5 ms·

NoSurf – A community of people against digital addiction

38 points by hidden-spyder 5y ago

killingtime74 5y ago
No irony this is on Reddit
- RONROC 5y ago
  I’m sure the irony is not lost on them. There’s a highly rated post regarding that very thing on the sub right now (https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/comments/ovdngk/dont_be_fooled_reddit_is_just_social_media_for/ https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/comments/ovdngk/dont_be_fool...). Where do you propose they gather? Freenode? Matrix? Some other obscure digital hangout? I think it’s prudent to encourage people trying to fix their situation no matter how messy the implementation. This is pure conjecture, but i’d wager that the majority of the posters on there are relatively young kids/adults who are wising up to the fact that social media is no longer _helping_ them. They may not be able to tell you how and why these “tools” are hurting them, but that’s ostensibly what they’re trying to figure out. If we can, as a society, figure out how/if they’re on to something, maybe we can help correct the course for them. If the next brilliant engineer skips on the shiny Data Science job or the FAANG post where he/she will build yet another “cool” thing, and decided instead to fix an existing thing, maybe the world would actually be the place that nobs like Paul Graham think it is.
  - atatatat 5y ago
    AA/NA is regularly next to the strip you get drugs or liquor..
    - rootsudo 5y ago
      You know, I never thought of using AA/NA to find the best places in town before your comment, but it makes absolute sense. Funny how life works.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    > Where do you propose they gather? Freenode? Matrix? Some other obscure digital hangout? The hanging out is kind of the problem as it feeds the always-on addiction. Some kind of daily or weekly newsletter with a selection of letters to the editor.
- ru552 5y ago
  you gotta fish where the fish are
  - whoomp12342 5y ago
    no thats lobste.rs
PretzelPirate 5y ago
You may want to link to https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/ https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/ so people without accounts or the app can see the page (it’s at least an issue on mobile). Hosting this community on Reddit feels like having AA meetings in a bar. It’s so easy to click one link and get back in your mindless surfing addiction. Even loading the page came with encouragement to install the Reddit app.
- WesleyHale 5y ago
  I see the irony, but aren't the people mindlessly browsing reddit the audience you want to reach?
  - PretzelPirate 5y ago
    Sure, but this subreddit is unlikely to be something anyone stumble upon. Just like you might put up a flyer for an AA meeting in a bar but host the meeting elsewhere, you can advertise this community on Reddit (via promoted ads) but host it in a less distracting and tempting place.
- tomjen3 5y ago
  old is my goto on my laptop, but on mobile I prefer: https://i.reddit.com/r/nosurf https://i.reddit.com/r/nosurf Which is optimized for use on mobile, and still look like iOS 6.
totetsu 5y ago
I installed Instagram just to message someone. never really used it. Yesterday I scrolled for a bit and got the impression that it would create very unhealthy mindset to be exposed to that everyday. looking at that subs posts was about what I expected. good luck to them, extracting their consciousness from the ad matrix.
- samschooler 5y ago
  Even though the UX is bad, the Threads app is actually pretty good to avoid endless scrolling. All it has is messages and stories, but no feed which means I only open it for a few minutes at a time to respond to messages. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/threads-from-instagram/id1473867767 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/threads-from-instagram/id14738...
nathan_phoenix 5y ago
Anyone knows of a internet/website blocker which has an API or similar available? Would like to chain my time-tracker to it so that it only enables some sites after I invested X time for something productive. All which I know sadly only support basic rules (pomodoro, schedule).
- awiesenhofer 5y ago
  I like the idea. Re: API, you could just add/remove entries to/from /etc/hosts or swap between two versions of the file
  - nathan_phoenix 5y ago
    Yeah, was thinking the same. Although a bit limiting as it's only domain names.
- cinntaile 5y ago
  I don't know if there's an API but check out nextdns.io.
  - nathan_phoenix 5y ago
    Not exactly what I'm looking for but I like their privacy policy. Gonna use as an ad blocker on my iPhone, thanks!

