It’s been evident for several years that we are in peak time were your attention is worth a lot to social media companies, and other related companies. Data privacy aside, a lot of these applications do an incredible job of keeping me “entertained”, and I bet that most of anyone who has an online presence feels the same way. However, it’s also clear to me how out of hand it has gotten.
Algorithms deployed by these institutions are well designed machines that take advantage of the human psych, always slowly improving themselves to know exactly what would keep you on the platform as long as possible. It’s really an astounding invention when you think about it.
But it’s been very, very apparent to me how negatively it affects me. The particular offender for me has been YouTube and Twitter, with YouTube taking the largest effect on me. YouTube as an entertainment platform is very good, with literally an infinite amount of content available to its users, something that I’m sure broadcasters like Comcast and what-not could only dream about. Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, etc. all share similar powers. Some effects that are particular concerning to me is the constant need of wanting to get back on the platforms. In the mornings, I’m often craving intellectual material, or something interesting and maybe even profound. For the most part, news (such as New York Times, The Economist, Japan Times, etc) does a good job and I’d like to read more news in theory. However my mind always wanders to the darn platform that is YouTube, seeking that small dopamine rush I get when discovering an interesting video. This also not only happens in the mornings, but often throughout the day, and I often feel powerless. Not only that- but I’m convinced, no rather, I know that always having a constant feeling of dopamine worsens my ability to do things that I want to do and that matter far more. I wholeheartedly believe staying dopamine-injected impairs your ability to become motivated on things like work.
So before I continue this nonsense-less rant, I am here to say that I would like to get bored.
In particular, get off & away from all these platforms, if possible forever, and focus on things that will last.