Although my cell phone usage has always been bad, I have to say that all of this isolation business hasn’t helped me work on that problem much.
With our options currently so limited, along with the general fatigue of winter, it has been more and more difficult to get out, get moving and put the electronics down. While the beginning of a new semester and a new course-load has given my off days more structure and purpose again, I feel as though the time I don’t spend studying is unfortunately going to remain mostly indoors. While I have (thankfully) found series like Letterkenney and Game of Thrones on Crave to keep me entertained, I’ve also found some new accounts on Instagram that I’ve enjoyed having as a part of my feed.
I’ve spoken about positivity on social media before (see: Fostering Positivity on Social Media) primarily in the context of actions you can take to make your experience more comfortable. The steps outlined in that article are steps that I needed to take at the time to change my experience from one of negativity, to positivity. After curating a safe and comfortable digital experience for myself, I have slowly been trying to add accounts that diversify my feed, rather than accounts that centre images I’m used to seeing. This has been an effort to try to address some of my internal biases and to begin educating myself on the different perspectives and issues that I may not be used to seeing in mainstream media. So far, this has included activism pages, plus-sized individuals, disabled individuals, and people of varying cultural backgrounds.
This is still a process I am in the midst of, but already I have been exposed to such a variety of issues and perspectives I was previously ignorant to. I’d like to encourage you to try to do the same to your feed and open up to new ideas and address your biases. Below I will list some accounts I currently follow, as well as some new ones I’ve found for the purpose of writing this and for further diversifying my own account.
I apologize for not being a diversely avid enough user to be able to include accounts for multiple platforms; Instagram is my main avenue for time-wasting, and that is the platform all the following accounts can be found on.
@chantayyjayy
@wheelchair_rapunzel
@meg.boggs
@nina_tame
@tiamiscihk
@the_landk
@sarainfox
@flawsofcouture
@wetsuweten_checkpoint
@arti.speaks
@monachalabi
@tess.daly
@melissablake81
@rollinfunky
While diversifying your feed is a good move to make, I encourage us both not to do this passively and to easily placate any feelings of guilt. Marginalized creators tend to be disfavoured by the algorithm and engagement with posts is the best way to ensure that they keep showing up on your feed, and to support them if you can’t monetarily.
While the education you can receive by following such incredible accounts is great, it is important to remember that it is not their job to educate you, that the content they produce takes time and effort to make, and that they cannot keep making such incredible content without some kind of support. This is an extremely small step towards allyship, which requires a lot more off-screen internal work than just hitting the follow button like seeking out your own educational resources, having difficult conversations, and putting your dollar to work. Be sure to address and explore any discomfort you feel from any of the issues raised by these accounts and work towards breaking yourself free from the dominant narratives we are constantly exposed to. It’s slow work, but it’s important work that no one else can do for you.