I’ve known for awhile now that reducing my use of Instagram was probably necessary. Sometimes, I’d catch myself mindlessly scrolling Reels while the thought, You really need to shut down this app, looped across my mind like the chyron at the bottom of a news broadcast. Being fully conscious of our desire to stop doing something, but continuing to do it anyway, means whatever it is has become a kind of compulsion—an act or behavior against which we have precious little ability to assert our will.
My last therapist talked about my OCD/BFRB as if it were a foregone conclusion—as if I were fully cognizant of being someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder and a harmful body-focused repetitive behavior. It was a surprise to us both that I hadn’t known this about myself, but hearing someone else observe me this way with such certainty, I felt the label (or diagnosis, or whatever word you’d like to use) settle around me like a blanket. Ah-ha, I thought, that does explain a lot. Suffice it to say, I am not as much of a stranger to compulsive behavior as I would like to be. When I felt my relationship with social media mimicking my BFRB—a behavior I consciously want to stop, but cannot—I knew I needed a change.
Of course, as a small business owner, it’s quite scary to lose the reach of social media. My accounts are by no means astronomical, but they make a difference to this company of one. Reviving Reading and Writing With Rebecca seems like a good way to keep reaching back to you—the readers and writers who have helped my career blossom into what it is. I was an editor before IG existed, and I shall be an editor long after we’ve traded in the current stable of socials for whatever app will have us in a chokehold next. But I’d be lying if I said social media didn’t make it easier to spread the word about my work, and the Good News about proper semicolon usage.
First Line Frenzy will continue to appear on Instagram as static grid posts (not Reels), but I’ve just discovered that I can record videos for you here in Substack. So, my dear RAWWR readers, I will endeavor to include one recorded first-line critique in my weekly missives to you.
Thank you for sticking with me as my offerings and content have grown and changed over the years. It means a lot to me that you’re here.
xRF
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