Welcome back to ‘eyb, my newsletter! Each week I speak frankly about topics that growing up as an Arab teen and young woman I was told were “ ‘eyb” or shameful, and I share anecdotes from my life. If you’re new to the newsletter, welcome!
This week, I reflect on my possible social media addiction (which I guess isn’t ‘eyb!)
Do you have a love-hate relationship with your social media accounts? I know I do. In the height of the pandemic last year I had literally become addicted to social media. My iPhone was registering over 6 hours of use a day, and that is in addition to working 8 hours a day on my laptop at my full time job, sometimes more when I was editing my debut novel Hijab and Red Lipstick, or when I was writing an article.
Hours upon hours have been spent scrolling through Instagram, saving pictures, liking pictures, commenting, and sharing to my Stories, and then switching over to Twitter, engaging in online conversations, and tweeting random things about my life. Some days I spent so much time on my phone that I would come off it at the end of the day feeling jittery and physically sick. Not good.
The issue is as an author and freelance journalist in 2021, you can’t not be on social media. Twitter is integral to an author for self-marketing, networking with other writers and members of the publishing industry, and for finding publishing opportunities. And then Instagram again is needed to be visible as an author. In the pandemic Twitter has been a lifeline for journalists - many of the people I have spoken to and quoted in articles were found on Twitter.
I ran a little poll recently on Twitter and asked my followers if when they weren’t on social media, whether they felt a sense of anxiety or a compulsion to check it. 87% answered yes. I ran it mainly to see if others felt like me - anxiety when you post a new picture on Instagram, or perhaps engage in a conversation on Twitter, to see how people will comment, or how people will reply (especially if it is a topic with political or religious connotations!) Anxiety when you are away from your phone (however briefly that may be) that you may be missing out on comments and replies. A compulsion to keep checking it every couple of minutes.
At the start of the Winter holidays I decided to take time off social media. I had wanted a whole-out break, but that did not happen. But I did manage to keep it to just 10 minutes of use in the morning, and 10 minutes of use in the evening. Mentally, I just felt so relieved. I realized that life is what happens when you are not on your social media. Coming into the new year, I discovered that there was a time limit feature in my phone settings, and so I have limited my social media apps to one hour a day.
I have built up quite a good number of followers on Instagram, mainly from my time as a fitness blogger and personal trainer in the Gulf. Instagram’s new algorithm means that the more you post, the more you are visible to your followers, and then the less you post, the less engagement you get. I decided last year that I had had enough of pressurizing myself to post content everyday and Instagram punished me for it. I went from getting 200-400 likes per post to 100 likes, which people might think is weird for someone with 10K+ followers. Personally it does not bother me much, but as an author visibility and engagement are important. It feels like a digital form of “keeping up appearances.” I also made the decision to not engage with certain communities on Twitter because it was impacting my mental health. I muted certain words so that they would not appear on my timeline, and I feel so much better for it.
Have I successfully overcome my social media addiction? It’s the 1st February so maybe I’ll report back at Easter?
I wish you all a safe and fruitful week ahead.
What I’ve been writing…
I wrote a couple of articles over January. First I wrote a piece for The C Word on what family planning is like when you have a chronic illness or disability.
I also wrote a piece for the Telegraph and Argus on the continuing need for diversity in the publishing industry.
What I’ve been watching…
I binge-watched Netflix reality show Bling Empire, a show about a group of Asian and Asian-American socialites in L.A. It’s described as the real Crazy Rich Asians.
I watched Netflix’s film adaptation of novelist Aravind Adiga’s book The White Tiger, the story of a young male driver in India’s rise from poverty to riches. It definitely met the hype!
Image from Wikipedia
What I’ve been reading…
Last week I read Our Women on the Ground: Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World edited by Zahra Hankir, an anthology of 19 sahafiyaat, or female Arab journalists, sharing very raw insights into their lives and the world of reporting, often in times of conflict and war. A highly recommended read.
Out this week is Nikesh Shukla’s memoir Brown Baby (Pan Macmillan) which I can’t wait to read! I’ve read glowing reviews already.
If you enjoyed this newsletter how about sharing it with your friends and peers? This newsletter is free but does take some time to put together. If you enjoy my work you can by me a digital coffee.