a.k.a. V.J.

I’ve been pretty quiet online of late, keeping a low profile both here and on social media. That’s been partly by design and partly because I haven’t had much to say.

For the most part, I find that the less active I am online, the happier I am. It would be easy to attribute that to the behavior of other people, seeing as how the general public’s internet behavior is a target so broad that it’s practically impossible to miss the mark when taking aim at it. But if I’m being honest, it’s more that I don’t much like the terminally online version of myself. The offline me is much better company.

As a relatively early adopter and heavy user of social media, I developed the mentality that I should have something to say about anything happening in the world at a given moment. If my commentary was glib and snarky, so much the better. And if I couldn’t think of anything clever on my own, there was some shopworn meme to share. I also developed that sense that something hasn’t really happened in one’s life until one documents it on Facebook, Instagram, et. al. with a photo and a check-in. For the better part of the past year, I’ve been trying to wean myself off of those two impulses. Some days go better than others on that front.

All that said, I don’t want to go completely off the grid and become a digital hermit. I still maintain a fistful of active social-media accounts. I plan to post on here more frequently once the semester is over and I have more to report on. But I think the best online approach for me to is operate like a submarine — remaining quiet and unseen for long stretches time, surfacing only when necessary.

And with that, all this sub-Marriner has left to say is: Dive! Dive! Dive!