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<title>digital sugar - Archive - MayVaneDay Studios</title>
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<p align="center"><b>MayVaneDay Studios (Gopher Edition)</b></p>
<p><b>digital sugar</b></p>
<p><b>published: 12-26-2018</b></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Holidays are 1% dealing with my family's bullshit and 99% waiting for the event to happen so that I can brace myself to deal with said bullshit. That means a lot of time spent sitting in front of my computer, or my phone, or a little self-bound book with a few colored pencils in hand. It means a lot of browsing, searching for the next thing to wake me from my stupor, or at least give me an idea to write about.</p>
<p>I recently came across a <a href="gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/0/%7eyargo/glog/./t17550.txt">post</a> by a fellow sundog at the Zaibatsu. It's about digital sugar, or the online equivalent of the white powder that almost every single American (including myself) is addicted to- clickbait videos, sensational drama on the fediverse, unnecessary podcasts, anything else that gives one instant gratification. Much like candy, it tastes good now, but too much of it and one feels sick to the stomach and unfulfilled.</p>
<p>I've resolved to keep my combined following/followers on any one account to under four hundred. Any more than that, and I run the risk of either:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Having a timeline so clogged that using Brutaldon or any other &quot;lightweight&quot; client becomes unbearable to use, and I start suffering FOMO because the timelines move quicker than a rushing river, or</p></li>
<li><p>Attaining &quot;clout&quot; and becoming a toxic internet celebrity that everyone wants to suck off for the cherished Follow instead of, you know, treating me like an actual human being with faults and flaws of my own.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Much like eating too many sugary products leads to an increased risk of diabetes and obesity, so does too much digital sugar lead to sensory overload, wasted time, and feelings of inadequacy. There simply aren't enough hours in the day for me to listen to every single podcast that I might be tangentially interested in. There isn't enough space in my monkeysphere for me to care about every single little thing that happens with people who I don't even remember why I followed them.</p>
<p>And, if anything, I already know I don't like the feeling of being overweight.</p>
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