footnotes! You’re driven to write your posts by genuine passion and curiosity, though you must be careful to pace yourself and not become too overwhelmed by the labour of your blog. You love that the work you’re doing on your blog (deep and thoughtful) runs counter to everything that’s so terrible about the internet. You do remember to break up your posts with images, however, with makes them much more reader-friendly. You might want to think about offering readers the alternative of receiving your posts via email as well, so check out some newsletter platforms.

A News-and-Updates Blogger: Truth: you’re just not that keen on blogging. And that’s okay! But it’s great to have an easily-updatable part of your website and having a blog helps your website’s search engine rankings too. You update your blog when you have news to share or an event to publicize. For you, the blog is a very practical tool.

A Dispatches Bloggers: Your blog is where you report back from the front, whether that front is an exotic locale (maybe you’re a travel blogger!) or from amidst a pile of dirty laundry (maybe you’re a mommy blogger!). Your blog is a way for you to stay connected with people in other places, and deliver the news of how it is where you are. Your posts are usually brief but frequent, and some readers might find them mundane, but those readers are not your readers then. One day you will look back and be very grateful for the record you’ve kept of this time in your life (instead of just posting your story as a Facebook update and sending it out into the ether…).

A Kitchen Sink Blogger: And by “kitchen sink,” of course, we mean “everything but the…” Your blog is an array of your fascinations and your preoccupations—it’s all a bit random, but YOU are the through-line. It’s a bit self-indulgent, but shouldn’t any unpaid labour be just that? This kind of blog is especially interesting (and radical) in a moment where online identifies are supposed to be tidy and streamlined. But not you—you’re keeping the internet interesting. And what an excellent public service that is!

Which one applies to you?

A Kids’ Guide to Blogging

Blog. Pronounced BLAAAAHG, but there is nothing blaaaaah about it. If you’ve ever been online, then you already know what blogs are, because blogs are where platforms like Youtube and TikTok and others got the whole idea of creating space for ordinary people to tell stories, share art, ask questions, and do weird and random things online, to be their most original and truest selves. In short, if it’s on the internet and it’s interesting, then blogs were doing it first.

8 Reasons Why You Should Start a Blog Right Now

1. Because blogs are free! Sign up for one at www.blogger.com or https://wordpress.org/, or have your grownup sign you up through their email account if you don’t have your own.
2. Because blogs are educational! Here is a chance for you to be creative, to work on your storytelling, your typing, your spelling, etc. Making a blog is also quiet, which is useful if you’re stuck at home with your entire family (unlike, say, taking up the accordion).
3. Because blogs are safe. You can set your blog to be password protected and invite the people who care about you (friends and family) to read what you’re writing.
4. Because the people who care about you are probably bored, and will be happy to read your posts during these stressful times. Honestly, it’s kind of a public service.
5. Because blogs are about connection, which is so important at a moment when we’re keeping our distance from each other. Your blog is a great way for you to be connected to your friends. You and your friends could even make a blog together, each of you adding posts of your own and sharing your different points of view.
6. Because a blog is a perfect place to tell your story and share your feelings. Together, we’re all living through an extraordinary moment in history, and making a record of your experience will be valuable for you and others.
7. Because a blog is for exploring, even when you’re going nowhere. I use my blog as a place to ask questions, figure out answers, to think about the things and ideas that obsess me, and express what I am passionate about.
8. Because a blog is generosity. To make a blog is to point to something wonderful, and tell the world, “Hey! Take a look at this.” Blogging is sharing, which is always good. (Unless we’re talking about infectious germs. And we’re not)

What Should You Blog About?

• Pick a topic that you’re obsessed with (octopuses, movies, the environment, Shawn Mendes) and blog about that. Share news and things you discover about your topic.
• Blog about the things you make or build. Do you like art? Do you like Lego? When you finish your creation, post a photo of it and write about what you made.
• Make a pen-pal blog where you and your friend write letters back and forth to each other.
• Write a blog that is a diary, a letter to the world about what you and your family are going through right now.
• An imaginary travel blog! While we’re stuck at home, it might be fun to write about your favourite places to visit in your town or city, or even research places you’ve never been before and write posts that describe those places. What did you see? What did you eat?
• A food blog! Get busy in the kitchen and blog about your creations. (Please remember to wash the dishes when you are done.)
• A book blog. Are you reading a lot these days? Share your book recommendations and perspectives on the books that you’re reading.
• A gratitude blog, or a survival blog. How are you getting through this hard time? What is helping you feel better? What are you grateful for? Share your tips and ideas for feeling better when things are difficult.
• ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT YOUR BLOG TO BE. Be creative, and write the kind of blog that only you can write. Make it as weird and wacky as you are.

What Should You Blog About?

• Pick a topic that you’re obsessed with (octopuses, movies, the environment, Shawn Mendes) and blog about that. Share news and things you discover about your topic.
• Blog about the things you make or build. Do you like art? Do you like Lego? When you finish your creation, post a photo of it and write about what you made.
• Make a pen-pal blog where you and your friend write letters back and forth to each other.
• Write a blog that is a diary, a letter to the world about what you and your family are going through right now.
• An imaginary travel blog! While we’re stuck at home, it might be fun to write about your favourite places to visit in your town or city, or even research places you’ve never been before and write posts that describe those places. What did you see? What did you eat?
• A food blog! Get busy in the kitchen and blog about your creations. (Please remember to wash the dishes when you are done.)
• A book blog. Are you reading a lot these days? Share your book recommendations and perspectives on the books that you’re reading.
• A gratitude blog, or a survival blog. How are you getting through this hard time? What is helping you feel better? What are you grateful for? Share your tips and ideas for feeling better when things are difficult.
• ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT YOUR BLOG TO BE. Be creative, and write the kind of blog that only you can write. Make it as weird and wacky as you are.

There is only one rule in blogging: HAVE FUN.