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> Unwanted notifications are not a vice like snacking or the like where obviously you get some endorphins every time you do it and therefore you can get addicte

> Unwanted notifications are not a vice like snacking or the like where obviously you get some endorphins every time you do it and therefore you can get addicted Except they’re not unwanted, at least not completely. Sometimes apps don’t let you decide what you’ll get sent, so that you get a mix of wanted and unwanted notifications. Other times one just can’t resist looking at them. You can argue as to what brain chemistry causes this to resemble an addiction, but you can’t argue that they have an addictive, attention hogging effect for many. > Just turn them off, dammit. The ease by which this is reversible and the habit of checking apps is the problem with this solution. > self-control issues This is such an unrealistic expectation. This is always the go-to argument as well - pinning the blame on the user. Thousands of engineers design these apps to be addictive. Most people aren’t going to win against that. Furthermore, few other things in life are designed to do hog attention like these apps are. They can only be compared to slot machines which clearly have a strong effect on people.

AshamedCaptain 6y ago
> Except they’re not unwanted, at least not completely. I explicitly called them "Unwanted" because the post I'm replying to mentions getting a plain old iPod (with no notifications whatsoever) as an alternative. If you _want_ these notifications, then my argument does not apply.
- surfpel 6y ago
  > If you _want_ these notifications, then my argument does not apply. Then your argument has a very minimal reach and doesn’t apply to the post you replied to. Few apps have irrelevant and useless notifications. They usually have some relevance or use. Many apps, especially social media, play on reward centers to form addictive behavior. They are wanted in the sense that they are irresistible and are sometimes useful. The realization that they are troublesome makes them unwanted while still being irresistible.
  - AshamedCaptain 6y ago
    In which way it does not apply to the post I replied to? In which way would using a plain iPod -which now filters out all notifications, including the ones you actually want to receive- help if you have wanted notifications? That's the idiotic part. There is no "wanted" notification in this context. The poster just generically finds all notifications useless. If you are an addict to Facebook, I could understand buying a phone-network-capable device without the ability to install Facebook (the iPod isn't), or a child phone, or using parental controls on yourself (seen it); to enhance your self-control while still allowing access to work/family/whatever notifications. However, if you just don't want to receive notifications whatsoever, what's the point? There's no addiction here. You are talking about a different topic entirely.

AshamedCaptain 6y ago

> Except they’re not unwanted, at least not completely. I explicitly called them "Unwanted" because the post I'm replying to mentions getting a plain old iPod (with no notifications whatsoever) as an alternative. If you _want_ these notifications, then my argument does not apply.

surfpel 6y ago
> If you _want_ these notifications, then my argument does not apply. Then your argument has a very minimal reach and doesn’t apply to the post you replied to. Few apps have irrelevant and useless notifications. They usually have some relevance or use. Many apps, especially social media, play on reward centers to form addictive behavior. They are wanted in the sense that they are irresistible and are sometimes useful. The realization that they are troublesome makes them unwanted while still being irresistible.
- AshamedCaptain 6y ago
  In which way it does not apply to the post I replied to? In which way would using a plain iPod -which now filters out all notifications, including the ones you actually want to receive- help if you have wanted notifications? That's the idiotic part. There is no "wanted" notification in this context. The poster just generically finds all notifications useless. If you are an addict to Facebook, I could understand buying a phone-network-capable device without the ability to install Facebook (the iPod isn't), or a child phone, or using parental controls on yourself (seen it); to enhance your self-control while still allowing access to work/family/whatever notifications. However, if you just don't want to receive notifications whatsoever, what's the point? There's no addiction here. You are talking about a different topic entirely.