diff --git a/src/components/Explore.tsx b/src/components/Explore.tsx
index c0936554..3ca08747 100644
--- a/src/components/Explore.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Explore.tsx
@@ -316,9 +316,18 @@ const Explore: React.FC<ExploreProps> = ({ relayPool, eventStore, settings, acti
   const renderTabContent = () => {
     switch (activeTab) {
       case 'writings':
+        if (showSkeletons) {
+          return (
+            <div className="explore-grid">
+              {Array.from({ length: 6 }).map((_, i) => (
+                <BlogPostSkeleton key={i} />
+              ))}
+            </div>
+          )
+        }
         return filteredBlogPosts.length === 0 ? (
-          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ gridColumn: '1/-1', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}>
-            <p>No blog posts found yet.</p>
+          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ gridColumn: '1/-1', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)', padding: '2rem' }}>
+            <p>No blog posts yet. Pull to refresh!</p>
           </div>
         ) : (
           <div className="explore-grid">
@@ -333,9 +342,18 @@ const Explore: React.FC<ExploreProps> = ({ relayPool, eventStore, settings, acti
         )
 
       case 'highlights':
+        if (showSkeletons) {
+          return (
+            <div className="explore-grid">
+              {Array.from({ length: 8 }).map((_, i) => (
+                <HighlightSkeleton key={i} />
+              ))}
+            </div>
+          )
+        }
         return classifiedHighlights.length === 0 ? (
-          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ gridColumn: '1/-1', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}>
-            <p>No highlights yet. Your friends should start highlighting content!</p>
+          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ gridColumn: '1/-1', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)', padding: '2rem' }}>
+            <p>No highlights yet. Pull to refresh!</p>
           </div>
         ) : (
           <div className="explore-grid">
@@ -355,43 +373,9 @@ const Explore: React.FC<ExploreProps> = ({ relayPool, eventStore, settings, acti
     }
   }
 
-  // Only show full loading screen if we don't have any data yet
+  // Show content progressively - no blocking error screens
   const hasData = highlights.length > 0 || blogPosts.length > 0
-
-  if (loading && !hasData) {
-    return (
-      <div className="explore-container" aria-busy="true">
-        <div className="explore-header">
-          <h1>
-            <FontAwesomeIcon icon={faNewspaper} />
-            Explore
-          </h1>
-        </div>
-        <div className="explore-grid">
-          {activeTab === 'writings' ? (
-            Array.from({ length: 6 }).map((_, i) => (
-              <BlogPostSkeleton key={i} />
-            ))
-          ) : (
-            Array.from({ length: 8 }).map((_, i) => (
-              <HighlightSkeleton key={i} />
-            ))
-          )}
-        </div>
-      </div>
-    )
-  }
-
-  if (error) {
-    return (
-      <div className="explore-container">
-        <div className="explore-error">
-          <FontAwesomeIcon icon={faExclamationCircle} size="2x" />
-          <p>{error}</p>
-        </div>
-      </div>
-    )
-  }
+  const showSkeletons = loading && !hasData
 
   return (
     <div className="explore-container">
diff --git a/src/components/Me.tsx b/src/components/Me.tsx
index 95b537ef..34466095 100644
--- a/src/components/Me.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Me.tsx
@@ -195,56 +195,28 @@ const Me: React.FC<MeProps> = ({ relayPool, activeTab: propActiveTab, pubkey: pr
     .filter(hasContentOrUrl)
     .sort((a, b) => ((b.added_at || 0) - (a.added_at || 0)) || ((b.created_at || 0) - (a.created_at || 0)))
 
-  // Only show full loading screen if we don't have any data yet
+  // Show content progressively - no blocking error screens
   const hasData = highlights.length > 0 || bookmarks.length > 0 || readArticles.length > 0 || writings.length > 0
-  
-  if (loading && !hasData) {
-    return (
-      <div className="explore-container" aria-busy="true">
-        {viewingPubkey && (
-          <div className="explore-header">
-            <AuthorCard authorPubkey={viewingPubkey} />
-          </div>
-        )}
-        <div className="explore-grid">
-          {activeTab === 'writings' ? (
-            Array.from({ length: 6 }).map((_, i) => (
-              <BlogPostSkeleton key={i} />
-            ))
-          ) : activeTab === 'highlights' ? (
-            Array.from({ length: 8 }).map((_, i) => (
-              <HighlightSkeleton key={i} />
-            ))
-          ) : (
-            Array.from({ length: 6 }).map((_, i) => (
-              <BookmarkSkeleton key={i} viewMode={viewMode} />
-            ))
-          )}
-        </div>
-      </div>
-    )
-  }
-
-  if (error) {
-    return (
-      <div className="explore-container">
-        <div className="explore-error">
-          <FontAwesomeIcon icon={faExclamationCircle} size="2x" />
-          <p>{error}</p>
-        </div>
-      </div>
-    )
-  }
+  const showSkeletons = loading && !hasData
 
