An interactive story · 7 chapters · about 15 minutes
After the Feed
“We all have our physical and digital self.”
This is the story of what happens after you leave the feed: the good parts, the hard parts, and what the research actually says.
Nothing you type here leaves your device.
Before you begin · optional
Not at allCompletely
We'll ask again at the end so you can compare.
Words by Sanket Tambare, from The Wanderer's Technical Anecdotes. Every chapter carries a research note with its caveat.
1 of 7 · Frustration
Chapter 1
Everyone Seems Busy
“Sometimes you are frustrated, feeling as if you are doing nothing and most around you are doing something everyday.”
The feed shows everyone's best moment, all at once. Your ordinary day loses that comparison every time, even when nothing is wrong with it.
“Being on Instagram, putting out stories, posts everyday; sending snaps to keep others posted and showcasing the shining side of your personality on social media are some of the defaults, that most think as something that they must do.”
Try it · The highlight wall
- New job
- Marathon medal
- Beach week
- Promotion
- Wedding
- Startup launch
- Europe trip
- Day 200 at the gym
Your Tuesday
Read 20 pages. Called home. Cooked dinner.
Your day was on screen for seven seconds, then the wall moved on. Sanket's own estimate: most people look at a story for 5 to 10 seconds.
What the research says
CorrelationalHow, not how much
In a 2025 study of 18 to 24-year-olds, how much people used social media barely tracked their mood. Comparing themselves negatively did.
The caveat
That is a correlation from one US sample, not proof that comparison causes low mood.
Today, offline
Write down three moments today when you picked up your phone without deciding to.
Feeling low or unsafe? Please talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS is free and open 24×7: 14416.
2 of 7 · Trial break
Chapter 2
The Quiet Week
“Then you wish to get out for some time by deactivating the account.”
Not forever. Just a week. The first days feel light, and an hour you didn't know you had shows up. The question is where it goes.
Try it · The hour jar
Your feed
Deactivate to fill the jar
Ten minutes are left unclaimed on purpose. Keep them. Chapter 6 needs them.
What the research says
Strong · small effect≈ 1 hour a day
In a large experiment, people who deactivated Facebook for four weeks got back about an hour a day, spent more of it offline, and felt slightly better.
The caveat
'Slightly' means small. A 2025 review of 10 studies found no average change in happiness or life satisfaction from breaks.
Sources: Allcott et al., AER 2020 · Lemahieu et al., Scientific Reports 2025
Today, offline
Pick one app. Move it off your home screen for 24 hours, and put a sticky note where its icon was, saying what you'll do instead.
Feeling low or unsafe? Please talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS is free and open 24×7: 14416.
3 of 7 · Relapse
Chapter 3
The Pull-Back
“Initially it feels good to be free but the dopamine hits and social pull, pulls you back in the digital grind.”
“You intend not to do it, but it happens,” he writes in The Battle Within. Years of repetition made the reach automatic. Watch what happens next.
Try it · Something slides in
You closed it
Slipping once is a lapse. What you do next decides the rest.
What the research says
Moderate−57%
A short pause before an app opens led people to close it about a third of the time. Openings fell 57% over six weeks.
The caveat
No randomized control group, many dropouts, and one author built the app.
Today, offline
Write one if-then plan for the moment the pull comes.
Feeling low or unsafe? Please talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS is free and open 24×7: 14416.
4 of 7 · Understanding
Chapter 4
Find Your Why
“The strong desire, the firm why, the concrete how, the defined what are all the questions that one has to self-reflect upon!”
A reason someone hands you fades by Thursday. A reason in your own words lasts. Keep only the cards that are true for you.
Try it · The why ledger
An honest trade-off: in one large experiment, people who left Facebook knew less about the news. Choose one slower source to replace it.
You kept 0 of 5. Saved on this device only.
Your why
You'll see this again in Chapter 7.
What the research says
Moderate to strong≈ 10 years
When adults blocked mobile internet for two weeks, their measured attention improved by roughly what ten years of ageing takes away.
The caveat
Two weeks, one study, and all mobile internet, not just social media. Of 467 people who agreed, only 266 installed the blocker.
Source: Castelo et al., PNAS Nexus 2025
Today, offline
Write your sentence on paper too, and keep it where you charge your phone.
Feeling low or unsafe? Please talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS is free and open 24×7: 14416.
5 of 7 · Leaving
Chapter 5
The Exit Gauntlet
“…first you have to navigate through the UI designed with embedded dark patterns and keeping your urge off for 30 days not to login and then your account is deleted!”
Leaving is designed to be hard. Walk through a deletion flow on a made-up platform and learn each trick by name. Knowing the name takes away its power.
