Logging off

17 Jun, 2026

I've swapped my Instagram account for this blog.

I dislike the social media platforms we have today, but I love what they originally promised. Connection. A chance to share with others, regardless of where they are. I've spent a lot of time talking with friends about my gripes with social media sorry Hannah and although I could probably write a whole book on the negatives of the modern social platforms, I think my issues boil down to:

• The big social platforms are designed to be addictive¹ and to take advantage of how your brain works.

• Everything is just an ad. There's ads between people ten second Instagram stories now and everyone is selling you something. That runner on Instagram might be talking about how running changed her life, but she's really just trying to get you to use her discount code on the newest pair of Asics.

• The social platforms offer an illusion of connection, without offering any real depth to your relationships. Leaving a comment or liking an Instagram story might feel like keeping up with what your friends are doing, but it says nothing about what is really going on for either of you beyond the photo.

• It's harder than ever to see posts from people you actually follow. On Instagram you now have to navigate to a whole new feed to see just posts by people you follow, and that feed is rather hidden. Otherwise, every second post is "suggested content".

• They're also just selling all your data (that old quote of "if you can't see the product, you are the product" is true, if cliche) and they use your posts to train AI².

When I checked my screen time last year, I found I was spending up to five hours a day on my phone - with a lot of that spent on Instagram. I felt so short on time, and yet I was wasting so much of it just scrolling mindlessly through short-form content created by people I didn't know.

So I fell down a rabbit hole of watching YouTube videos about other people's experiences quitting social media. I watched Netflix's 'The Social Dilemma'. I spent a year deactivating my Instagram account and then inevitably logging back in again. I journalled about my thoughts on it and I complained to friends about how much I hated it.

So why did I finally decide to get off the apps?

I reached a point where I realised that I was always saying one thing but doing another.

I would say how much I hated it and then I would scroll on my phone. I would talk to friends about how Instagram's algorithm pushing content about disordered eating put me in a bad headspace, and instead of stepping away I would stress that my stomach looked too obvious in the outfits I was putting together for dinner out. I would talk about how awful I think it is for people and yet I would still keep logging in again.

It just felt so hypocritical to spend so much time thinking and talking and writing about how the apps made me feel, but doing absolutely nothing about it. So I guess I just decided I'd had enough.

But why the blog?

I still wanted a way to share with people and to keep in touch. I just didn't want it to be in the form of a platform that was constantly working to keep us hooked to it, riddled with ads, and selling my data to advertisers to further riddle my life with ads.

So I started looking for something that knocked out all of those concerns, and I found what a lot of people on the internet call 'slow social media' or 'slow web'. I fiddled with making my own website (which I have, and you can find here), but I think what I was ultimately looking for was somewhere to share in a simpler manner.

Then I stumbled upon this platform. It's simple. It has no ads. It isn't made to be addicting. It's not selling your data. It's main focus is simple text blogging with basic mark up abilities. It doesn't have a built-in commenting feature. It's simply for writing your thoughts and sharing them, with the void or with some friends.

So here we are. On a blog.

I have a lot I'd like to write about that isn't social media, but thought I'd get the "why" out of the way first.

Also, for anyone who is interested in the no ads, no data selling, privacy aspect of this platform: you will never get an email from Bear and they will never do anything with the email you provide. You subscribing simply puts together a handy copy-and-paste list of people to add to the email that I send out myself. It's not automated, so every time you get an email saying that I've got a blog post up, it's from me! Not the site.

• Also worth noting, in case you're thinking of your own blog on the platform, that the ability to have people subscribe and the ability to add images to blog posts is a paid feature - approx. $6/month or a larger once-off fee I can't remember the value of.

Anyhow. I'm now officially of the social media apps, woohoo!! You can message me or call via my phone number of FB Messenger, or if you choose to respond to the email about this blog post, it comes straight to my inbox and I'll email you back!

Here's a film photo from a family holiday earlier in the year <3 See you in person or in your email inbox again soon - hopefully talking about something other than my gripes with social media :))

• Em

Subscribe to my blog