When Apple rolled out the weekly screentime feature a while back, two things happened:

1. I learned that I could add approximately an entire day to every week of my life if I didn’t have a cell phone, and
2. I now spend 30 seconds of every week wincing at my completely unchanged behavior before shamefully flicking the notification off of my homescreen.

Despite the numerous, semi-legit excuses I have for that amount of phone time (Instagram is a big part of my job, print news is dead, #protests, I’m a millennial, etc. etc.), and because of the state of the world in 2020, and because I believe that the internet doesn’t have to be a black hole of self-hatred and conspiracy theories, I wanted to make sure my phone time was as productive as it was bountiful.

So, for my fellow I-wish-I-hadn’t-seen-that-screentime-alert-ers, here are 9 Instagram accounts to follow to interrupt your Instagram feed with knowledge, with facts, with things you should know and care about as someone who is alive right now:

 @shityoushouldcareabout

 

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A post shared by SHIT YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT (@shityoushouldcareabout) on Sep 22, 2020 at 2:01pm PDT

The name of this account pretty much says it all. If it’s been in the news, if it’s been suspiciously out of the news, or if it’s been trending on Twitter—you can find it here.

@soyouwanttotalkabout

 

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A post shared by so you want to talk about… (@soyouwanttotalkabout) on Sep 21, 2020 at 6:06am PDT

The encyclopedia you never knew you needed to carry in your pocket. Pick a topic at a glance when you scroll through the feed, then swipe through the images for a quick & dirty (yet somehow extremely thorough and well-sourced) schooling.

@privtoprog

 

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A post shared by From Privilege to Progress (@privtoprog) on Jul 17, 2020 at 6:32am PDT

Home of the #showup movement, you can find great resources and inspiration here to show up as an activist and ally against racism.

@thegreatunlearn

 

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A post shared by The Great Unlearn (@thegreatunlearn) on Jul 25, 2020 at 8:14am PDT

The world truly does not deserve the work Rachel Cargle does for it. The Great Unlearn is a course designed to educate—and just as importantly, uneducate—her learners about race. She also goes through her comments and provides lessons like the one above, providing some pointed and necessary lessons on how (not) to talk about race.

@fash_rev

 

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A post shared by Fashion Revolution (@fash_rev) on Sep 2, 2020 at 5:01am PDT

If you love to shop, this account is for you. If you’ve ever bought clothing from H&M or Urban Outfitters or Zara, this account is for you. If you’ve refused to buy clothes from H&M or Urban Outfitters or Zara, this account is for you. If Instagram has ever made you impulse buy a pair of butt-shaping leggings, this account is for you. Basically, if you wear clothes, this account is for you.

@thefinancialdiet 

 

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A post shared by The Financial Diet (@thefinancialdiet) on Jul 17, 2020 at 7:01am PDT

Speaking of impulse purchasing on Instagram… The Financial Diet is great for people like me who love to save money as much as they love to spend it. There are tips for spending less, budgeting more, finding joy in things that don’t require that super-secret 3-digit code on the back of your credit card, and welcomed reality checks like the one above.

@bbcminute

 

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A post shared by BBC Minute (@bbcminute) on Jun 22, 2020 at 9:37am PDT

I wasn’t going to include a major news source in this list, but BBC Minute is a great starting point for understanding pretty massive and often complicated global events. Get yourself a little background info here, and then take it upon yourself to dig deeper, because none of this can really be explained meaningfully in a minute.

Finally: @joebiden and @realdonaldtrump

In a 1996 Supreme Court case, Justice Scalia sent Ruth Bader Ginsburg his dissent early. Of it, she said, “He absolutely ruined my weekend…but my opinion is ever so much better because of his stinging dissent.”

This isn’t an easy follow, and it will definitely ruin a weekend or two, but all of our opinions are ever so much better when we know—by choice or by chance—their opposite.

 

Honorable mentions:

Elephant Journal, because I’m a little bit biased and genuinely inspired by our stories and commentary: @elephantjournal

Danae Mercer, because there is no better way to demonstrate the deception of Instagram bodies than to…well, demonstrate the deception: @danaemercer

The attn fam: @attndotcom, @attnamericans, @attnwhitepeople

Dictionary.com, because there’s nothing better than a new, aptly-timed word: @dictionarycom

Nitch, because art is not dead, and there is no better way to experience an artist’s pointed brilliance than in moody black-and-white: @__nitch

Who else?

This is just the tip of a very large, if-global-warming-wasn’t-happening-sized iceberg, to be sure. Drop your favorite accounts in the comments, and let’s amplify voices of people out there doing good for our world, and interrupt our vegged-out scrolling with a little more enlightenment.