I finished my digital detox—now what?

What I learned, what's next, and what did Zillow ever do to anyone?

Spend a few moments scrolling and you’re bound to see at least one post—Substack essay, meme, or whatever—about how people are quitting Instagram and trying to relinquish the hold social media has on them (no, the irony isn’t lost on me, either).

You’ll see a beautifully curated photo of a stack of notebooks, a candle (or three), a cup of tea, and no technology; the poster claiming they are clinging on to slower moments. But what, exactly, does all of that mean?

What led me to Detox?

I can’t remember exactly when the feeling of wanting to change my relationship with technology happened for me, but based on my 130-day streak on BePresent it looks like it started in mid-November, right after the election and after I came back to Substack after a long hiatus. Instagram specifically started leaving a bad taste in my mouth, and I used an app (the aforementioned BePresent) to set some limits around that and a few other apps. It worked—I allowed myself to open Instagram five times a day for …