Following on from a previous post, in which I talked about Introverted Internet. I want to talk a bit about something which really stuck with me after a conversation (in real life, with another human). I mentioned that I had started using a feed reader again (via RSS) and he agreed that we underestimate the value of having pull based system for consuming media. This got me thinking further about the consumption of media, both social and otherwise. How I view newsletters, and how I choose what media I consume.
Take a walk with me
Walk with me for a moment. In your mind picture a city street. It may be littered with leaves and chip packets. Or it may be washed clean by recent rainfall. As we walk, we are bombarded on every side by noise, and flashing colours. Ads are playing on digital billboards. Every street lamp has an A2 sized screen, flashing an advertisement silently at passers by. Doorways let out loud music and varieties of smells. Tobacco, biltong, popcorn, sweets, ice cream, burgers. As you walk, people bump into you “buy a trinket?” “Looking for a taxi?” the calls to provide a service are never ending. Add to that the street performers. From the brilliant violin on one corner, to the poor busker who believes he can sing, but is actually quite tone deaf. Mixed in with the overarching wailing of an accordion, but you can’t see where it is coming from.
There, you see it. The warm light, and blessed silence of a bookshop.
Stepping inside you are still surrounded by options and colours, but none of them makes a noise. Like stepping into a Church or a library, you smell new books, the cleaning product used on floors and shelves, and maybe the perfume of the lady who just bustled passed knowing exactly what she is looking for.
This is how I navigate the internet. Continually overwhelmed by what other people consider normal. Short form media (TikTok, YouTube shorts, Instagram Reels) continually provides that quick little dopamine fix to make you feel better. Social media sites where people push opinions, fear monger, or just rant. A disordered hell-hole of a place. I cannot even handle the Cape Town wind blowing without taking out my noise cancelling headphones, and so the constant crash of never ending sounds gets me every time. That quite space, the bookshop, or the library, is where I can go to find my own enjoyment. Slow media. Well written pieces.
That’s not to say the loudness has no place. Being guided through those streets by a trusted friend can be a wonderful adventure. It is not an every day adventure.
So what?
Okay, so far I have reworded what I wrote before. I don’t internet well. Oops. That’s not it though. Let’s talk about push vs pull publication. Pushing is when I post to social media, send out an email, or otherwise push my thoughts out to an audience who may or may not care about it. You consume the media on the publisher’s schedule, not your own. They encourage you to enable notifications so something goes ping and you know your attention is wanted for 30 seconds or 3 hours. That flood of push notifications has our phones constantly going. Our inboxes flooded. Inbox Zero becomes a joke.
Pulling flips the narrative. Yes, I still post when it is convenient for me, but I don’t expect you to read it right now. I’m not tracking engagement metrics to see how well my post is doing (well, not constantly, they are interesting). I’m not bugging you to see it all at once. If you use a feed reader you will pull when you have time to read, not just every time there is a new post. Or, you may keep a list of sites and forums to check in with. You choose when you engage with that media, and what media you engage with. You regain agency over your time and attention.
We talk about things like this in a corporate setting when we suggest turning off slack notifications or only checking email at specific times. Being constantly distracted by technology, media, our surroundings, whatever it is, can be detrimental to getting things done. Not only that, it makes it harder to just enjoy the moment we are currently in. There is a place for taking photographs of special events, but we all know that we’re going to ask everyone to share them afterwards, so do we all need to be taking our phones out every other minute? We talk about overwhelm, cognitive overload, burnout, and how mindfulness and slowing down are the answer. So I ask you, when last did you slow down and enjoy the moment?
I, very happily, attended a wedding last weekend. I did not take my phone out of my bag until the very end, half intending to take a photo with the bride. In the end I didn’t do it. I don’t feel the need to be in many photos. She knew I was there. I simply didn’t think my half-hearted attempt at a selfie was going to add anything. I also already knew where the photos would be shared later. Now, I control when and where I look at the photos for the wedding. I can enjoy them by looking through them in comfort, rather than flicking through them quickly as they come in, or scrolling past them on whatever other platforms they will be scattered across.
I said something about newsletters at the beginning. Do you know how many blogs/websites/things want you to subscribe to their newsletter, but they want to do it via email? That’s a great way to land in the DNR (did not read) pile of my deleted emails. When I go through my mailbox in the morning, anything which hasn’t been caught by the filters gets the inbox-zero rules applied. If it is a newsletter which I’m only half interested in, then it goes in the bin. Sometimes I even bother to click unsubscribe (but usually that’s if it was sent to an older email address). What I do read, is the articles which make it into my feed reader. I choose when I’m going to engage with them. I do not have to read the whole thing if it doesn’t make sense. I also don’t have to deal with any FOMO. So, if you’re writing a cool weekly tech round up newsletter and you don’t have an RSS link? I’m probably not reading it – and I do still keep up to date enough with tech that I can earn my way as a developer.
Holding on to agency
In a slightly scattered way, I think what I am saying here is that being selective of both how you consume media, and what media you consume can be a healthy thing. I’m not saying you should live in a bubble, and never see or hear views which differ from your own. Rather, you should choose when and where you engage with those narratives. Whether it is watching documentaries, or reading books, or engaging with certain platforms. The time and choice is yours. Don’t let the wave of trending hashtags and viral moments become your personality.
Pippa Hillebrand 