Attention economy

Lately I’ve felt paralysed. Wildflower to some extent depends on social media (although increasingly I wonder how much). But to the extent that leaving all social media would not be a smart thing to do. No matter how strong the urge.

Instagram for me, was always a kind of aide-memoire. A combination of the business and the personal (after all, isn’t that what self-employment is?) I can scroll back and see when the tulips started to flower last year, check which week the Arctic Bell narcissi flowered in their pots. In the depths of Winter I can scroll back and be reminded of the chartreuse euphorbias last Spring, of trips to Rome, to Cornwall, to Yorkshire, to Paris. Scroll back a little further and I can see our beloved family dog Winston in the garden, mum’s homemade quilts on the back of chairs.

I scroll back further to see posts which dad commented on, (“another classic daughter!” – I can hear him saying it).

It’s just that it used to be a more fun place. Attention economy is on my mind. I know that now I’ll be rewarded for making you look for longer, for speaking to camera, for making reels.  

Some of you will have met me or will know me and will have an idea of how uncomfortable this all makes me feel.

So I’m not rewarded, and I post less, get less traction and I end up thinking who cares anyway. But I don’t want to lose my photographs and the memories.

My friend Steve said that I was the most analogue person he knew. This shocked me since in my mind I am completely tethered to technology, all day every day, a slave to it! This new chapter of the site is as much for me as it is for you. I’m viewing it as a prompt, to read, garden, make things, cook, to put my eyes on spaces other than Instagram and the news.

I’ll continue to use Instagram the way that I always have but for everything else, see here.