Being offline

[Khanofmir]

Being offline is so good, you don't give a damn about what's going on over social medias. And being offline doesn't really just mean caveman-like no tech with you. Like you just listen to your playlists, create and vibe to living, I am sure being offline on instagram affected algorithms and all but at least chilling is what's making you feel better.Idk it's so good without useless attention on your face, however I don't know how I'm gonna keep constant schedule of where to post, when to finish and what to post.

[SugrPawz]

Big Agree. I have been getting into digital minimalism for the purposes of helping me focus on what I need to externally to social media. leaving the smartphone at home was a super big helping first step. I take my ipod with me for music and have a flip phone for important people to contact me. At home its just friendly voice calls and indie web for me as of late.

Overall I think more people need to find the joys of unplugging and being bored a bit. We as a species are missing so much by getting stuck into the addictive noisy color brick in our pockets.

[RNotteLovesOwls]

using the indie web so much this year has definitely helped me appreciate the feeling of slowing down. on the little glass slab-in-the-pocket, life moves too fast. it's overwhelming and tiring. on neocities, melonland, FAA, status cafe, etc., life moves at a more steady pace to give you room to breathe. it's perfect. we must do whatever we can to convince our friends, family and peers to give it a try



EDIT: the FAA is the frutiger aero archive, btw

[schlime9k]

It's really good, yeah. I think of "unplugging" or "being offline" as simply not engaging with social media - so that could mean either just not going on twitter or leaving your phone in a drawer for a week, either way taking time off from it is a really good feeling. I like to just sit down and read or take a walk while listening to music 

[goat]

the moments i genuinely crave are bank holiday weekends

that's when i 100% unplug and go off on lil mini adventures/hikes

good feels :3

[Limette]

It's been hard for me to "be offline," but the indie/small web has been very helpful. My main goal is to reduce how much I doomscroll and spend time on sites like youtube and bluesky; I do this by replacing browsing feeds on these platforms with browsing forums and personal websites when I can. It's way more enjoyable, and doesn't trap my attention so much- I can somewhat easily stop browsing/reading and redirect my focus to irl tasks and relationships. Turning my mind away from the endless youtube feed that doesn't even entertain me much is a lot harder.

As an artist, it feels as though I have to maintain my presence in these spaces tho. I want people to discover my projects, after all. I rarely enjoy posting on big socials, and it doesn't reward me much either...

Once again, the indie web offers a possible solution! I'd rather build more genuine connections with the people in this small corner of the internet than chase those empty follower numbers I don't actually care about. I think I would be fine with the only people who see my projects being the small numbers on webforums, neocities, etc. That's a kind of audience that feels worthwhile to foster.

I'm not sure if what I'm doing here is actually "being offline"... but I'm trying to be intentional about the ways in which I'm online!

[TheFrugalGamer]

It's really good, yeah. I think of "unplugging" or "being offline" as simply not engaging with social media...

I think this is totally valid and a good suggestion. Because the main issue isn't necessarily that we're able to listen to music, pay our bills while standing in line somewhere, or play solitaire when we need our minds to have a break--it's that stupid endless scrolling! Social media is generally designed to keep you engaging with the platform at the expense of your mental health, so cutting that out in any capacity is usually good.

I've slowly been cutting down my social media usage, and right now the only thing I really still engage with is Reddit, which I have taken off my homescreen, so I have to go digging when I really want to pull it out. One of the things I've noticed about getting off of all the other platforms is that my urge to buy things has become drastically reduced. I was never a shopaholic or anything like that, but I do collect various things and work on craft projects pretty frequently. Since pulling back, I'm much more satisfied with what I already have, and I find myself much more content in general. It's nice.

[rolypolyphonic]

Having stuff to actually do in real life makes it a lot easier. I feel like a lot of people who have the most trouble 'unplugging' are people who don't have a lot of interests or hobbies off the Internet.

This has always been a problem of mine because I don't really engage with 'consuming' any form of media, whether it's books, TV shows, video games, etc. as a consequence of some mental/neurological stuff. So the only things I can do for leisure are to make my own things, and the thing about that is that it takes a lot of energy and executive function; it's often impossible to do if I'm not already doing well.

I relate to @Limette's point where as an artist you feel somewhat obligated to do something online from time to time. I don't actually post art on 'mainstream' social media and I've basically only been on the 'indie web' for years now but I do feel bad about being unable to update my website/webcomic especially since the delays are so long. It feels more like a matter of integrity than anything about an 'audience' though.

Although I appreciate how much slower indie web spaces are, I do think in my situation I ought to cut out more of it and to just 'get offline' quite literally so I can dedicate more time to things I ought to work on. Much has been said about the differences in content but in my case I think a struggle with going online isn't just seeing things that affect you negatively but just the mere fact of it taking away so much time that I could've used somewhere else. Even updating my personal website with trivial things instead of actual art has the same effect.

Of course, it's not like I feel wholly negatively about going online as a whole (evidently, this is a poste on the Internet). I often just find myself reflecting in how doing so is often a way for me to get away from doing things that I think are more important to do but just demand much more energy, both mentally and physically, to even get started with. It ends up being a loop where the same factors to make me averse to making certain creative works are used to cope with that aversion, only making me more averse. But acknowledgement as with anything is always the first step.

[candycanearter07]

I agree about the issue with not having anything to do outside of the internet, but I honestly have no idea where to even start with a new hobby, and such

[BlazingCobaltX]

In the past few weeks I've found myself becoming a bit more prone to browsing for the sake of it. Could be boredom, could be a desire to be entertained by online arguments (ahem, Reddit), but it is taking up more time than I'd like. Same thing with YouTube btw - though I've blocked a lot of things, I find myself near automatically looking for something to casually listen to (and I'm out of podcasts wehhh).

A correlation I find odd here is that in this same period I've also been using this tech news site/forum a bit more. It's almost as if the update rate of the news feed/forum is giving me the same dopamine rush as endless scrolling does. It's weird because this forum pretty much does not inspire that sort of behaviour in me: Here I come read all subforums every few weeks and then dip. It's really weird but I do think it's the cause for why I am looking for more low quality, quick content in general.

[Capybara]

I prefer offline social events over online ones, but being offline is only enjoyable if you have close company. I don't have anyone immediate in my life besides family, so it's difficult to fully unplug. And this is from someone who doesn't participate in online communication or communities nearly as much anymore due to drama and bad experiences. I've traded that for pure offline silence or occasional doomscrolling to feel less lonely. I've spent the past 6 years being a workaholic and my whole life doing hobbies or going on walks completely alone, it's not really fun IMO. Maybe that will change if I ever get my own car or find people IRL.

Though, I disagree with "offline" = "not using social media" when I consider browsing sites or IMing people to be online. But being truly offline is impossible nowadays, since accessing bank information or paying bills is something I need internet for.