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by yyx 373 days ago
> TikTok, Instagram Shorts, YouTube Reels

Just don't install these apps? There are tons of useful apps that don't require your constant attention.

3 comments

The OP correctly mentions that we're dealing with real addiction here. Telling an addict to "just not do it" is futile.
Where does the unattributed, axis-doesn't-start-at-zero chart of declining attention span come from? It looks like there were five sample years since 2000, but who was sampled, and "attention span" was measured how? "As the chart shows, attention spans are plummeting" is not very impressive when the chart is just a line that goes down and some mysterious times in seconds. Tineye had nothing.
Damn, I guess I skimmed the article with my short attention span :). He's right, but the title is clickbaity.
But not installing/using or blocking those apps is as much of an alternative as using a dumb phone.
Sure, in the same was as "eat less" is a viable alternative for the obesity epidemic.

But it's not a solution. Obviously, that just won't work for people who have a propensity to over-consume, or people who have a propensity to scroll in this case. If it were that easy, then everyone would do it. Then we'd all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

Maybe give parental control to a friend for your phone so you’re limited in what can be done.

Or maybe companies could provide a lock down mode that you can’t change for 1 year at a time, like a locked bank account or something.

But how I will post to reels and stories how great my life is
Just start a blog instead