"I didn’t even have an account. I reasoned that if I didn’t have an account, then it didn’t count. I spent hours lurking Reddit, mostly, and ironically, on subreddits like /r/nosurf and /r/digitalminimalism." Yeah, I had to block Reddit because of the time I wasted on subreddits like these. Irony noted, of course.
In a perfect world, I don't think these websites would be *bad.* I think the fact we know these developers are trying to steal our attention, that our information is being used against us... That's where, among other things, I just can't really justify it anymore. Sure, you can game the system. More power to you if you can. I just don't like what happens to us as people when we use the sites religiously. And unless we CAN use them reasonably, why even give them our time?
Ha! Lifestyle aspiration is a sucker, ask YouTube stars or Hollywood. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (A sentence that didn't make it to my blog post, but I'm glad I can add it here, thank you lol)
I no longer believe, even if these platforms are addictive by design, that that is the main reason why we get addicted to them. Do you think people with full(filling) lives- whether that's their career, family, hobbies, etc. struggle with compulsive social media use? I don't think so... It's what's lacking that makes us susceptible to digital addiction. Social media is just the perfect storm, and wonderfully engineered to addict us.
I'd say though, I felt like, in the beginning, back in like 2010/11, I didn't stand a chance like everyone was on social media, so you get on, and then after a year or so, you don't know what else to do with yourself besides scrolling. That was the hardest part for me. So it's... it's complex and many angles to look at.
All in all.... I'm still going to continue to rage against big tech though lol!
Trust me, I agree with you. There are more elements than simply algorithms and addiction. There's a very real, human desire to connect to others, and social media presents itself as a way to do this. But again, I think my concern is these Silicon Valley people recognized this...and are exploiting it (and us). To me, that's a huge reason why I'm so critical.
"I didn’t even have an account. I reasoned that if I didn’t have an account, then it didn’t count. I spent hours lurking Reddit, mostly, and ironically, on subreddits like /r/nosurf and /r/digitalminimalism." Yeah, I had to block Reddit because of the time I wasted on subreddits like these. Irony noted, of course.
In a perfect world, I don't think these websites would be *bad.* I think the fact we know these developers are trying to steal our attention, that our information is being used against us... That's where, among other things, I just can't really justify it anymore. Sure, you can game the system. More power to you if you can. I just don't like what happens to us as people when we use the sites religiously. And unless we CAN use them reasonably, why even give them our time?
Ha! Lifestyle aspiration is a sucker, ask YouTube stars or Hollywood. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (A sentence that didn't make it to my blog post, but I'm glad I can add it here, thank you lol)
I no longer believe, even if these platforms are addictive by design, that that is the main reason why we get addicted to them. Do you think people with full(filling) lives- whether that's their career, family, hobbies, etc. struggle with compulsive social media use? I don't think so... It's what's lacking that makes us susceptible to digital addiction. Social media is just the perfect storm, and wonderfully engineered to addict us.
I'd say though, I felt like, in the beginning, back in like 2010/11, I didn't stand a chance like everyone was on social media, so you get on, and then after a year or so, you don't know what else to do with yourself besides scrolling. That was the hardest part for me. So it's... it's complex and many angles to look at.
All in all.... I'm still going to continue to rage against big tech though lol!
Trust me, I agree with you. There are more elements than simply algorithms and addiction. There's a very real, human desire to connect to others, and social media presents itself as a way to do this. But again, I think my concern is these Silicon Valley people recognized this...and are exploiting it (and us). To me, that's a huge reason why I'm so critical.