As it is December, people are taking their stand for the new year, wanting a change and resolving to live their ideals out more faithfully. I'm seeing a lot of articles and videos about an "Analog 2026" movement. I completely agree with the sentiment behind it but in many ways, it still rings of consumerism and needing to buy some thing to live the way you want. Influencer accounts (creators who make money on your attention being focused on social media) posting on social media about analog life just seems inauthentic.
From working on this website, I was reminded of the fun and lack of self-consciousness of the internet of the late '90s - early '00s. When the internet was a place you had to sit in a certain part of your house to use. There were plenty of ways to waste your time on a computer, for sure, but it was a more deliberate choice, not a reflex.
The internet is very close to being dead. Rather than finding hundreds of interesting websites on niche topics, the social media platforms have swallowed up huge chunks of internet real estate, just like the private equity firms buying up all of our neighborhoods in real life. We are all funneled into the algorithm/monetization machine - most people who would create online feel that it's not worth the effort if you can't make money on it. That means online content has to follow trends, be watered down to be palatable to the lowest common denominator. And then AI came around, and suddenly creators were too lazy to even take their own photos or do graphic layout and most content reeks of the same souless hellscape.
I think the push for streaming everything is part of a government power grab - where 'we own nothing and are happy' and we should actively be resisting that propaganda. They want us in an empty room in a dystopian apartment with nothing to do but scroll our phones. Streaming services are churning out mindless "second screen entertainment" (terrible dialog that overexplains the plot because you're watching while scrolling), it's not worth paying them anything anymore. The best films and tv will be available to buy in physical form anyway.
Personal websites provide opportunity for endless creativity. You can post all about your latest projects and obsessions. If you're inclined to research and writing, share your sphere of expertise with a content website. We can't just let AI take over content and information. We still need the touch of human experience and storytelling. How quickly everyone seems to forget that AI is frequently unreliable and incorrect. In education, we refer to books written by authors passionate and experienced in a subject one that writes with descriptive language a 'living book'. I tried to use living books in our homeschooling as much as possible. The 'living website' featuring the words, story and art of a real person is the antidote to AI slop.
Every time you get the urge to scroll, think "what could I create instead"? For me, I like to make junk journals, design graphics, tinker and write on websites, take photos, alter and tailor things that I thrifted that don't quite fit. You might like to bake or cook, garden or crochet. Share it with the world, but do it on a personal website.
Yes, it helps in many ways to eliminate streaming services, and own physical media. I have over 250 dvds, and growing stacks of CDs that I actually listen to in my 2004 truck that has no bluetooth or aux. If you're still keeping one foot in the social media world and expect to feel some kind of real change in your life - you're going to get sucked back in. Especially if you're using social media to document and flex your "new analog journey". You'll resubscribe to the streaming service when a new show comes out that looks really cool. If you'd like tips on how you can still watch shows from streaming platforms, let me know.
If we are to restore the humanity of the internet, we need people remaining on it to create. Online ≠ bad. The internet is a great place to share ideas, inspiration, and information. Use it to create! You don't have to be completely offline to feel loads better and gain new capacity for creative effort - just delete social media.
Real change will take a radical shift in behavior. If you're a TV and movie enjoyer, building a collection of physical media does help; you're now eliminating tons of advertising exposure. You're not feeding into the beast, and giving them more data, yet another window into your online habits. A recent trend on TikTok had moms rushing to find a vintage CRT TV with a VHS player. That's cute, but regular TVs do just fine, and there's more selection with DVDs and Blu-ray. Even better would be limiting kids screen time! And are the moms still scrolling their phones posting the aesthetic images of VHS movies on social media? Or are they modeling a lifestyle of creation versus consumption?
There's also more to analog life than just cds and cvds. Bring back printed material - books, magazines, indie publications like zines. I love reading and collecting magazines from the last 30+ years because they're a window into a world that is gone forever. While there is a segment of zines flourishing, we need more variety in viewpoints and ideas, because they usually have a very specific political and lifestyle slant. Let's get the moms off Tiktok, and onto writing a zine!
When I am not feeling particularly inspired to create something, I read a bit from a few books on subjects I want to learn about, and write down whatever interested me from the reading. I also work on my calendar, plan projects, and record spending. This is like creating a curriculum for your life. I do some of my easiest writing first thing in the morning, so I keep a word processor next to my bed. Instead of scrolling everyone else's thoughts and opinions, I can record mine instead.
If you're using social media to stay in contact with family, there are so many other ways to do that without remaining on a meta platform which is ready to sell you out to infinite surveillance. Have you noticed that FB doesn't even feature your friends in the feed as much anymore anyway? You are seeing more public posts by 'influencers'. There's letter writing, creating a quarterly family newsletter, email, blogs or hey, what about a personal website.
TL;DR - Scrolling is stealing years from our lives, with nothing to show for it. Fight the power that wants us to be scrolling automatons who allow the technocratic agenda to unfold. The internet could be fun again if we all made websites. Delete your social media accounts, and create instead of consume.
