[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

A few weeks ago I made an effort to connect more with local reality and less with the internet and its mountain of suck. To that end I removed all social media apps from my phone (I only had one), and disabled the news feed, search, and browser. I still have all the features I find actually useful, like weather, maps, alarms, calendar, etc.

The first few times you mindlessly look at your phone after doing something like that are a real eye opener. You pull it out, unlock it, and stare at a screen full of nothing and ask yourself why you took it out in the first place.

My mood has improved significantly, and I find I suddenly have time for all those things I've wanted to get done but "haven't had the time for". Without a mindless dopamine trickle to default to I am forced to engage in actually meaningful and satisfying activity most of the time to alleviate boredom.

Do not kid yourself that the behaviors these things induce aren't intended. Marketers don't care about your quality of life, or the health of society itself, they just want your money and they will manipulate you into doom scrolling a bunch of barely interesting bullshit in order to shove ads down your throat without a second thought.

[aembleton]

> A few weeks ago I made an effort to connect more with local reality and less with the internet and its mountain of suck. To that end I removed all social media apps from my phone..

Don't you find that a lot of groups, such as your local running club organise over Facebook? Its those groups and even just organising a BBQ with friends that keep me on Facebook.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

They probably do, but I haven't used Facebook at all aside from a brief period in the 2010s. If they organize on Facebook, and I don't have any other way of finding out about them or otherwise contacting them, I just don't bother.

I am willing to accept some inconvenience in order to be aligned with my goals, which I am learning puts me very much at odds with the average person.

[laratied]

Also, if you don't have Facebook and want to go to this running club you would be forced to actually befriend someone to such a degree in the club that can keep you updated that has Facebook. It can't just be the "convenient" disposable Facebook relationship.

For me, without social media I pretty much miss out knowing about all the local art shows that I wasn't going to go to even if I did know about them. I don't get the invite to the friend of a friend's dinner party that I would have made up an excuse for why I can't go. I also miss out on seeing pictures of all these events that I didn't find worth my time to see with my own eyes.

We have really distorted the meaning of inconvenience to have something to do with the lack of high volume, unsatisfying, shallow experiences.

As if having sex is an "inconvenient" type of porn.

The best part though is I have actual experiences that aren't mediated by the judgement if the experience is worth someone else knowing about the experience the very moment after I have the experience.

[tomjen3]

How did you disable the browser?

[jmhammond]

On iOS, Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps

Then deselect Safari. I also got rid of Mail to force myself to check on my laptop.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

Android phone

Settings -> Apps and Notifications -> Chrome -> Disable

I can't even click on links in email. It's great.