For better or worse, I'm obsessively curious about why people do what they do. The reason why I love Twitter is the same reason I know there's a lot more people like me, addicted to social media, than there is not I'm always paying attention. Writing is a way for me to project my vulnerabilities and fears. I do wonder how much more fruitful my life would be spending my time on social media elsewhere - reading books, writing, ideating, learning something new (a language, programming). The idea was for a widget that would block certain sites during specific times or for a specific allotted time. ![]() I asked if anybody knew a ‘computer engineer’ (that’s not what they’re called lol) that could help me with a really important product. It was from an idea I had even farther back than that, 2010, but did not explore. Facebook was my greatest procrastination tool, one click away whenever I encountered a sentence I didn’t know how to start or a math problem I felt stumped by.Ĭoincidentally enough, a few weeks ago I received a notification of a post I made in 2011. Homework and essays in high school often took much longer than they should have for me. The access to people you don't know and ability to create relationships is cool. There's certainly positive aspects of social media, even Instagram. It was magic as everybody else was doing the same. I remember coming home in the 5th grade and rushing to turn on the computer to see who was online. ![]() I have personally struggled with technology since AIM. We see the content for what it is without a peanut gallery. There is no public friend count, RT or likes. Also, people (on average) have far less friends on Snapchat, making it a more intimate and private space for sharing. That creates more authentic displays of us. Snap's exist in a short-time frame making us less likely to manipulate the moment to perfection because the incentives aren't as great. I am capturing my life in this moment, and like most things in life, it's here today and gone tomorrow. Philosophically, I align with the intent behind Snapchat's current platform. Snapchat is designed to capture ephemeral (a word Evan often uses to describe their product) moments. We are our own PR team seeking to shine the brightest light on us. 'Our best life' has to be on full display. We're socially incentivized to create the best possible digital scrapbook of ourselves in order to reap significance and validation. Vanity metrics (likes, comments, followers, ratios) are public and easily comparable to others, making it a naturally (yet subtle) competitive environment. Instagram is an ongoing highlight reel of our lives. They're basically the same, right? They couldn't be more different in my eyes, although I recognize Snap does have addictive qualities and similar features. That may change, although I would use my presence very differently than how it's used typically. I've been asked why I'm on Snap and don't have a personal Instagram account. It's the first thing you check in the morning, last thing you check at night. Thinking about checking it when you haven't for a few minutes. Interrupting moments for posting more than enjoying them.Ĭhecking social media unintentionally as you had another task to do on your phone. Here's a few things I've personally felt that signal social media addiction to me.Ĭonstantly refreshing because you've gone through everything and want to see everything that's happened since you started your session. Brilliant people are sitting behind a computer at every office in Silicon Valley getting paid a lot of money to figure out how to bring you back to their app more. Their ability to retain users and drive engagement fuels fundraising from investors and revenue from advertisers. It doesn't help social media companies thrive off our addiction. But like anything in life, there are unintentional consequences for the decisions we make. Those are innocent enough reasons to check my phone. The other part craves information, education and entertainment tailored to my vast interests in sports, technology, venture capital, business, hip-hop, political narratives and culture. Part of that can be accredited to my entrepreneurial ventures and being addicted to "productivity". My digital drugs of choice being Twitter and refreshing my email. I feel strongly about this issue because I am an addict. This addiction is less obvious than drinking yourself to sleep every night or stepping outside for an 8th cigarette, but it's an issue we should take much more seriously than we do. ![]() Social media apps are designed for addiction. I've worked in and studied tech, specifically consumer apps, with great tenacity the last several years.
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