Life After Instagram and Prime
On Reading Many Books and Reclaiming the Mind
After Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, I deleted my Instagram. This was also due to the morbid amount of tech billionaires present at the inauguration, and an update by Instagram that they would train AI on users’ accounts. This destruction of individual freedom, the feeding of information, identity, and personality into a machine controlled by billionaires, was something that frightened me on many levels. The erasure of personal liberty is a symptom of a totalitarian government, witnessed in Nazi and Soviet occupied territories.
So, I deleted my Instagram, and swiftly after, my family and I made the decision to cancel our Prime subscription and drastically- and eventually- stop our Amazon. I believe we have only received one or two packages from Amazon the past two months, and we are also looking for ways to stop buying from Amazon completely.
The films on Apple TV and Netflix aren’t appealing to me- first of all, they tend engage in culture wars- so I was primarily dependent on Prime (pun intended) for my TV entertainment. And although I knew I would miss some series, I also looked forward to a more minimalist life, in which the TV would play a much smaller role than it already did.
I didn’t miss Instagram. The constant updates, the pressure to upload a nice picture, the people who watch your story but never chat with you, the left-wing versus right-wing culture wars, the artificially generated ‘art’- good bye, and good riddance. It was quite satisfying to miss out on that. FOMO? I’d say JOMO: Joy On Missing Out. I began to read more, and write more. It’s much nicer to have a book or journal balanced on your knees than a phone held in your hands. And it’s much nicer to stroll through one’s city and enjoy its Gothic architecture without feeling the pressure to upload a photo on your story all the damn time. Credit: Helena Deborah Fotografie.
Two months after deleting Instagram, I noticed a change in my reading habits. I picked up Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey, a slim volume I’d bought more than five years ago but had never read. A spell came over me- the prose was long and eloquent, and far from easy, and not the morse code that is so prevalent in 21st century ‘literature’. The topic was challenging as well, as our heroine, Agnes, goes through many hardships and has to bear the burden of bullying and isolation. And yet I kept on reading. Something in me did not want to drop the book, pick up an easier read. I wanted to challenge my brain, read the book from start to finish without grabbing another novel that was less thorny to read, a novel that was more cheerful.
During my time on social media, my love of reading didn’t diminish: it changed. Naturally, I found myself checking my phone whilst reading, but I wanted to read different books simultaneously. There was always a more engrossing book to poke my nose in, I couldn’t find satisfaction in reading one novel from start to finish without feeling tempted by another! This, I believe, is the effect of social media on my brain: I didn’t want to stop reading, I wanted to swipe; I wanted a whole lot of nice books at the same time, to satisfy my curiosity and attention span. Like desiring to see one pretty photo after the other- look at a picture for a couple seconds, move on to the other. This isn’t healthy.
Bookish influencers and bloggers may not feel that their love for reading has diminished due to Instagram and TikTok (never had TikTok, but it seems to be a trend- even if it is a Chinese spy app). But whilst love may not change, the way of love may. You may find yourself reaching for easier books, or for a plethora of books, because you feel the urge to ‘swipe on your reading’.
The combination of cancelling Amazon Prime and Instagram has deepened my soul, because I engage with things more soulful than nice pictures or series. Watching television and scrolling on social media is easy. Reading George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss is not. Which makes it more enjoyable!
Within two-three months, I had gone on a reading spree. Here’s a list of all the books I read, start to finish without picking up another book.
The People Versus Tech by Jamie Bartlett- an absolute must read.
Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Paradise Lost by John Milton (technically, an epic poem in book form)
The Waste Land (and some other poems) by T.S. Eliot
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (anyone else angry with the ending?)
The Collected Poems by Laurie Lee (absolute love)
Gone to Earth by Mary Webb (she writes landscapes better than Tolkien…!)
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson
These books are all incredible works of literature and poetry, save The People Versus Tech, which is non-fiction- and I’d recommend them to everyone- however, I would only recommend Kate Chopin’s works to those over 18, and the same counts for Gone to Earth by Mary Webb.
My love-affair with these books has inspired me to keep on reading, but above all, to commit myself to one book at the time. It’s a challenge, but the more I do it, it becomes less difficult, and more exciting. The desire for the book itself it mingled with pleasant anticipation for the following book, and a strong impulse to stick to the current book. I know this is a yawn, and that it has been said frequently, but deleting Prime and Instagram has enriched my life and made me live more in the present.
This deleting-game has seeped into other areas of my life as well. I am planning to delete LinkedIn and Pinterest, even though I barely use them, and sometimes I wonder if I should keep my Substack. For publicity as a freelance writer, I shouldn’t, but all this posting pressure, the urge to perform for invisible audiences, just for a couple likes, is exhausting. I like my minimalist life. Deleting LinkedIn and Pinterest is no problem, but Substack still irks me. Should I? If I do, will I shoot myself as a foot as a newbie freelancer? If I don’t, am I still part of the social media machine? I guess the answer is yes.
Do let me know your thoughts down in the comments, or send me a DM- I’m curious to hear your opinions on this.
Till next time,
Maryse.