Consider Getting the Substack App
Hope scrolling, not doom scrolling
There are a lot of ways to spend your time in these halcyon days of social media. (Fine, that may be a bit much.)
You can ‘doom scroll.’ You can, as my wife and I do at bedtime, share funny videos on Instagram.
You can be tied to news and view it all day in the palm of your hand.
You can, tragically, use your phone for gambling or pornography.
But since I discovered Substack, I feel that I do something different.
I call it ‘hope scrolling.’
When I am using the Substack app, I follow a series of wonderful writers who regularly make me think more deeply, feel more powerfully and sometimes shudder with wonder. They teach me art and history, theology and philosophy. They keep me up to date on things like AI or (sometimes) news.
Some are physicians like me, some are entrepreneurs, some parents. Some are scholars, some are regular folks without are much beloved credentials, but who absolutely have powerful things to say. Many are men trying to find their way and offering suggestions for others.
If you enjoy Substack, I recommend that you get the app and replace some of your negative scrolling with positive scrolling.
I don’t say this to attract you to my writing (well, not only that), but to open your eyes and minds to the incredible thinkers that are part of this online ecosystem.
The link is below. Try it if you dare.
(Also, I try to post Notes every day; think a non-toxic version of X. These are easily seen on the app.)
Have a great day! I’ll recommend some more folks to follow soon.
Edwin
I love your reframe of hope scrolling as opposed to doom scrolling! I also have found Substack to be such a generative place for learning and conversation. (I don't love how much of the writing seems to be AI these days, but it still beats all the other social media platforms!)