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I don’t think it’s smart phones per se. It’s social media, and more specifically attention maximizing algorithms. Those also hit around the same time. People d

by api 1y ago

I don’t think it’s smart phones per se. It’s social media, and more specifically attention maximizing algorithms. Those also hit around the same time. People doom scroll on desktops and laptops too. Honestly just infinite scroll alone is shockingly addictive. Pair it with algorithms that sort content by measured engagement and your brain stem doesn’t stand a chance. Social media algorithms also prioritize trash content because that’s what maximizes engagement. Think of it this way. One person walks by on the street and says “hi.” Another walks up and strips naked and smears themselves with peanut butter and starts clucking like a chicken and saluting Hitler. Which one of these maximizes engagement? Which will the algorithm perpetuate? This, IMO, explains the evolution of political discourse over the past 15 years and is why a troll is now President. Smart phones are just a particularly good platform for these systems, but it’s the systems themselves that are toxic. They work on a desktop screen too. It’s just that laptops and desktops aren’t as portable and are not always with us in the same way, which limits the damage.

owisd 1y ago
The exact same addictive feed on desktop isn’t quite as damaging because you’re forced to leave it behind when you go outside. You can’t carry your desktop round in your pocket everywhere you go, always available at a moment’s notice to fill every idle moment with slop.
macNchz 1y ago
I think this is correct, but I also have a sense that smartphones and infinite scroll algorithmic social media feeds have acted as a one-two punch, significantly more impactful in combination than each would have been individually. Modern social media provides effectively limitless opportunity for consumption, but smartphones unlock the ability to actually drink from that firehose regardless of time or place. Rest is critical for recovery from any sort of stress, but for many people today there is zero rest from this stuff, it’s first thing in the morning through last thing at night, it’s in the car while driving, it’s during the thirty seconds between customers at work, it’s on the beach, in the pool, waiting in line at the post office, at the dinner table, during a movie at the theater, on the toilet, on an airplane, and a million other times and places that would otherwise provide “rest” if it weren’t for smartphones.

by api 1y ago

owisd 1y ago

The exact same addictive feed on desktop isn’t quite as damaging because you’re forced to leave it behind when you go outside. You can’t carry your desktop round in your pocket everywhere you go, always available at a moment’s notice to fill every idle moment with slop.

macNchz 1y ago

I think this is correct, but I also have a sense that smartphones and infinite scroll algorithmic social media feeds have acted as a one-two punch, significantly more impactful in combination than each would have been individually. Modern social media provides effectively limitless opportunity for consumption, but smartphones unlock the ability to actually drink from that firehose regardless of time or place. Rest is critical for recovery from any sort of stress, but for many people today there is zero rest from this stuff, it’s first thing in the morning through last thing at night, it’s in the car while driving, it’s during the thirty seconds between customers at work, it’s on the beach, in the pool, waiting in line at the post office, at the dinner table, during a movie at the theater, on the toilet, on an airplane, and a million other times and places that would otherwise provide “rest” if it weren’t for smartphones.