On Social media Addiction

 I AM AN ADDICT.

Nah, it's not the drug kind, it's the devil and blessing in disguise called SOCIAL MEDIA.

It took me a while to admit to being a social media addict. I really didn't realize how much I reach for Facebook and Instagram until I downloaded the StayFocused app. Yes, even though I had already uninstalled the mobile apps for Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter, I still access the Facebook and Instagram URLs from my chrome browser.

I installed the StayFocused app to curtail my access time to social media. The best thing about the app is that you can block not just applications but websites. And it's also flexible in the sense that you can also set time limits to it. 

So currently, I've set my access to Facebook, Instagram and Reddit web for max 15 minutes a day because I do have great information I get from those apps but limiting it is key to avoid doomscrolling. I also limited Netflix to 30 mins max a day.

Another feature I love is that it allows you to completely block YouTube shorts, Instagram Reels and Tiktoks. I can't uninstall YouTube cos I do have great resources and courses I take there daily, but it seemed as though I replaced tiktok scrolling with YouTube shorts.

Another feature I absolutely adore in the StayFocused app is the conditional limit. That is you can set it such that you can't open an app until you've fulfilled a set time on other apps. In my case, I set it to ensure I do active recall on what I'm learning on my anki-droid app, as well as Adobe reader (cos I only read nonfiction there). I also blocked e-pub reader to only access it only at night.

And these features are all on the free version. I want to give it a test run for the month and see if I'll update to the premium, cos premium subscription allows you to block WhatsApp status. Cos yes, it's very easy to replace one doomscrolling with another (WhatsApp in this case).

I know some people like to think, "Use will power. You can just decide not to open these apps." Yeah, right. If you understand the psychology that product designers and UI people went through to get you hooked on the app? Watch the "The Social Dilemma" documentary on netflix. 

I've now realized that I need the blocker to keep me in check. To get me back to my being comfortable with silence and solitude, back to talking to thinking so much I won't know when I start talking to myself out loud, back to ruminating over my thoughts on my journal with pen and paper and most importantly, curb anxiety with the overconsumption on the internet.

This guy, Joseph Tsar explained it all so eloquently. We live in an information overload society, that we imbibe all of these news, all of these takes from other creators. And we barely, if ever have an outlet where we digest and have our own individual thoughts. You just end up parachuting off what another creator has said. It's even worse with AI, cos not only are you over consuming others thoughts, what it comes to writing, many then defer to ChatGPT for the output.

So what then constitutes our individual thinking.

It's a slow descent to a dystopian world where we are outsourcing our individual thinking and feeling more helpless as each day passes.

This is the app if you want to check it out.




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