Four years into the practice, I discovered I was lurking: Aside from sharing snapshots with friends on a private Instagram page, I was consuming strangers’ social media content without ever posting or commenting myself. I’ll hit a heart icon and contribute to a like count, but I find the public nature of social media participation to be too performative for me. In the online world, where anyone can put themselves onstage, I’m happy to sit in the audience and clap. Alongside tools used to track diet and exercise was something that I didn’t expect: a sort of in-app Instagram, open only to members. By that point, the shine of social media had worn off for me.

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