State of Play: A year unplugged with Ethan Morgan
WORDS Ethan Morgan | PHOTOS Theo Acworth
Ethan Morgan shares his experience of living 365 days without social media and the fear of re-installing Instagram

remember making my first Instagram post 13 years ago as if it was yesterday. It was a selfie of Freddy Kalbermatten and me sitting on a chairlift in Arlberg, and I used one of those filters to make the photo look like a Polaroid. I wrote something for a caption and uploaded it instantly. Easy as that. It was just a new, fun way of showing the homies what I was up to, like Facebook or MySpace. I would never have thought this app would become one of the most essential tools to have as a professional snowboarder.
Nowadays, all the contracts I sign state a minimum of annual posts directed to the brands. The number of followers on Instagram is constantly monitored, and there is pressure to post stories with tags to stay relevant. It is a great tool to keep active in the scene and a great way to be seen or make it as a pro. And, of course, it can still be a great way to connect with friends and to let people know what you’re up to. However, there are some downsides to this world…
People get addicted to the recognition they receive through Instagram, but it’s not real. The recognition currency is just likes and emojis, nothing personal, just a click of a button. One day, I randomly checked my screen time: I had spent around four hours a day on my phone on average, wtf?!
This season, I had a lot on my plate… Filming for a new project that has been on my mind for a few years, working on and building up STRT JAM DIYX while starting to learn how to produce my own music. I wanted a break for the season to focus 100% on the things that matter the most to me. So I hit up all my sponsors and asked if me taking a break from Instagram was okay with them, and they all agreed (which I was surprised about). So I went ahead and deleted Instagram, promising myself I wouldn’t download it again until the summer.

One thing I noticed once I was off social media is that none of it really matters. No one even noticed my absence. A few of my close friends would hit me up and ask me if everything was okay and why I was not posting anymore, and I replied as it was: I had never been better. I realized that this online presence is so dulled by all the things you swipe and scroll through that one barely even pays attention to what they are watching: social media is a tool to stop your brain from thinking, almost like a bad meditation.
The year before Instagram got on people’s radar, I had filmed for Isenseven Kaleidoscope. That year was unbelievable for me. I just turned 18 and was given the opportunity to film with one of the dopest film crews in Europe – always good times with the ISENSEVEN crew. We had filmed all season and worked our asses off to make this film come together. Alex Schiller and Vincent Urban went into the editing dungeon and created a beautiful masterpiece. They didn’t show the movie to the riders before the premiere, making it very exciting for us.
The world premiere in Munich was on another level. I have never seen anything like it. 3000 neon resi tip beanies floating around in a huge industrial hall, drunk as fuck. None of these diehard Isenseven fans had even seen anything of the movie. We watched it, and the vibes were insane. People were losing their minds. My part came up, followed by the end credits. I freaked out that I got the ender. And then, I blacked out, bringing all my memories of that night to the grave with me for no one else to see…
People used to come out to see the movie premieres. People wanted to attend the snowboarding events nearby, bringing the community together time and time again. This was the time when snowboarding was flourishing. Now, everyone has access to what is happening way too easily through a tiny screen in their hand: we become over-fed with information and left without eagerness to see more.

Looking back at the first year we did STRT JAM in Innsbruck, we posted stuff on Instagram to wake people’s interest but didn’t post anything about what street spot we would go for and where they were. We did this because it was the fall of 2021, with COVID still being an issue, and we didn’t want massive crowds to gather. But the whole idea of not giving out locations caught everyone’s attention. The fact that no one knew where the next spot would be got everybody to run around the city on some sort of scavenger hunt. I think people enjoyed not knowing and wanted to see it with their own eyes without seeing some kind of teaser or sneak peek of the spot beforehand. All they knew was the list of riders that would be there. The riders, too, loved it, not knowing what kind of spot they would be riding, and the “not knowing” turned into some sort of mad energy you could feel between the riders and the spectators. It was unreal. So powerful.
I guess what I am saying is that it is a bummer that everyone is so sucked into these social media apps, with too much content, day in and day out, leaving you overwhelmed. So when people actually take the time to put together a really cool movie, it’s not being appreciated as much as it used to.
The main thing I noticed during this time without social media was that I was 100% present in what I was doing. Not having FOMO or feeling like others were having a better time than me. I didn’t know what others were doing. I just enjoyed my own life to the fullest. So, now, I am sitting at the airport on my way to New Zealand to finish off filming for my movie, knowing I have to download Instagram again to start promoting the movie, STRT JAM, and I guess my life in general, and I am dreading it. But, at the same time, I’m kind of excited to see what reactions will be going down after being absent for so long. That’s the nature of the beast…
It’ll be interesting to see how I will manage the app this time around and, hopefully, not fall back into my old patterns of mindlessly scrolling for multiple hours a day. The good thing is that after this season of being without social media, I will be more aware of using the app and will endeavor to delete it for a bit when I don’t need it. To see Instagram more as a work tool and not as a fun app that is cool to use every free moment I have.



