WHO AM I WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA?!

Hello! And welcome to my blog! Think of this post as a bit of an introduction to what you can expect from this blog. But, as is customary with blog posts, you'll first need to read through a fair bit of, what I consider, very relevant information. Well… It's really just a bit of a chat. Maybe more of a confession. And THEN I’ll get to what I actually want to use this blog for. But anyway, do keep reading: (or scroll… whatever works for you, I guess)

Just some candles. One of them is an advent candle from christmas, that I never got to light every day in December. Oh well...

Those of you who know me know this: For years, I’ve very much used social media to promote my work and to share about my day to day life as an opera singer. To the extent that I gradually built up a modest, but loyal and faithful, following. And not only that: I had also reached a point where I was being offered collaborations from various sides, because these collaborators saw value in reaching out to my audience.

But let’s be honest here: My inner critic would say that my following definitely wasn’t (ugh, it feels so wrong to write that in the past tense!) anything to brag about. Around 2,800 on Instagram, just shy of 890 followers on Facebook, and about 2,500 Facebook friends (with certainly some overlap between the three). And still, it has been so incredibly wonderful to have this little ‘community’ around classical music, motherhood as a freelance musician, working conditions, silly music memes, and so much more.

I. Miss. The connection.

I also sometimes felt that I was actually contributing to facilitating that connection. Passing along things that people shared in my inbox that they could relate to. Maybe helping others not feel alone with their frustrations about various aspects of this, sometimes, somewhat chaotic career path.

Since around 2007, I’ve been a bit of a ‘first-mover’ on social media, and while the rest of the classical music industry was mumbling (in Denmark at least), “What in the world do we need Social Media for?” I had already posted three updates about which concerts I would be singing in the near future.

As traditional media has stopped writing about classical music, the industry has started making more of an appearance on social media (some have been good at being there from the start), and especially over the last four or five years (hello Pandemic!), it seems that the industry has suddenly seen the value in putting effort into posting on Facebook, but also Instagram. And some even on (gulp!) TikTok!

And… I truly felt like I could use my ‘community’ for something. And I don’t mean commercially. That has never been important to me. For the last ten years or so, it’s mostly been about being someone on social media who I couldn’t find myself: A classical singer who tells it like it really is. What it’s really like to be an opera singer. That it’s not always about wild performances in cool venues and fancy dresses and glamorous dressing rooms and flower bouquets… But that we’re also just regular people with kids who need to be dropped off at daycare and school, and that we also have rent to be paid, and lives that need to work around a schedule that in no way follows the one we’ve built our society around. I love sharing in that sense. (continued under photo)

One of my insta"glam" posts would be accompanied with a photo like this. The truth behind this photo is, that there where so many bugs flying around! And we god really lucky that we got to do the concert, because not ten minutes after we had stopped, the rain was pouring down!

But my time on social media is over. Or at least, the way is has been, is over. There needs to be a change in how I engage with social media. Since the end of January this year (2025), I’ve discovered two, for me, quite significant things: The most obvious is, of course, that I no longer want to contribute to our collective phone addiction. Both because of what’s going on in the world right now, but also because I’ve been thinking for some time about reducing my own screen time. Which leads me to the next really important thing I’ve discovered and been confronted with so strongly: My own screen addiction. My own craving for that dopamine fix, which was just a couple of thumb swipes away. My urge to sit for hours and scroll my life away.

I actually thought I just wanted to get away from Meta’s platforms and could just continue my online presence on another medium. But that’s not at all how it’s gone. I’ve tried out Bluesky and Flashes a little, but even there, I’m just sitting and scrolling. It’s dawned on me how wonderful it is just to not log in at all. Simply not logging in. It’s been, and continues to be, incredibly freeing. And I honestly feel like I’ve gotten my life and my energy back. But, easy now. I’m not going to sit here and act all self-righteous and holier-than-thou… I HAVE been on Facebook and Instagram. I still work professionally with both platforms. But I’ve gone from spending maybe two hours a day on Instagram to (as of writing) 6 minutes. The waves were high on Saturday when I spent a whole 23 minutes on the app. My thumb has stopped automatically opening the app and scrolling. And I’ve had more energy to be present with my kids, actually keep up with the laundry, and just generally feel happier. I also sleep better at night! Though, I guess that’s not saying much with my usual four to five hours of sleep…

HAVE YOU JUST SCROLLED AIMLESSLY FROM THE TOP TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT I WANT WITH MY BLOG? THEN STOP HERE! (But, I mean, you totally missed my entire identity crisis, so… just saying…)

So my idea post-Social Media is this: to start gathering all my relevant posts about various aspects of what it feels like to be a classical singer, mom, and human, into a kind of blog archive on my website. That way, the information will be accessible. Maybe there’s a younger singer out there who can use my knowledge. Even if it might just be to not feel alone.

Just a random photo of chocolate and coffee. Who doesn't like chocolate and coffee!

But there’s one question I’ve been unable to find the answer to over the last couple of months: Where do I now find my community? Where do I meet my kindred spirits? Am I a blogger now? Should I write on Instagram and Facebook when I post a new blog entry?! Because who’s going to read them otherwise? And honestly: Am I just going to end up shouting into the void??

Well… I guess it’s all something I’ll figure out along the way. Rome wasn’t built in a day. So it’ll probably take some time to completely pull myself out of the social media grip.

If you’re still reading, just know how incredibly grateful I am. It’s definitely not something I take for granted.

And ironically, I should probably ask you to share this blog post on social media… Please do it?? Maybe there's someone out there who's been looking for a blog like mine? Or don't share?! Argh, I don’t know. But no matter what, I hope you have a wonderful day. And that you also get more energy and less tendonitis in your thumb joint. <3