March 21, 2016.
It’s been a little over a decade since I started this blog. I had been blogging even before this, on a free platform called Blogger by Google. I don’t know if the platform still exists anymore, but as a student back then — someone deeply passionate about writing, blogging, and scratching the surface of digital marketing — I simply couldn’t afford a domain name and hosting.
After earning my first couple of thousand rupees through a freelancing gig and a $10 sponsored post deal, I finally bought this domain name. Back then, I could never have imagined that the path I chose for myself would someday lead to something capable of changing my life forever. I had loved makeup ever since I was a teenager, and after reading countless Indian beauty blogs where writers reviewed their favourite products and the latest launches, I thought this would be the perfect niche for me too. So I kept going — publishing close to 400 posts within the next two years.
I didn’t have a team of writers. I didn’t own an expensive camera that could capture Pinterest-worthy product shots. Yet somehow, I still landed brand deals and, more importantly, built meaningful connections with people who remain in touch with me even 10 years later.
But then things started changing.
After the Jio boom in 2016, internet data became cheaper and accessible to almost everyone. People hopped onto Instagram to post vacation pictures, dinner plates, makeup looks, and OOTDs. The platform itself kept evolving at the speed of light. IGTV — for long travel vlogs, recipes, and makeup tutorials. Stories — to share what you were doing in real time.
Meanwhile, TikTok had already been born as Douyin in China in 2016. By the end of 2017, it had entered India and slowly started taking over people’s attention spans. Before TikTok and Instagram dominated content consumption, people relied on long-form YouTube videos and blogs to engage with creators they liked. Even print magazine subscriptions were common among people who always wanted to stay updated. But with time and technological evolution, people’s content consumption habits were bound to change.
The era of short-form content exploded with TikTok. Instagram and YouTube were quick to follow with Reels and YouTube Shorts. This massive shift led to the shutdown of countless publication networks. Nobody wanted to read blogs anymore. Even online news portals began seeing a noticeable decline in readership. And honestly, if someone looking for a good foundation for oily skin could get their answer from a 15-second video, why would they sit through an 800–1200-word article explaining the same thing?
As short-form content consumption skyrocketed, many bloggers slowly transformed into influencers themselves. They adapted to audience demand by creating reels, shorts, or going live. Their audiences were already on Instagram and YouTube anyway, and eventually, the traffic that once went to blogs was redirected to social media instead.
For them, the brand deals continued. Only the format changed.
But people like me — who were never comfortable putting their face online — got left behind.
I barely take one selfie a year, and that too on Diwali. At this point, it has started feeling less like a photo tradition and more like a yearly shagun. Sometimes I look back at my Diwali pictures from previous years just to track the evolution of my eyebrow shape and my receding hairline. Honestly, if I ever become famous someday, those photos could probably be used to create a year-on-year graphical analysis of Dipti Tiwari’s receding hairline.
The resources are there. The push is there. I probably have everything needed to become a content creator. But emotionally and logically, I still don’t feel ready for it — and I believe that respecting your own discomfort is important.
For me, not adapting to the content consumption shift came with a cost.
I lost my income stream as traditional blogging declined and audiences disappeared. Of course, I am grateful that blogging helped me build strong digital marketing skills, which eventually shaped my current career. I will write more on that some other day. But it was still heartbreaking — not just losing a source of income, but losing the motivation and emotional energy it took to build something from scratch. Earlier this February, I had decided to permanently shut down this blog. But something inside me simply wouldn’t let go of it. This blog found opportunities for me at a time when I genuinely had no idea what the future held. So instead of deleting it, I kept it alive as a memento.
I didn’t know if I would ever write again, but..
Lately, I have been noticing a trend where people are trying to “exit the matrix” by going “analog.” The term “matrix” here refers to the trap of smartphone addiction — the endless doomscrolling cycle most of us are stuck in. And as a recovering doomscroller myself, I can confidently say that the dopamine hit from this kind of consumption is incredibly difficult to detach from.
