Social media should be a space for winding down and catching up, but more often than not, it actually does the very opposite: inducing stress and anxiety. Studies show that social media users are actually becoming more and more addicted to social networking sites despite the stress it causes in their daily lives.
But while it’s next to impossible to shut down or tune out, some digital cleansing can help lighten up the mood. Most recently we turned to illustrator and cartoonist Leon Edler for some good cheer. The self-proclaimed comedy nerd shares his cartoons on his Instagram page, amassing thousands of followers.
“I’m a comedy nerd and grew up loving everything from 50s radio comedy to modern sitcoms,” he told Sense of Creativity, mentioning names like Tony Hancock, Seinfeld, and Alan Partridge as some of his comedic icons. And while Edler’s cartoons aren’t strictly Ha-Ha, they serve to lighten up the mood, with an added air of comic nostalgia about them.
“I wanted to make stuff that made people laugh,” explains Edler. “I thought that would be for TV, but I liked how immediate cartoons were. I could draw them and make my friends laugh.” His collaborations and commissions include publications and news outlets like The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, and Vanity Fair.
We could all use a good laugh.
