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Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

touchgrass.now

61–70 of 287 posts

Re: Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

#62
post #55

Nice idea. I feel like we don't see as many fun/whimsical apps these days as we did 10-15 years ago.

Whimsical doesn’t make money and we are a society of sellouts.

We are a social species living in a world where everything is commodified, and to survive means trying to find a way to exist in that space. It creates a mindset where even a simple hobby needs to somehow create profit, because everything around us requires we have and/or create money over all of the less tangible things that actually make humans happy.

Some people have the luxury of being able to step around that mindset, even if only for a little bit, but there is less and less space for just existing.

Re: Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

#63
post #42

Great concept! However my mind started already coming up with ideas how to circumvent this like printing out a color picture of grass! Hope you can detect these fake attempts! :)

Ya know what, searching for a picture, printing it out, and taking a pic in this app = not doomscrolling, so, mission accomplished?

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

#64
post #8

This is a hilarious concept and would probably genuinely help. Nicely done! I used to have a similar issue with hiding inside all the time (during Covid times, of course) and to motivate myself to go outside, I started an Instagram of tiny little plants growing in cracks in the pavement. I tried to add a new tiny plant every day or two, which meant that I had to wander further and further afield to find a suitable sp…

I'm a connoisseur of plants growing in cracks in the pavement, mind sharing a link?

Bricky roads They trappers grass Stony walls They trappers wind Iron stove It trappers fire Trappers is we By the works of hands And forgets us We were ever free...

Re: Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

#65
post #3

This is going to be rough up north where I am, too much snow.

Same problem here... Trying to think of some substitutions: 1. Touch snow 2. See the sun while outdoors. 3. Say hi to someone in person. 4. Text a friend or family member. 5. Touch a tree. I think touch a tree would be the most direct substitution. Something to be said for a social substitution too though, but it probably doesn't match the initial intent of touching grass.

Of course no one needs an app to do any of this, but the general idea of getting out and touching a tree, climbing a snowbank, going out without a coat or hat for a few minutes when it's freezing are all the sorts of things that keep me happy during in the winter.

Re: Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

#68
post #8

This is a hilarious concept and would probably genuinely help. Nicely done! I used to have a similar issue with hiding inside all the time (during Covid times, of course) and to motivate myself to go outside, I started an Instagram of tiny little plants growing in cracks in the pavement. I tried to add a new tiny plant every day or two, which meant that I had to wander further and further afield to find a suitable sp…

I love the irony here. Going outside into “real life” to find pictures to post on a site that keeps people inside.

TBH I don't think Instagram particularly keeps people inside given that >99.99% of its users use it exclusively on mobile.

Re: Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

#70
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the irony here. Going outside into “real life” to find pictures to post on a site that keeps people inside.

TBH I don't think Instagram particularly keeps people inside given that >99.99% of its users use it exclusively on mobile.

Because people don’t use their phones at home?
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