So recently I have been thinking around the way I think and use technology and software, the way I apply it to my life (not really tbh). There are certain aspects of my mindset that I consider very important, I have been applying some of them ever since I got my first piece of technology, and others have become more and more important for my life as time goes on.

All of these have some things in common, but sometimes the way current technology has evolved makes them hard to combine. I don’t really have an organized way to talk about this, but I will do my best.

Digital minimalism

This is one of those topics that got big on Youtube and other places last year, and is still going strong. Applying a minimalist mindset to the technology around me is supposed to help achieve a simpler digital life, have less distractions and more time to focus on what actually matters. Some of the ways to become a digital minimalist, are these ones.

• Get rid of unnecessary applications
• Disable notifications
• Enable downtime mode (black & white screen)
• Limit social media and app usage
• Use Cloud storage, organize folders, etc.

Privacy and Security

I have started to care about this more and more. Ever since beginnings of last year that I installed Linux, as well as started to use alternative social media such as Mastodon. I cared about new and interesting topics that are starting to get a bit more recognized, but also get some backlash.

Decentralization, Free and Open Source Software, avoiding Google and big companies, avoiding mainstream social media, etc.

All of these factors have shaped the way I see society and the Internet today, and it is quite a big reason to why I made this blog.

Customization

Ever since I got my first android phone, I started caring about this, I learned about Icon packs, about android launchers, rooting, custom roms, custom kernels.

The abilities to change almost everything I wanted about my phone, is something I’ve loved from android since I got one.

It is also a good reason I started to care about FOSS too, since I also like to find alternatives to common apps, like Gmail, Facebook, the default gallery and so on. Thanks to that I found out about 3rd party clients (Frost, Twidere,) and alternative apps (Simple Gallery, Bromite) that were more customizable, and better overall.

Side note: I actually just remembered that I started customizing Windows XP quite a lot even before I got a phone, I also remember changing my MSN Messenger themes or how my Hotmail account was organized, so yeah, I have liked customization quite a lot.

Social media

I first started a Facebook account because I needed it on order to play a mobile game, I did it in secret, since I was not allowed to have one at the time (I hid the secret for 3 or so years, I felt so bad during that time, that I actually didn’t use it and I stopped playing the game after a week).

Thats how everything started, but years ago, after I confessed what I did, there was this time I wanted to be using social media to get attention and stuff (like every teenager), you know, uploading photos of my origami figures, or videos doing magic tricks and stuff that I liked. I was in groups of other people sharing their own videos and photos and stuff like that. After a while I realized how terrible Facebook was for my own good, since I spent so much time there and it wasn’t worth it.

However, after leaving Facebook behind, I started using Reddit, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube even more, until I adopted a more minimal digital life (kinda?).

What was my point again?

I think this got a bit convoluted and I don’t really remember what I wanted to say at this point. I have been thinking about this and I kinda wanted to let it out.

I think I just wanted to spread the cards and see the way I am currently working. I am still trying to get a better workflow. For example, I still rely on services such as Google Docs or Google Drive (Digital minimalism, decluttering, etc), at the same time, I don’t want to use Google apps on my device in favor of F-Droid and FOSS (security and privacy), however, I like to have my phone rooted and with a custom rom (customization, freedom). All of this while I worry about how people around me still don’t switch from WhatsApp, even tho I still don’t delete Facebook nor Instagram, but maybe I should not and just use them in a different manner?.

Sometimes I just want to not care about anything and do whatever I want to do, as well as let other go on. But at the same time I don’t want to look like a victim, or as if I am suffering because of taking this path. I want more people to know about this, not to stay away from it. I dont even know what I am saying now. This has been day 14 of #100DaystoOffload, and I hope that I talk about some of these topics at some point in a way that makes better sense.