The Baggage Reclaim Sessions Ep. 302 Your Attention is Sacred: How Social Media Makes You Shop for Flaws with Amelia Hruby”
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Oct 10, 2025 
Amelia Hruby, host of the Off The Grid podcast and author of Your Attention Is Sacred (Except on Social Media), joins for a thought-provoking discussion. She shares her journey from influencer to social media critic, revealing how platforms can feel like toxic relationships. Amelia dives into the concept of the subconscious 'shopping for flaws,' reframing attention as sacred instead of a commodity. She offers practical steps to reclaim focus, including the importance of intentional use and even stepping away from social media altogether.
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From Influencer To Off-The-Grid
- Amelia described her path from micro-influencer to leaving Instagram after a stressful book launch and heavy investment in growth.
- She deleted social media in April 2021 and built a business and life without personal accounts.
Costly Growth Efforts Led To A Breakpoint
- Amelia recounted spending thousands on designers and strategists to grow Instagram and how the effort still felt wrong.
- After her book launch underperformed, she wrote strict Instagram rules and realised she was repeating relationship-boundary work with an app.
App Boundaries Mirror Toxic Relationships
- Amelia realised her Instagram rules read like boundaries she'd set in toxic relationships, which clarified that she shouldn't negotiate with an app.
- That insight gave her the clarity to stop trying to manage the platform and to leave it instead.
