Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It

Post by majewsky » Mon, Nov 21, 2016, 3:10 AM UTC

kyriakos wrote: post #117

hashtagMERKY wrote: post #31

This part really resonated with me: > Consider that the ability to concentrate without distraction on hard tasks is becoming increasingly valuable in an increasingly complicated economy. Social media weakens this skill because it’s engineered to be addictive. The more you use social media in the way it’s designed to be used — persistently throughout your waking hours — the more your brain learns to crave a quick hit…

There are far too many distractions online not necessarily social media. In the past it was irc and later forums. I find instant messengers particularly distracting, even if you put all on silent mode sooner or later you will want to check if you have unread messages.

Post by majewsky » Mon, Nov 21, 2016, 3:16 AM UTC

rjromero wrote: post #345

hashtagMERKY wrote: post #31

This part really resonated with me: > Consider that the ability to concentrate without distraction on hard tasks is becoming increasingly valuable in an increasingly complicated economy. Social media weakens this skill because it’s engineered to be addictive. The more you use social media in the way it’s designed to be used — persistently throughout your waking hours — the more your brain learns to crave a quick hit…

I'm curious, what is it in the human psyche that causes us to have such a desire to stay plugged in to social media? Especially when the content we go through usually only ends up white noise to us.

Post by ant6n » Mon, Nov 21, 2016, 3:22 AM UTC

aswanson wrote: post #318

jjawssd wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100 times this. There needs to be a coordinated effort to stamp out all political material on HN so we can focus on actual Hacker News and not the Silicon Valley political sphere.

I was away for awhile...came back and was shocked at the level of political bickering and posts that were allowed to stay. A lot of the old members have moved on, it's a different place these days. Such is life.

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 21, 2016, 3:25 AM UTC

douche wrote: post #151

philipodonnell wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may find this article interesting that criticizes the abstinence-based approach of Alcoholics Anonymous. Research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing and medication to control withdrawal symptoms is more effective for a large population than absolute prohibition. In fact, I wonder if there are medications that address withdrawal symptoms from social media? https://www.google.com…

The weirdest thing about AA, to me, is that it is supposed to be about not letting alcohol control your life, but then it prescribes that you devote every free waking minute to thinking about not thinking about alcohol. I met a number of people that had just traded one addiction for another. They were AA-meeting-addicts.

Post by alexandersingh » Mon, Nov 21, 2016, 3:28 AM UTC

6DM wrote: post #464

alexandersingh wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use the Panda extension for Chrome in part to keep track of what's trending on HN each day. If something piques my interest I'll usually check it out when I want to take a short break from work. This is a simple rule that helps limit how frequently I click through and I've found it to be very effective.

How much does it cost to go pro on (Panda)? I couldn't find out without kind of "going through".