The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most • Hacker News Board

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#81

Post by brycedriesenga » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:35 PM UTC

ilikerashers wrote: post #68

I hate how I got rid of TikTok because of the addictive short form content and now I find myself somehow in Instagrams short form content. Now YouTube are also doing it. These companies are just selling attention crack disguised as "creativity".

I'm still baffled about how TikTok hooks people. I installed it to check out an AI filter and look for a certain person doing live videos I found on YouTube. I've browsed the main feed a few times now and it's honestly 90-95%+ garbage and altogether just super annoying.

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#82

Post by blackbear_ » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

notShabu wrote: post #17

Instagram democratizes the mental illness that used to only affect child stars and the hollywood famous. Who people think we are is who we are because identity is a reflection, not an actual thing in reality (similar to colors not existing in reality). Having access to a extra mirrors at first creates a sense of control. You know your mom and dad won't give you a "non-distorted" reflection so the reflection from stra…

> Who people think we are is who we are

May be true for extroverts, but as an introvert I don't give a cent about what random people think about me (which also explains why I do not use Instagram in the first place).

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#83

Post by mock-possum » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:37 PM UTC

Wait -

> We looked into the top 30 most popular apps people most want to delete in the United States by delving into regional search volumes for “delete” and “deactivate” apps/accounts by each state.

They’re not going off of actual app deletion or account deactivation data… they’re going off of how often people search for how to do it?

Here’s the thing - if I want to ‘delete Facebook’ then I’ll do it - there’s no searching involved, I go to my home screen, long-press the ‘f’ icon and then choose the ‘trash’ option. My decision to delete Facebook is not captured in their data.

What they’re measuring is stats on people too technologically illiterate to manage the apps installed on their own device, right? That’s a significant skew on the conclusions they’re drawing isn’t it?

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#84

Post by eganist » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:38 PM UTC

neura wrote: post #67

notShabu wrote: post #17

Instagram democratizes the mental illness that used to only affect child stars and the hollywood famous. Who people think we are is who we are because identity is a reflection, not an actual thing in reality (similar to colors not existing in reality). Having access to a extra mirrors at first creates a sense of control. You know your mom and dad won't give you a "non-distorted" reflection so the reflection from stra…

"Instagram democratizes the mental illness that used to only affect child stars and the hollywood famous." Wow. I have problems with Instragram, but I've never tried to sum it up into a single statement and while this is rather specific and may not include all the problems I _feel_ are there, it really does bring home the main issue, for me. A little snark in there about democratizing, as some people will always put…

> A little snark in there about democratizing, as some people will always put a positive spin on such things

Let's try this:

"Instagram makes pandemic the mental illness that used to only affect child stars and the hollywood famous."

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#85

Post by yamtaddle » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:39 PM UTC

ncpa-cpl wrote: post #75

loeg wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly post-Musk Twitter. Half or more of the people I read left the platform and the app keeps getting worse.

> Possibly post-Musk Twitter. I don't have an active twitter account, so one of the things I like from post-Musk Twitter is that it no longer requires me to login for reading tweets or for searching.

Same, site's actually way, way better now for us non-account-havers.

And the dumb shit Elon posts and all the times he kicks himself in the balls are way funnier than before he acquired 'em.

Overall, I'm happier with the site since he took over, personally. But then I'm rooting for its demise, preferably with as much drama and humor along the way as possible, so of course I like it.

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#86

Post by irusensei » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

Used to be an app where I would check what friends have been doing on their spare time and vacation. Since the stupid tik too videos started the content I want to see is basically ratiod by an ownslaught of ads and silly videos from people I’ve never interacted with.

Wish I could delete but then I might lose contact with friends.

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#87

Post by bs7280 » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

anthomtb wrote: post #24

I set a 15 minute daily limit on Instagram. I also have my phone setup to block all non-essential apps between 7:00AM and 6:00PM on the weekdays, and I am not usually hitting my 15 Insta-minutes on those days. I could probably reduce that to 10 and still catch up on anything from friends and family. But the extra 5 minutes is just enough time to enjoy some interesting content from the hobby-influencers I follow, yet…

my iPhone saves my login credentials when I delete/reinstall it, so I delete instagram every Sunday or Monday then reinstall on Friday/Saturday, because I don't have the self control to actually limit myself with the screentime functionality.

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#88

Post by GenerocUsername » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

dangerboysteve wrote: post #26

loeg wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly post-Musk Twitter. Half or more of the people I read left the platform and the app keeps getting worse.

I don't believe this for a second.

half of the "people" maybe.

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#89

Post by CydeWeys » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:42 PM UTC

naillo wrote: post #79

nlh wrote: post #41

A personal anecdote: I use Instagram for my hobby/business (coin & paper money collecting & dealing). I have mercilessly curated my feed to be ONLY people who post content purely related to the numismatic world. No real-life friends, no travel posts from random semi-friends, no selfies, none of that garbage. If someone starts posting it, I unfollow them. And for the ads -- I click on ads related to cat toys and pet f…

I appreciate mercilessly curating your feed. But man even having to do that is such a huge waste of time and life energy.

It's way too big of a task for any one person to do individually (like trying to block ads online), and then you have the problem that people collaboratively moderating a stream together wouldn't have the same opinions on what content they actually want to see.

It's basically a hopeless problem.

Re: The apps that Americans search to “delete” the most

#90

Post by charles_f » Wed, Mar 08, 2023, 5:43 PM UTC

mock-possum wrote: post #83

Wait - > We looked into the top 30 most popular apps people most want to delete in the United States by delving into regional search volumes for “delete” and “deactivate” apps/accounts by each state. They’re not going off of actual app deletion or account deactivation data… they’re going off of how often people search for how to do it? Here’s the thing - if I want to ‘delete Facebook’ then I’ll do it - there’s no sea…

Fair, but I guess that extrapolating that proportionally it is still relevant is not toooo far fetched. Certainly not accurate data, but a valid indication as pre-research.