Phones, feeds and your head
Readings on social media and mental health that look at the evidence and the arguments. Jonathan Haidt's Senate testimony on teens is here, along with a Sleep Junkie study of 2,012 Americans on how apps affect sleep. Digital minimalism appears as one way to take back your attention. 8 picks from the Bez Tytułu newsletter, in reading order.
The picks
Digital Minimalism as a Cure for Overstimulation
Read · dansilvestre.com · 17 min · Issue #159
Dan Silvestre presents digital minimalism as using technology intentionally, keeping the tools that add value and removing the rest. He gives concrete steps: keep four key apps on the phone's home screen, turn off most notifications, check email only twice a day, move rarely used files to the cloud, and use blocking tools such as Cold Turkey or LeechBlock for time sinks.
How Social Apps Affect Sleep
Read · socialmediatoday.com · 2 min · Issue #114
A 2022 Social Media Today article by Andrew Hutchinson summarizing a Sleep Junkie study of 2,012 Americans who wore smartwatches to track sleep after using their phones before bed. Users of TikTok's For You feed spent about 14% of their sleep cycle in REM, roughly half the recommended amount. The study attributes the effect mainly to blue light, and suggests dark mode and no screens for two hours before sleep.
Social Media and Teen Mental Health: Haidt's Senate Testimony
Read · judiciary.senate.gov · 11 min · Issue #45
Jonathan Haidt of NYU Stern told a Senate subcommittee in May 2022 that smartphones and social media are a major cause of the rise in teen depression and anxiety. He cites mood disorder rates up 50% to 150% from 2009 to 2019, and nearly all studies linking heavy use to poorer mental health. He recommends researcher data access and raising the internet adulthood age from 13 to 16.
Your feed reflects what you engage with
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #190
Your feed reflects what you engage with, so blaming the algorithm misses your own role in it.
The speaker argues that social media algorithms reflect the user's own behavior rather than causing depression or polarization. He demonstrates by searching for topics such as the New York Jets, wine and trading cards, and says the feed then fills with those interests. Anyone unhappy with their feed, he says, should change what they search for and engage with.
Key points- The speaker says the algorithm is you and what you engage with
- Search topics and like four or five posts to reshape your feed
- He argues social media is not what makes you depressed
Smartphones from puberty weaken social skills
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #146
The speaker says smartphones from puberty have weakened Gen Z's social skills, and kids need time with other kids.
The speaker contrasts millennials, who grew up with flip phones, with Gen Z, who got smartphones and social media at the start of puberty. Gen Z spent less time in person with friends, which the speaker links to lower self-confidence. The speaker urges parents to limit phones and social media and to replace that time with in-person time with other kids.
Key points- Millennials grew up with flip phones, while Gen Z got smartphones and social media at puberty
- Gen Z gets together physically but stays on devices, the speaker says
- Parents should cut phone access and give kids things to do with peers
Dating apps optimize engagement, not love
Short · instagram.com · Issue #245
An unnamed speaker argues dating apps optimize for engagement, not love, and that we handed our social norms to tech companies.
The speaker, in an interview, argues that technology has reshaped dating and social norms. Dating algorithms aim to keep users on the app rather than help them find a partner, and constant recording makes social life feel like a panopticon. He says society sold its interpersonal norms to tech companies, believing an unregulated internet would bring freedom and happiness, a promise his generation sees as broken.
Key points- Dating algorithms aim to keep you on the app, not to help you find a partner
- Social life feels like a panopticon, since everything can be recorded
- Many young people feel the promise that the internet brings freedom has broken
Minus: A Social Network Limited to 100 Posts
Tool · minus.social · Issue #198
Minus is a social network where each user gets 100 posts for life, with unlimited replies. The only visible metric is a countdown of remaining posts. The feed is reverse chronological rather than algorithmic, with no likes, follows, or notifications. Ben Grosser created it, commissioned by arebyte Gallery for his exhibition Software for Less, to counter engagement-driven design.
Anonymity Online Is Winning
Read · theatlantic.com · 6 min · Issue #51
An Atlantic article from 2022 on Gen Z's shift away from building a personal brand online. The newsletter notes that the article suggests younger users prefer to stay anonymous on the internet.