My upstairs neighbor doesn’t have a cellphone. I know this because there was once a leak coming from upstairs and he wasn’t home all day, so I had to leave a message on his landline—the screeching and beeping of which often travels down to our floor, as if it’s 1996 again and I better go see what’s happening on The Secret Life of Alex Mack.
He’s an older guy; probably in his late 60s/early 70s. He’s a musician, who sings and plays the guitar nearly every day, respectfully waiting until after 5pm (the theoretical end of the workday) to start playing. I find him to be more talented than annoying, which is probably the highest compliment one could give to a musician who lives in the apartment upstairs.
I’ve never asked him why he doesn’t have a cellphone; it would be a violation of the unspoken code between every neighbor in the building, where our friendly small-talk rarely goes beyond what the weather is that day. But if I did ask him why he doesn’t have a cellphone, I’d like to imagine that he’d say that he simply doesn’t need one. That a landline is enough technology for him, that having a cellphone would in no way make his life more complete or intrinsically better.
A few days ago, my instagram updated to this fancy new version. The screen now has a black background, but the primary change seems to be a heightened sensory assault. The posts take up more of the screen, which I imagine is supposed to imitate TikTok, in some disingenuous ploy to increase engagement.
I’ve heard the change has something to do with reels, although I also still don’t really understand reels, because new social media features tend to appear and disappear so frequently that half the time I don’t bother to get invested in them. I figure reels will probably go away by this time next year, so why even bother. Mentally, I’m still deciding whether or not I should join Vine.
Anyway, this instagram update. Normally, my default reaction would’ve been some sort of fist-raised-up-at-the-sky, why-I-oughta diatribe, in which I just keep saying how terrible social media is, and how they’re always updating things too quickly. Planned obsolescence, etc.
But weirdly when this happened, my first reaction was…relief.
Not that social media has ever been a static technology—far from it—but this new layout change was so significant that I initially didn’t even recognize what I was looking at. Was I still even on instagram? It was as if the old instagram—the platform that as of two days ago I was still decently invested in emotionally and semi-professionally—was suddenly gone.
And because this was now this entirely new thing, I realized I suddenly had the option to decide if I should care about this new instagram or not…if I even need to go on it with any remote frequency and get emotionally invested in it, (apart from posting this very article on the stories to get people to read it, of course).
It’s only a few days in, but at least right now, I could care less about this weird new social media app. I’ve now been through enough of these updates and platform changes to know that at least for me personally, its benefits will be vastly outweighed by its drawbacks.
Or maybe I’m just getting too old to understand it. Either way, if I want to my brain to be subject to a constant hum, I’d rather check into the music from my neighbor
**
CONTENT RECS
For July 4th. This four-part, 6 hour podcast by comedians Shane Gillis and Louis CK, in which they discuss all of the United States Presidents in great detail, was without a doubt one of the best podcasts I have ever listened to. In addition to being very funny, both are well-above-average knowledgeable about American History, and the podcast contains this sort of appreciation for America and the American experiment that is extremely hard to come by nowadays, on either side of the political spectrum.
Serious Non-Fiction. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, is a soul-crushing account of poverty in Milwaukee. Among many other things, the book underscores the importance of simply having somewhere to go and call home–without which the already extremely difficult task of attempting to be a human is nearly impossible. I would strongly suggest reading this. It’s one of those books that, while extremely sad, the entire country would be better off for reading. And if more people did read this book, a much-needed solution to this multifaceted problem would undoubtedly take a higher priority.
TV Series. The 7 Lives of Lea (Netflix). This is a French show that is a teen dramedy, body switch, time travel, and possible murder-mystery all in one. It’s great for the music alone–half of it is a 1991 period piece that focused on grunge music and other early 90s stuff. I was too young to remember that era, but I sometimes pretend to anyway, not unlike how I make fun of my sister (born in 1994) when she says she remembers the Backstreet Boys in their late-90s heyday. It’s also only 7 episodes, tres manageable.
***
I’m probably going to keep this going in some capacity, or maybe not. Thoughts, suggestions, comments are welcome, unless they’re stupid.
Always love your writing. Thrilled to see a new piece — and as ever I agree with and find relief in your perspective on the brain numbing cesspool that is social media (I say as I go back to it).