I've found myself coming to a lot of the same conclusions after having the same phone as you since January (now the better part of a year). I've gotten back into photography with an actual camera again because of the limitations of the flip phone camera, though I also get friends to loan me their phones and send me the photos after, which I have found to be a decent compromise. I'm not off social media as completely as you, but I don't miss my iphone life at all. I felt the effects almost immediately after switching, of basically spring cleaning my brain, and though I'm not preachy about it I definitely recommend the move to anyone who takes some interest in my brick. Thanks for being the template!
Getting off of social media was one of the best things I've ever done for myself. I deeply miss seeing a wide variety of art, but I definitely have seen improvements in depression and anxiety after removing it from my life. I've been trying to be on my phone less, and I think for the most part it's been working for me. The camera and Discord are probably the two biggest reasons I never want to actually go to something like a flip phone, I don't want to give those up. A small server based around my favourite fanfiction author has become my social media outlet, and I've made a lot of important friends through it. Being able to document my art is important. I want to keep those two things handy on my phone. I'm grateful to you for running this experiment for yourself. Your thoughts on it have been interesting to read, and you've inspired my brother and my husband to either get a flip phone or try to dramatically reduce the amount of time spent on a phone. It feels really nice to be able to hang out with these people and have the phones completely away and out of sight and mind. Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to fully get rid of some of my other digital distractions so I can *actually* write the comics that live in my brain.
I think to do most anything creative you need a distraction free environment!
Thanks for the thoughtful words. I do miss the easy access to Discord. The most positive parts of the internet seem to exist, now, in private servers and group chats. Look up the "Dark Forest Theory" of the internet as a counterpoint to the dead internet one.
After five years, I have upgraded my phone from a Kuracera DuraXV Extreme, to a Kuracera DuraXV Extreme+. Before that, I was using a Motorola Razr, and only had to upgrade because 3G is no more.
I was in high school when people started getting smartphones, and always thought they were a distraction (plus, touchscreens are annoying as hell). So it feels like I've just continued to do what people do, while I've observed how everyone who uses these things has changed, usually for the worse. It's really not great.
Just get a camera, if you need it. More pictures are taken every few weeks than in the whole of the past two centuries, and after going through all of my family photos, I can tell you: you'll never look at 90% of them. I'm happy with the camera on my flip phone, and in cases where I'm not, someone else will take a picture for me, or I have a film camera for special occasions. Very few things in your life actually need to be photographed (in fact virtually nothing), and in fact, the fewer photographs you have, the more meaningful the ones you have become.
I'm happy people are starting to see things my way a little bit, but the fact people seem to be having such a hard time throwing these things away really demonstrates why I never wanted to use them in the first place.
I've found myself coming to a lot of the same conclusions after having the same phone as you since January (now the better part of a year). I've gotten back into photography with an actual camera again because of the limitations of the flip phone camera, though I also get friends to loan me their phones and send me the photos after, which I have found to be a decent compromise. I'm not off social media as completely as you, but I don't miss my iphone life at all. I felt the effects almost immediately after switching, of basically spring cleaning my brain, and though I'm not preachy about it I definitely recommend the move to anyone who takes some interest in my brick. Thanks for being the template!
Ofc! So glad to hear the experience has been good. It's becoming clear to me that I really need to pick up photography--hah.
*We* should call sometime :0)
please add me to your list!!!
Getting off of social media was one of the best things I've ever done for myself. I deeply miss seeing a wide variety of art, but I definitely have seen improvements in depression and anxiety after removing it from my life. I've been trying to be on my phone less, and I think for the most part it's been working for me. The camera and Discord are probably the two biggest reasons I never want to actually go to something like a flip phone, I don't want to give those up. A small server based around my favourite fanfiction author has become my social media outlet, and I've made a lot of important friends through it. Being able to document my art is important. I want to keep those two things handy on my phone. I'm grateful to you for running this experiment for yourself. Your thoughts on it have been interesting to read, and you've inspired my brother and my husband to either get a flip phone or try to dramatically reduce the amount of time spent on a phone. It feels really nice to be able to hang out with these people and have the phones completely away and out of sight and mind. Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to fully get rid of some of my other digital distractions so I can *actually* write the comics that live in my brain.
I think to do most anything creative you need a distraction free environment!
Thanks for the thoughtful words. I do miss the easy access to Discord. The most positive parts of the internet seem to exist, now, in private servers and group chats. Look up the "Dark Forest Theory" of the internet as a counterpoint to the dead internet one.
After five years, I have upgraded my phone from a Kuracera DuraXV Extreme, to a Kuracera DuraXV Extreme+. Before that, I was using a Motorola Razr, and only had to upgrade because 3G is no more.
I was in high school when people started getting smartphones, and always thought they were a distraction (plus, touchscreens are annoying as hell). So it feels like I've just continued to do what people do, while I've observed how everyone who uses these things has changed, usually for the worse. It's really not great.
Just get a camera, if you need it. More pictures are taken every few weeks than in the whole of the past two centuries, and after going through all of my family photos, I can tell you: you'll never look at 90% of them. I'm happy with the camera on my flip phone, and in cases where I'm not, someone else will take a picture for me, or I have a film camera for special occasions. Very few things in your life actually need to be photographed (in fact virtually nothing), and in fact, the fewer photographs you have, the more meaningful the ones you have become.
I'm happy people are starting to see things my way a little bit, but the fact people seem to be having such a hard time throwing these things away really demonstrates why I never wanted to use them in the first place.