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Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

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Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#91

Post by rvbissell »

spir wrote: post #29

I am addicted to twitter and reddit. Especially reddit. It often takes the place of reading, hobbies, quiet moments, improving my home, talking with my spouse, and playing with my baby. When reddit records a click or an upvote, it thinks it has been a Good Product, and created Engagement. Reddit then takes those feedback loops and tunes the algorithm and feedback loops to create further engagement. But in reality, th…

I almost never regret time spent reading a book. But I frequently regret time spent on Reddit/Youtube/Twitter, even if I enjoyed the content at the time.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#92

Post by VBprogrammer »

barbazoo wrote: post #78
Apreche wrote: post #17

Just speaking for myself, I've noticed that my habit is to eat what is in front of me, and clean my plate. I mean this both literally and figuratively. If I have dessert in the house, like a bag of chocolate, then I eat one after dinner. If I don't have it in the house, then I just don't eat dessert. If I have a social media feed full of content, then I'll scroll through all of it until there's nothing else that's ne…

This is great advice. Unsubscribing, especially from the stuff that triggers me, helps me not to waste too much time.

Yup, dashcam videos / crashes is a huge time sink which I have to ruthlessly unsubscribe from. It's one of those things where you can feel your blood pressure increase as you watch it.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#94

Post by the_only_law »

aantix wrote: post #42

I wonder if this is because we're lonely..? Just wondering out loud here. E.g. Twitter - feels like many of the "thought leaders" I follow, their "friends" are also on Twitter. And they tweet/respond so much I often wonder if they're really ever "building a business". And are they ever interacting with their real-world friends or family? Or if their lives just consist of a constant refresh of their feed. Even at dinn…

> I wonder if this is because people are lonely..? Just wondering out loud here.

Discord has propped up my social life for years now. And I mean outside of the internet as well! I also engage in independent, more traditional social engagement and it usually ends in nothing more than a hangover.

Not unexpectedly, the internet makes it easier to bring people with similar interests/believes/personalities together. There’s also some weird demographic issue where apparently the internet is the only place where people my age seem to exist. I meet a ton of people irl m, mostly much older, with some only several years younger or several years older. In the past year for example, I’ve met maybe 2-3 people who were within a year of myself.

Also I often find myself mindless swapping discord channels or refreshing HN or Twitter constantly, when I’m bored and want to talk/argue/whatever, typically at night.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#95

Post by epalm »

Something that really helped me with YouTube was installing the Unhook browser extension https://unhook.app/

Unhook can remove all 'suggested' videos. The home page will just be blank, and when watching a video, there will be no other video links on the page. This means I can still use YouTube, but I have to search for what I'm looking for. This alone has completely solved the endless video merry-go-round sessions.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#96

Post by newbamboo »

scruple wrote: post #72
haliskerbas wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thought this was just me and it’s so refreshing to hear. I can never eat just part of a bag of chips. Or save the really good sandwhich for later. Or not drink another coffee because I already had one. Etc. etc Do lots of other folks experience this? I seem to only have self control when it hurts my job or income, and even then, barely.

> Do lots of other folks experience this? I don't think we're alone but I doubt that we're "normal."

I’m normal.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#97

Post by Tade0 »

twobitshifter wrote: post #81

Has anyone tried?: * Using an apple cellular watch and leaving your phone at home * Using a smaller phone like an iphone mini * Using a lower tech feature phone * Using screentime And found success that way?

My previous phone died on me suddenly and at that time I didn't have spare cash for another one, so I got an old Nokia 3600 classic from a friend and spent 9 months using it while I was working my way to get my finances in check.

The moment I bought a new phone all the old habits came back, so I guess the answer is "nope".

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#98

Post by uoaei »

Apreche wrote: post #17

Just speaking for myself, I've noticed that my habit is to eat what is in front of me, and clean my plate. I mean this both literally and figuratively. If I have dessert in the house, like a bag of chocolate, then I eat one after dinner. If I don't have it in the house, then I just don't eat dessert. If I have a social media feed full of content, then I'll scroll through all of it until there's nothing else that's ne…

"Out of sight, out of mind" works great for me too. It's staying occupied so that your thoughts don't meander back to that thing, that makes the trick.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#99

Post by smeej »

I had to reach a point where I admitted to myself that, as much as I may wish I were a person who could handle having a smartphone in my pocket, I'm not. If I have one there, it will suck up time I don't want to give it. I tried putting all kinds of guides in place until I just...got a flip phone that, yeah, can run Android apps, but absolutely sucks to use. It doesn't have a touch screen, so I have to navigate with a D pad and type with T9. It's awful.

That's paired with a color eInk device that can also run Android apps. It's wonderful for reading things that have discrete pages (ebooks), but awful for anything that moves or requires scrolling.

My personal computer sucks too. This happened totally by accident, but I wound up with a machine that won't sleep properly, so I have to shut the thing all the way down every time I'm done using it. It's a pain to use.

When I reached the point where I actually wanted to change, I had to make it suck to do the things I used to enjoy. I kind of envy the people who can add smartphones to their lives and have their lives get better. Mine got worse.

But at least now, when I'm looking at some free time, I don't want to pull out my phone (I hate using my phone), I might want to read an ebook, and I don't want to pull out my computer. I wish it didn't come to this, but at least it works.

Re: Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

#100

Post by gigaflop »

aantix wrote: post #42

I wonder if this is because we're lonely..? Just wondering out loud here. E.g. Twitter - feels like many of the "thought leaders" I follow, their "friends" are also on Twitter. And they tweet/respond so much I often wonder if they're really ever "building a business". And are they ever interacting with their real-world friends or family? Or if their lives just consist of a constant refresh of their feed. Even at dinn…

It feels like a semantically-strained take, but I think Twitter is more of a place for people to say things, than it is for having conversations. Most people seem to use the site to broadcast something to their audience without really engaging.
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