38 points by hidden-spyder 5y ago

killingtime74 5y ago

No irony this is on Reddit

RONROC 5y ago
I’m sure the irony is not lost on them. There’s a highly rated post regarding that very thing on the sub right now (https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/comments/ovdngk/dont_be_fooled_reddit_is_just_social_media_for/ https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/comments/ovdngk/dont_be_fool...). Where do you propose they gather? Freenode? Matrix? Some other obscure digital hangout? I think it’s prudent to encourage people trying to fix their situation no matter how messy the implementation. This is pure conjecture, but i’d wager that the majority of the posters on there are relatively young kids/adults who are wising up to the fact that social media is no longer _helping_ them. They may not be able to tell you how and why these “tools” are hurting them, but that’s ostensibly what they’re trying to figure out. If we can, as a society, figure out how/if they’re on to something, maybe we can help correct the course for them. If the next brilliant engineer skips on the shiny Data Science job or the FAANG post where he/she will build yet another “cool” thing, and decided instead to fix an existing thing, maybe the world would actually be the place that nobs like Paul Graham think it is.
- atatatat 5y ago
  AA/NA is regularly next to the strip you get drugs or liquor..
  - rootsudo 5y ago
    You know, I never thought of using AA/NA to find the best places in town before your comment, but it makes absolute sense. Funny how life works.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  > Where do you propose they gather? Freenode? Matrix? Some other obscure digital hangout? The hanging out is kind of the problem as it feeds the always-on addiction. Some kind of daily or weekly newsletter with a selection of letters to the editor.
ru552 5y ago
you gotta fish where the fish are
- whoomp12342 5y ago
  no thats lobste.rs

PretzelPirate 5y ago

You may want to link to https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/ https://old.reddit.com/r/nosurf/ so people without accounts or the app can see the page (it’s at least an issue on mobile). Hosting this community on Reddit feels like having AA meetings in a bar. It’s so easy to click one link and get back in your mindless surfing addiction. Even loading the page came with encouragement to install the Reddit app.

WesleyHale 5y ago
I see the irony, but aren't the people mindlessly browsing reddit the audience you want to reach?
- PretzelPirate 5y ago
  Sure, but this subreddit is unlikely to be something anyone stumble upon. Just like you might put up a flyer for an AA meeting in a bar but host the meeting elsewhere, you can advertise this community on Reddit (via promoted ads) but host it in a less distracting and tempting place.
tomjen3 5y ago
old is my goto on my laptop, but on mobile I prefer: https://i.reddit.com/r/nosurf https://i.reddit.com/r/nosurf Which is optimized for use on mobile, and still look like iOS 6.

totetsu 5y ago

I installed Instagram just to message someone. never really used it. Yesterday I scrolled for a bit and got the impression that it would create very unhealthy mindset to be exposed to that everyday. looking at that subs posts was about what I expected. good luck to them, extracting their consciousness from the ad matrix.

samschooler 5y ago
Even though the UX is bad, the Threads app is actually pretty good to avoid endless scrolling. All it has is messages and stories, but no feed which means I only open it for a few minutes at a time to respond to messages. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/threads-from-instagram/id1473867767 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/threads-from-instagram/id14738...

nathan_phoenix 5y ago

Anyone knows of a internet/website blocker which has an API or similar available? Would like to chain my time-tracker to it so that it only enables some sites after I invested X time for something productive. All which I know sadly only support basic rules (pomodoro, schedule).

awiesenhofer 5y ago
I like the idea. Re: API, you could just add/remove entries to/from /etc/hosts or swap between two versions of the file
- nathan_phoenix 5y ago
  Yeah, was thinking the same. Although a bit limiting as it's only domain names.
cinntaile 5y ago
I don't know if there's an API but check out nextdns.io.
- nathan_phoenix 5y ago
  Not exactly what I'm looking for but I like their privacy policy. Gonna use as an ad blocker on my iPhone, thanks!