Hi there! I'm a CBT therapist who specializes in OCD and also happens to be a fan! I really appreciate what you wrote and I hope forwarding it to my colleagues (I'm clinical director of a group practice) would be okay. It is always helpful to hear individual narratives and be reminded why our techniques (applied knowingly or not) work well.
Thanks for sharing. The point about paying to be right on the internet is an amazing summation of so much. Good luck avoiding the bad parts of the internet (why anyone is on Twitter is unfathomable to me) and thanks for sharing your drawings.
This is a great piece, and I'm sure it caused you some anxiety to write and publish! I think the way social media is configured is unhelpful for most people, and perhaps leathal for a great deal of creatives. I've had to stop it almost completely. It's been a relief and an overall improvement across the board.
Thank you so much for this, I appreciate the vulnerability it takes to “put it out there”. You have given me a lot to think about…and I’m going to rephrase for myself that nugget of wisdom to, “How much am I willing to be on the internet/phone, period?” I don’t care about being right because that’s pretty rare for me anyway; I just need to stop wasting precious time.
Your agent's truth "Colleen, how much are you willing to pay to be right on the internet?" Hit home. When I turned on a feature that tells me how much time I spend online-ouch. So good on your agent for that insight.
The whole thing about being unable to have an informed opinion on everything and then getting into a “kerfuffle” (well put)….the time and energy I wasted on that kind of thing. So much. Sooo much.
Thank you for the honest insight. I hopped off Twitter last year, but have only returned to interact with acquaintance (who is an expert on Michael Sheen!), as she prefers to DM thru the app. I do give myself strict limits on how I spend my time there (after trying BlueSky and not liking it so much). I adore your work and will always support your need to breakaway whenever you wish.
I feel the same way about social media (and yet here I am on Substack). Went off Twitter and the facebooks after Jan 6, and I haven’t regretted it. I get the urge / panic to start again on occasion, but not too badly.
Substack doesn't bother me, something about the nature of engagement is just not the same. FB doesn't bother me the way Twitter and Bluesky do. I think it's the jumble of little snippets of stuff that I can't handle.
Twitter was lethal for me. Would stop sleeping, snap at my family, not focus on work - Facebook was the same, and I’d have people at work remind me of the points you made. Now I have a 10th grader who’s heading towards a D1 baseball playing path, so I don’t go near any of them so I don’t accidentally sabotage him.
FB not so much because I don't read my feed very often. Twitter is nothing but feed and same with Bluesky. Twitter on the right, Bluesky on the left. I know people who work in tech who won't let their kinds on social media. Says everything right there.
Hi there! I'm a CBT therapist who specializes in OCD and also happens to be a fan! I really appreciate what you wrote and I hope forwarding it to my colleagues (I'm clinical director of a group practice) would be okay. It is always helpful to hear individual narratives and be reminded why our techniques (applied knowingly or not) work well.
Thank you, Amanda! More than OK!!!
Thanks for sharing. The point about paying to be right on the internet is an amazing summation of so much. Good luck avoiding the bad parts of the internet (why anyone is on Twitter is unfathomable to me) and thanks for sharing your drawings.
This is a great piece, and I'm sure it caused you some anxiety to write and publish! I think the way social media is configured is unhelpful for most people, and perhaps leathal for a great deal of creatives. I've had to stop it almost completely. It's been a relief and an overall improvement across the board.
Thank you so much for this, I appreciate the vulnerability it takes to “put it out there”. You have given me a lot to think about…and I’m going to rephrase for myself that nugget of wisdom to, “How much am I willing to be on the internet/phone, period?” I don’t care about being right because that’s pretty rare for me anyway; I just need to stop wasting precious time.
Sometimes not wasting time is as right as we need to be.
Your agent's truth "Colleen, how much are you willing to pay to be right on the internet?" Hit home. When I turned on a feature that tells me how much time I spend online-ouch. So good on your agent for that insight.
*nods in ADHD*
The whole thing about being unable to have an informed opinion on everything and then getting into a “kerfuffle” (well put)….the time and energy I wasted on that kind of thing. So much. Sooo much.
🙏 there go i
Thank you for the honest insight. I hopped off Twitter last year, but have only returned to interact with acquaintance (who is an expert on Michael Sheen!), as she prefers to DM thru the app. I do give myself strict limits on how I spend my time there (after trying BlueSky and not liking it so much). I adore your work and will always support your need to breakaway whenever you wish.
Good luck, good life, good everything ... forever & ever !
I feel the same way about social media (and yet here I am on Substack). Went off Twitter and the facebooks after Jan 6, and I haven’t regretted it. I get the urge / panic to start again on occasion, but not too badly.
Substack doesn't bother me, something about the nature of engagement is just not the same. FB doesn't bother me the way Twitter and Bluesky do. I think it's the jumble of little snippets of stuff that I can't handle.
Twitter was lethal for me. Would stop sleeping, snap at my family, not focus on work - Facebook was the same, and I’d have people at work remind me of the points you made. Now I have a 10th grader who’s heading towards a D1 baseball playing path, so I don’t go near any of them so I don’t accidentally sabotage him.
FB not so much because I don't read my feed very often. Twitter is nothing but feed and same with Bluesky. Twitter on the right, Bluesky on the left. I know people who work in tech who won't let their kinds on social media. Says everything right there.