   const renderTabContent = () => {
     switch (activeTab) {
       case 'highlights':
+        if (showSkeletons) {
+          return (
+            <div className="explore-grid">
+              {Array.from({ length: 8 }).map((_, i) => (
+                <HighlightSkeleton key={i} />
+              ))}
+            </div>
+          )
+        }
         return highlights.length === 0 ? (
-          <div className="explore-empty">
+          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ padding: '2rem', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}>
             <p>
               {isOwnProfile 
-                ? 'No highlights yet. Start highlighting content to see them here!'
-                : 'No highlights yet. You should shame them on nostr!'}
+                ? 'No highlights yet. Pull to refresh!'
+                : 'No highlights yet. Pull to refresh!'}
             </p>
           </div>
         ) : (
@@ -261,9 +233,20 @@ const Me: React.FC<MeProps> = ({ relayPool, activeTab: propActiveTab, pubkey: pr
         )
 
       case 'reading-list':
+        if (showSkeletons) {
+          return (
+            <div className="bookmarks-list">
+              <div className={`bookmarks-grid bookmarks-${viewMode}`}>
+                {Array.from({ length: 6 }).map((_, i) => (
+                  <BookmarkSkeleton key={i} viewMode={viewMode} />
+                ))}
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          )
+        }
         return allIndividualBookmarks.length === 0 ? (
-          <div className="explore-empty">
-            <p>No bookmarks yet. Bookmark articles to see them here!</p>
+          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ padding: '2rem', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}>
+            <p>No bookmarks yet. Pull to refresh!</p>
           </div>
         ) : (
           <div className="bookmarks-list">
@@ -312,9 +295,18 @@ const Me: React.FC<MeProps> = ({ relayPool, activeTab: propActiveTab, pubkey: pr
         )
 
       case 'archive':
+        if (showSkeletons) {
+          return (
+            <div className="explore-grid">
+              {Array.from({ length: 6 }).map((_, i) => (
+                <BlogPostSkeleton key={i} />
+              ))}
+            </div>
+          )
+        }
         return readArticles.length === 0 ? (
-          <div className="explore-empty">
-            <p>No read articles yet. Mark articles as read to see them here!</p>
+          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ padding: '2rem', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}>
+            <p>No read articles yet. Pull to refresh!</p>
           </div>
         ) : (
           <div className="explore-grid">
@@ -329,25 +321,21 @@ const Me: React.FC<MeProps> = ({ relayPool, activeTab: propActiveTab, pubkey: pr
         )
 
       case 'writings':
+        if (showSkeletons) {
+          return (
+            <div className="explore-grid">
+              {Array.from({ length: 6 }).map((_, i) => (
+                <BlogPostSkeleton key={i} />
+              ))}
+            </div>
+          )
+        }
         return writings.length === 0 ? (
-          <div className="explore-empty">
+          <div className="explore-empty" style={{ padding: '2rem', textAlign: 'center', color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}>
             <p>
               {isOwnProfile 
-                ? 'No articles written yet. Publish your first article to see it here!'
-                : (
-                  <>
-                    No articles written. You can find other stuff from this user using{' '}
-                    <a 
-                      href={viewingPubkey ? getProfileUrl(nip19.npubEncode(viewingPubkey)) : '#'} 
-                      target="_blank" 
-                      rel="noopener noreferrer"
-                      style={{ color: 'rgb(99 102 241)', textDecoration: 'underline' }}
-                    >
-                      ants
-                    </a>
-                    .
-                  </>
-                )}
+                ? 'No articles written yet. Pull to refresh!'
+                : 'No articles written yet. Pull to refresh!'}
             </p>
           </div>
         ) : (