Last edit: 30th March 2026
Content
This is inspired by the "Anti-rot Agenda" Instagram (ironically) posts by @STUDYWITHARA. When I was heavily addicted to social media, I found the post to be inspiring enough to save… but that was the only action I took. I didn’t read the recommended books, articles, or participate in recommended activities. I’ve always found it ironic that there is an abundance of aesthetic offline activities are only accessible on social media. Certain content creators preach the need to be more present offline and pervasiveness of social media, yet only post content on social media. This is similar to the "analogue" trend posted on social media... you are promoting anti-tech and anti-social media while posting about it on social media using tech?!? Being offline is so cool that we are fantasising and romanticising it. Will you actually use these “analogue” tools or is it just for aesthetic because you are addicted to social media?
This is a quote I’ve only been hearing a lot recently, along with "you can’t pour from an empty cup". I have the pleasure of meeting my lecturer who talked about the importance of balance "always fill your own cup first and allow the world to benefit from the overflow". It really surprised me. If you are in academia, you would know there are no balance. Especially if you are a full-time mother, student and worker; that is three roles to juggle! The lecturer reminds everyone to prioritise yourself- your mental, physical and spiritual health because if you are sick or burnt-out, you can not do anything else. I was pleasantly surprised and it stuck with me. The implicit messaging here is that: don’t burn yourself out trying to put others first.
So how does this relate to the anti-brainrot and analogue movement? Many online people relate to the use of social media as akin to self-harm because of its addictive yet harmful (read more). Therefore to practice self-care or “fill your own cup” is to engage in activities that is not scrolling social media; this have extended to even being completely offline.
Offline activities
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (April 1998). Finding flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life Finding flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life - Alternative Formats . Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/200026151_Finding_Flow_The_Psychology_of_Engagement_With_Everyday_Life
‘flow state’ is a word that have been circulating around the english vocabulary which have yet to change meaning over time. Author, year, define flowstate as... or as younger people may define as when you “lock-in”. However, the journal article from ... by ... writes about the enjoyment or use of leisure time allow joy or more “flow states” whereby three major activities are categorised as
1. media consumption= lwoest flow
2. conversation = high flow
3. activity leisure (e.g., “hobbies, making music, going to resturaunts and movies, sports, and excercise” (p.4) = high low
However, many people prefer to enagge in media consumption as it is the most enjoyable and acessible.
Each of the flow-producing activities requires an initial investment of attention before it begins to be enjoyable... if a person [is unable] ... to overcome that initial obstable... [they] will have to settle for something... less enjoyable, [and] more acessible” (p.4)
Article talk about how there is a need for time investment in hobbies in the same way as career aspects to make the best use of free time. To reach “flow state”, the activity leisure need to have a clear goal with increasing difficulty and dedicated time need to be allocated. The bottom line is- you have to work for it. With the age of mass algorithmic social media, quick and accessible media consumption is accessible and debatably enjoyable. Think to yourself, on the scale of 1 to 10, how enjoyable is scrolling on social media? And how does that compare to your hobbies like hiking, art, making music, reading, etc...
Come back later ~June /July for scholarly articles and interesting readings. Academia is not up to date with the real world and especially with the rapid pace of social media. There are many steps for a journal article to be peer reviewed and published. Plus I have university and I have other readings to do haha
check back later to print this as a .doc