The process of decluttering is something I do a few times a year. So it doesn’t take days, it takes hours, and I like that. I like to keep things in order, so it’s not much work when I decide to do it.
Yesterday was another decluttering day. I went through social media and RSS feeds and made changes. It also inspired me to think about how we consume information, hence yesterday’s post.
Mastodon is staying with me, but I’m going to be much less active there, at least for a while. I need a break from that kind of consumption, the whole idea of a never-ending timeline of posts and updates makes me tired. I thought it would be different this time, I thought that was the problem with Twitter or Instagram, but unfortunately I have a deeper problem with the general idea of social media. I’m still on Mastodon, but I plan to check it less often and focus more on this website and the forum, where we have a very small and intimate space with only a few messages per day, but longer ones. That’s it for me, for now.
However, I wanted to keep up with the people I know on Mastodon, and I didn’t want to miss what was going on with them. I figured the best way to stay updated was to add their websites to the RSS reader. I went through all the people I’m connected to there (follower and follower lists), which is over three hundred people. My mistake was to skip their website when I followed them on Mastodon, and I thought I’d add a lot of new feeds to the reader. I was wrong. And scared. Out of over three hundred people, I added about ten new sources. I mean, I already have some of them in my reader, but still, I thought I’d add maybe a hundred. I added ten. And I only had three requirements:
- the blog must have an RSS feed available,
- the blog has to be updated this year,
- the blog has to be in the language I understand (so English or Polish)
Vast majority of people don’t have a website, those who have clearly abandoned it, few don’t have the feed available. I hoped it would look better, I hoped more people would have their own space. I know it can be difficult and more expensive to get a hosting and set up a blog, but it is possible and I urge everyone to at least give it a try.
Speaking of the RSS reader. I made some changes there as well. I unfollowed most of the biggest blogs that generate a lot of noise for me now, especially the tech ones. I know everyone can make a living, but right now I prefer to read blogs from people I know or would like to get to know better. That means smaller indie bloggers, thinkers, photographers, and philosophers. One day I would make a list of these people and share it here. Today is not that day. I need more time because I want to comment on every blog I follow. These are the people behind these sites, and everyone deserves a few minutes of my time to describe why I like them.
The purge also happened to the news outlets. Either related to current events or technology, I deleted those sites that published dozens of new articles every day and every article was the same.
My notes and reminders also underwent some changes. My simple productivity system is now even simpler. When I wrote the post about my tools, I realized that I didn’t need so many folders and that I could simplify things even more. And I did, and I’m glad I did.
Current state of things I keep an eye on are Mastodon Timeline and RSS reader. That’s about it. I do have a LinkedIn account, which I passionately hate and will consider deleting as soon as I get a new job, but I don’t have any other social media accounts. You can’t find me on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit or anything else. I don’t use YouTube or Vimeo. I use iMessage and Signal as chat platforms – and Signal only because few people I really like use Android phones, but I consistently refuse to use WhatsApp and Messenger, which are the most popular communication platforms in Poland, and other chat apps. Some people have to call me now if they want to talk to me, but I’m okay with that. Most of them are too.