Two things have happened in my life over the past eighteen months-or-so that I didn’t think were related, but I think have proven to be. The first is that I got a dog, and the second is that I have dramatically reduced my use of social media. And I think the net benefit is that I’ve been happier for it.

I was never particularly big on social media, and my drivers for leaving it behind were I think more down to decisions being made by the platforms themselves. Nobody needs another blog post nobody will read about the downfall of Twitter or how much Meta absuses Instagram notifications, but what I will say is that one of my favourite technological discoveries of the past year is that you can post to Instagram straight from the iPhone’s Photos app, without ever having to open the Instagram app itself. It’s been a joy – I’m still showing the world that wants to see that I’m still thinking creatively every single day, but I don’t have to get sucked in to whatever its algorithm wants to show me when I post my daily drawings.

Meanwhile, I’ve decided that having a puppy is a bit like a victorian TV set. It has been surprisingly hard work training a puppy, but boy is it entertaining. Our border terrier is a very funny dog and she provides so much amusement it’s become clear to me that dogs were probably a very good way of keeping people amused in an era before mass media. And boy does she get fed up with me when I pick up my phone!

This is all a very long-winded way of saying that I would recommend a puppy as a good distraction for breaking the social media habit.