How to have fun again

Call it what you want: analog, offline, indie summer. What we know is we're missing something.

These are tips on how you can start to regain your independence from the screens and get back into the real world. 

Use this as a starting base for a detox, intertwine it with a 75 soft (or hard) challenge, take some, leave some.

Just consider the ways you use the screen, and the way the screen uses you. 

Social media stays home (not on your mobile phone)

Connection has become too convenient; This doesn't include the fandom and worldwide connections made possible through social media; I mean the negative side of connection.

It's not supposed to be this easy to know everything about someone.

Sharing online used to feel more meaningful, but now it feels like a job, or sometimes it actually is one needed to survive. 

The social media market grows and changes exceedingly fast, and to keep up with it is running against a never-ending train; some make it on, others get crushed. At what point do we ask ourselves what we're really chasing?

Rethink how you go online.

Are you trying to "be an influencer," or does your authenticity and creativity help you build an online community, instead of just an audience?

Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok, and all the other social media apps that keep changing in an attempt to keep us happy and entertained; miss the mark, and we can't help but stay. However, lately, being online has begun to lose meaning and value.

AI has made being on the apps annoying and weird. It's stolen pieces of the internet that made it entertaining. Bots have infiltrated so much that comments and posting risk reaching an audience that makes the trouble not worth it. 

When I think of how I want to spend my time online, I want to feel inspired and intrigued; I want to meet new people with the same interests and discover my own taste and preferences. Instead of spending hours on socials, get into new websites. rabbit hole on Wikipedia, discover new artists on NTS Radio, join scenes on Perfectly Imperfect. Discover new blog sites, independent magazines (wink wink), get back into gaming and forums, explore and have fun, and then log off.

Go outside. Reconnect, and decenter social media.

Replace getting social handles; instead, make a note page of tags/contacts/emails you meet out, connect with them online when you make it home, and eventually get used to asking "Can I have your number?" or " Can I have your email?"

Disconnect from the discourse and connect more purposefully by separating from socials.

Exist beyond the feed.

From "network" to community 

Connect and share with intention; it's more interesting, more meaningful, and takes away a lot of the stress of social media when you're not over-cultivating an aesthetic. Constantly having 24/7 access to each other, continuous updates, endless scrolling, and ads has tainted sharing online. It's competition, comparison, and evaluation. Add some separation. Go more analog 

No matter how high-tech things get, analog has a charm you can't replace. With the lack of new analog in exchange for new digital, the decline in useful, less expensive products in comparison to the mass production of digital makes this easier said than done.

There is a nice middle ground: phone as a tool, calculator, maps, etc, and separate it from the things that keep you overly attached to it. 

Look at your phone: what apps would you miss if it turned off? Get a music backup, thrift an old mp3 and fill it with the music you like, burn cd's/swap them with friends. Show off your playlist skills and make a mixtape.

Models: Sophia Deaver, Hillary Castillo Marte, Mickey Tegegne Photos By Toni Desiree

Get a puzzle book or a word search. Swap a notes app for an on-the-go journal; write your thoughts, your schedule, and contacts you meet. Ditch overpriced reading apps and get a library card, get a book for on the go, and a book for at home. Get magazines, read obnoxiously, get well-read and educated, and reject the rise of ignorance and inconsideration. 

I don't care if it looks performative. Before, people brought books with them on the go, packed notepads, and walked around with portable CD players all the time, before it was all optimized. 

I don't think you should be shamed for going back to wired headphones because people think it's a little corny. 

Go out of your way to experience a life detached from the feed. 

Boredom is just a sign. Follow the way and see where it leads. Talk to strangers, join community groups, go to places alone, and open your eyes to the world again.