This morning I ran into my friend Peter after we both dropped our kids off for preschool. It was
an unusually hot day in San Francisco
, so naturally we started chatting about it. Peter mentioned thinking about picking up his kid early from preschool and taking the family to the beach. I loved the idea. We both had work. But ultimately, he lamented:I'll probably not really do anything and end up checking instagram, seeing all the fun stuff people did and kick myself for not doing anything.
I responded:
"...that's why I stay off Instagram."
And we parted ways.
As predicted, I didn't do anything all that great to enjoy the weather, and I ended up kicking myself. Not for the lack of enjoyment, but actually for how annoying my parting statement was. I felt bad about it - for a number of reasons.
First, it was pretty judgy wudgy. And it's annoying to be high and mighty about social media use. I'm addicted to YouTube - it's not so different.
Second, and more bothersome, the statement is false. There are a few reasons I stay off of instagram, but assuredly - seeing the fun cool stuff my friends did is NOT one of them. On reflection, this is actually the reason that back in the day, I loved Instagram.
I thought back to when I first set up AaronStrick.com back in 2008. I found that having a blog nudged me to live a more "blogworthy" life. I'd specifically seek out more interesting and different activities knowing that I might ultimately
write or post about them.
When I started using Instagram, I had this in mind. I loved showing off interesting things I was doing, and I loved seeing the cool stuff my friends did.
Unfortunately, that experience of Instagram is
long gone
.My feed is barely my friends. They are drowned out by ads for Magic: The Gathering themed clothing, "babes", and videos of Jerry Seinfeld doing late night interviews in the 90s.
My feed actively makes me do less. I get sucked into it (Jerry does great interviews) and it takes the place of the projects I want to work on.
I wish I could go on Instagram and see people I know doing fun things because it's a beautiful day! And they'd inspire me to get out there and live it up.
But I also know this is disingenuous. We've basically all learned that Instagram FOMO is actually really bad for your health. It doesn't get you to the beach.
But I'm hoping there's still something to this old feeling I had about my blog. That just by engaging with it, I'll live a little better.
So, Peter, I want to rescind my parting statement. Forget what I was saying about Instagram. Here's what I meant to say:
"Have fun at the beach! Oh - and if you're bored later, check out my blog."
TBH, it wasn't that hot. Somehow, in SF when the weather is in the 80s we get a full on weather advisory.
And our local library branch couldn't handle the heat and fully shut down 😱.
The posts are no longer online, but my YouTube has some funny relics of this type of seeking, like this clip from a "shadow puppet performance" at Adobe Books. The activities were all over the place...
I often think about this post that captures the spirit of how I feel about facebook and Instagram "back in the day".