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I think the approach of "have more self control" is doomed to fail. We have a social media addiction problem because there are literally teams of scientests usi
by tfha 7y ago
I think the approach of "have more self control" is doomed to fail. We have a social media addiction problem because there are literally teams of scientests using machine learning, A/B testing, and other techniques to get you hooked onto the app.
If you want to break the addiction, the only thing you can do is abstinence from the apps that employ these tactics. I don't think that you can win against adversaries that literally make a living out of getting you to keep clicking.
Media like HN is fine, self control techniques work here because YC isn't doing all of the same dark patterns and addiction strategies that are being employed by facebook, youtube, twitter, snapchat, etc.
If you realize you are addicted to one of these opiate-like apps, you really have to choose cold-turkey.
- read_if_gay_ 7y ago> Media like HN is fine There might not be anything purposefully done to get you hooked, but link aggregators have some "innate" features that your brain really likes, such as getting upvotes and discovering cool stuff on a random basis.
- wutbrodo 7y agoI really don't understand these confident assertions that it's literally impossible to change unhealthy usage to healthy usage. Do you mind if I ask why you're so sure that there's no hope at all for incremental movement towards healthy engagement? Leaving aside the fact that I can think of plenty of counterexamples, I've seen this line of thought over and over and I have no clue where it came from, beyond handwaving about all-powerful ML algorithms.