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Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

parsely.obasic.app

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Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

#1

Post by ggomma »

Hey HN, the full story is on the page, but here's the TL;DR:

I'm 35 and somewhere along the way I lost the ability to finish reading articles. I'd open them, read 2-3 paragraphs, get distracted, and close the tab feeling like a failure. My "Read Later" list became a graveyard of 2,000+ unread articles.

I tried everything – focus apps, reader modes, blocking extensions. Nothing worked. Then I realized. 'maybe the problem isn't me'. Modern web articles are designed for engagement metrics, not comprehension. Sidebars, popups, related articles, comment sections – everything is optimized to pull your attention away.

So I built Parsely. It shows one paragraph at a time, blurs everything else. Stupidly simple. But it worked. I'm finally finishing articles again.

Tech stack: WXT framework, TypeScript, Mozilla Readability (same as Firefox Reader View), Shadow DOM for style isolation.

Code is MIT licensed: https://github.com/TeamOliveCode/parsely

Happy to answer questions about the implementation or commiserate about our collective attention spans!

Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this
parsely.obasic.app

Re: Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

#2

Post by anigbrowl »

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Could you have just switched to reader mode? Did you try any sort of control group, eg reading some articles in print magazines or a book unrelated to your work activity?

It's not that I don't agree with you about the low quality of web reading experiences, and that many articles themselves are low quality bait, designed to tease, rather than inform. I resnt the time wasted on checking out articles, skimming them, and realizing they're crap, and am equally annoyed by the distractions inflicted on readers attempting to read quality long form articles.

But unlike you, I find it relatively easy to parse an article, decide quickly whether it's worth reading or not, and allocate cognitive capacity (if it's complex) or engage reader view it looks to be simple but I want to zip through it quickly (eg articles that are a straightforward list of facts).

I'm all for it if this tool is helpful to people; I just wonder if it's solving the real problem.

Re: Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

#3

Post by ggomma »

anigbrowl wrote: post #2

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Could you have just switched to reader mode? Did you try any sort of control group, eg reading some articles in print magazines or a book unrelated to your work activity? It's not that I don't agree with you about the low quality of web reading experiences, and that many articles themselves are low quality bait, designed to tease, rather than inform. I resnt the time wasted on checking out…

Great question, and I appreciate your feedback.

On reader mode, Yes, I tried it. Reader mode is great for stripping visual noise, but it didn't solve my core problem. When a long article is visible all at once, the scrollbar still whispers "this much left to go", and my brain starts looking for an escape hatch. What I needed was seeing only one thought at a time(an intentional constraint).

On control groups, Fair point, I didn't run formal tests. But I could still read physical books. I just did it less and less, because my web reading habits were eroding my overall attention span. This is a personal story, not a scientific claim.

On you not needing this, I'm genuinely glad for you! Seriously. The ability to quickly triage an article and allocate the right cognitive effort. that's a skill I lost. Not everyone has the same problem. Some people need patches to quit smoking, others just put them down. Both are valid.

On "solving the real problem", Maybe it doesn't! The real problem might be the attention economy, platform incentives, or my own habits. Parsely is a symptom treatment(a bandage). But for me, that bandage let the wound heal. Sometimes that's enough. This isn't a universal solution. It's for people like me, people who know how to read but somehow lost the ability to do it.

Re: Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

#4

Post by anigbrowl »

ggomma wrote: post #3
anigbrowl wrote: post #2

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Could you have just switched to reader mode? Did you try any sort of control group, eg reading some articles in print magazines or a book unrelated to your work activity? It's not that I don't agree with you about the low quality of web reading experiences, and that many articles themselves are low quality bait, designed to tease, rather than inform. I resnt the time wasted on checking out…

Great question, and I appreciate your feedback. On reader mode, Yes, I tried it. Reader mode is great for stripping visual noise, but it didn't solve my core problem. When a long article is visible all at once, the scrollbar still whispers "this much left to go", and my brain starts looking for an escape hatch. What I needed was seeing only one thought at a time(an intentional constraint). On control groups, Fair poi…

I see, that makes it easier to understand. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Re: Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

#6

Post by ggomma »

nacozarina wrote: post #5

instead of building tools to compel yourself to reward bad writing with your attention, perhaps you might choose more worthy authors your resistance may not be dysfunction

There's something to this, not all resistance is dysfunction. Sometimes your brain is correctly telling you "this isn't worth it." But I'd push back a little.

The problem isn't always the writing. I've bounced off genuinely excellent long-form pieces—articles I later finished and found deeply valuable, simply because the environment triggered my escape reflex before the content had a chance.

It's like trying to enjoy a good meal in a casino. The food might be great, but everything around you is designed to pull your attention elsewhere. At some point, you stop blaming the chef.

That said, you're right that Parsely won't make bad writing good. If an article is hollow clickbait, reading it one paragraph at a time just reveals the emptiness more slowly. The tool helps me get to the content, what I do with bad content is still "close the tab."

Maybe the real answer is both [better filters for what deserves attention, and better environments for when something does].

Re: Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

#9

Post by replwoacause »

I have this same issue. I’ll start reading something and within a few words or sentences I’m in full “skim mode.” Before I know it, my eyes have scanned and hopped all over the page. Then I’ll force myself to start again, only to realize my eyes are reading the words but my brain isn’t actually processing them.

It’s gotten noticeably worse with age, and honestly I think AI has made it even worse. When it spits out huge blocks of text and I’m just trying to find a specific nugget, I default to scanning and skimming. Over time, I think my brain has optimized for that because it hates parsing reams of extraneous text just to get the one thing it’s after.

I also have ADHD-PI… but I’ll give this a shot. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Show HN: I'm 35 and couldn't finish reading articles anymore, so I built this

#10

Post by treetalker »

Throwing it out there: read with pencil in hand and make notes. That means printing out what you want to read from the web.

If you feel like making handwritten notes about a piece wouldn't be worthwhile, that's a powerful indicator that it's not worth reading and not worth your time anyway.

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