If you are a doomscroller too, and I have somehow managed to hold your attention from the beginning of this post till now, I deserve a small pat on my own back. You have barely read 850 words, though. Just to make sure you didn’t scroll past this entire article pretending to read it, here is a challenge: What is 27 + 19? Comment.
People who are becoming self-aware enough to recognise the brainrot caused by constant scrolling, binge-watching, and smartphone addiction are now consciously trying to embrace the “go analog” lifestyle. Switching to dumb phones, reading books more often, learning how to knit or crochet, etc.
That said, I don’t have a completely black-and-white opinion about short-form content or visual-heavy content replacing text. There is good and bad in everything. Mindless scrolling offers no value. But intentionally curating your algorithm to show content that helps you improve at something (what Raj Shamani calls “Bloom Scrolling”) is definitely better.
At the same time, monitoring the amount of time spent on social media is equally important. As someone working in marketing for a digital-first biz, spending time on Instagram for research is literally part of my job. It is not something I can completely avoid. And honestly, if I had the option to permanently go off the ‘gram, would I do it? Probably yes. But would that significantly reduce my screen time overall? Hard no.
Because I am constantly on YouTube consuming educational content that helps me upskill. YouTube genuinely has millions of free educational videos on every topic imaginable, and I don’t think I could ever properly express my gratitude to the people who upload so much valuable knowledge online for free. It has helped me immensely — not just professionally, but personally too. Consuming long-form content on YouTube has been my intentional choice.
Most thought leaders argue that “brainrot” is increasing because these social media platforms are intentionally designed to keep users hooked in an endless consumption loop. And honestly, I can’t even argue against that.
Instagram has turned scrolling into an almost frictionless brain-rotting activity. If you have not noticed already, there is now an “auto scroll” option for reels. Meaning you don’t even have to lift a finger anymore. You could literally be tearing apart a fluffy, buttery naan with both hands, dipping it in creamy daal makhni, while your phone sits beside your dinner plate, and Instagram will continue feeding you new reels automatically. Magical, isn’t it? No more greasy fingerprints on the screen. We have an auto-scroll option on Instagram reels, but no flying cars.
I am not here to judge anyone else’s habits because that’s not my place. But if you are someone consciously trying to return to how life felt before these instant dopamine machines took over our smartphones — these tiny 6-inch rectangular devices that have simultaneously destroyed attention spans and also helped people from extremely difficult backgrounds become IAS officers in this country — then you will probably understand why the “go analog” trend resonates with so many people.
The first step toward embracing this trend is acknowledging your content consumption habits and making an intentional choice. Decide whether you want to disconnect completely or remain online with purpose — using the internet not as an endless distraction, but as a powerful source of knowledge, growth, and self-improvement.
And maybe one tiny part of going analog could simply be reading blogs and newsletters written by people you feel connected to. Not to toot my own horn here, of course. I don’t know how often I will write here. I don’t know what I will write about. Till last evening, I was going to write what you are reading at the moment. It is a sheer impulsive decision. And honestly, I don’t even know if I will still have the motivation to write again after hitting publish on this.
But I am surprised that I managed to write more than a thousand words entirely by myself, without using AI shortcuts. The em dashes you see throughout the blog post are inserted by me! They make the write-ups look more polished. I am going to use them — even if it makes people assume that I am using AI.
Maybe my ability to write never really disappeared. Maybe it was just the motivation that slowly died a slow, painful death.
One thing I do know for sure is that I will not be writing about beauty again. I have lost my connection with the niche. So for now, I will just see where all of this goes. There will probably be a newsletter subscription box somewhere here or in the sidebar. So if I ever publish something again in the future, you will get notified. Do you guys still read emails? Or is everyone’s inbox now just a landfill of Swiggy, Zomato, and Amazon order receipts? I personally keep a separate email ID for those.