Try it · Step 1 of 4
Mirrorloop
Settings › Account
- Personal details
- Privacy
- Leave Mirrorloop
Taking a break?
Deactivate instead. Your profile hides, and everything comes back the moment you log in.
Are you sure?
Deleting removes your photos, messages and memories. Forever.
Your friends will miss you
People who follow you won't be able to find you or see your updates.
Deletion scheduled
Your account will be deleted in 30 days. Log in any time before then to cancel. Tap a day to see what one visit does.
Welcome back! Deletion cancelled.
Day 30 · deleted
You walked out.
The platform is behind you. Below are the two good ways to leave.
Dark pattern · step 1
Interface interference
The exit the platform prefers is the big, bright button. The one you came for is small and grey. India's CCPA lists interface interference as a dark pattern.
Both endings are valid
Research doesn't show that deleting beats a long deactivation. Pick the one you'll keep.
What the research says
Strong · descriptiveOver 1 in 3
Researchers who deleted accounts on 20 major platforms found guilt-trip buttons, buried options and forced waits. In their survey, over a third of people's deletion attempts were never finished.
The caveat
US platforms, studied in 2022. Designs change often, so today's flows may differ.
Today, offline
Before deleting anything, download your data archive and write down three people you'll contact another way.
Feeling low or unsafe? Please talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS is free and open 24×7: 14416.
6 of 7 · The quiet
Chapter 6
The Desert
“When you choose to leave this all behind, all these emotional waves suddenly stop and you suddenly feel as if, you are really missing something important sometimes!”
No likes, no holiday pictures, no outrage. The page has gone quiet on purpose. There is nothing to tap here except one box.
The emotional waves, still moving…
The ten minutes nobody claimed in Chapter 2. Spend them here.
Kept on this device
“Weeks pass by and you realize this is much better than caged digital echo-chambers that trap you!”
If the quiet feels heavy rather than restful, reach out to someone. That's part of the plan, not a failure.
A friend, a family member, or Tele-MANAS: 14416, free and open 24×7.
If you need support
If phone or social media use is seriously affecting your sleep, studies, work or relationships, or you feel low or unsafe, please talk to a professional.
- Tele-MANAS: 14416 or 1-800-891-4416, free, 24×7.
- NIMHANS SHUT clinic, Bengaluru: 080-26685948.
- In an emergency, call 112.
What the research says
Weak to moderateLoneliness: unchanged
After a one-week break, young adults' depression and anxiety symptoms fell, but their loneliness didn't change. The quiet can feel lonely at first.
The caveat
That study had no control group. And the idea that boredom makes you creative is contested: one replication found the opposite.
Sources: Calvert et al., JAMA Network Open 2025 · Nettinga et al., 2023
Today, offline
Ten minutes, no input: no phone, music or book. Then write down one idea that arrived.
Feeling low or unsafe? Please talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS is free and open 24×7: 14416.
7 of 7 · New rhythm
Chapter 7
The Hand-off
“Now, empowered with ultimate will, powerful why and the strong intentions, you go ahead! Survive for a week, a month and the year.”
The colour comes back slowly. Freed time needs a home, or the old habit moves back in. Choose one thing to put there.
Your why, from Chapter 4
Your why will appear here when you write one in Chapter 4.
Try it · Choose what fills the hour
Your first session
What the research says
Moderate66 days
In a study of new daily habits, it took a median of 66 days for them to feel automatic. Missing one day didn't materially set people back.
The caveat
The range ran from 18 to 254 days, in a small, self-selected sample of 96 people.
Source: Lally et al., European Journal of Social Psychology 2010
Today, offline
Put your first session in your calendar, with a time and a place.
Feeling low or unsafe? Please talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS is free and open 24×7: 14416.
Before you go
Average effects are small. Some people gain a lot. You're allowed to find out which one you are.
“Then the new habits become new norm and you continue your creative journey towards nourishing, flourishing soul!”
Check in again · optional
Not at allCompletely
What you're leaving with
- Your why
- Your if-then
- Your replacement
- From the desert
The 45-day series is coming soon. Until it opens, Sanket's writing on digital well-being lives on The Wanderer's Technical Anecdotes.
Erase everything you typed in this story? This can't be undone.
If you need support
If phone or social media use is seriously affecting your sleep, studies, work or relationships, or you feel low or unsafe, please talk to a professional.
- Tele-MANAS: 14416 or 1-800-891-4416, free, 24×7.
- NIMHANS SHUT clinic, Bengaluru: 080-26685948.
- In an emergency, call 112.
Words by Sanket Tambare, from 13 posts on The Wanderer's Technical Anecdotes. Research notes sit inside each chapter, with their caveats. Nothing you typed left this device.