All posts tagged: Doomscrolling

The best albums of the year (so far): Music to stop the doomscrolling

Published by Sam Flores

You, dear Salon reader, are discerning and responsible, ready to face the reality of the world we’re living in, for better or for worse. Unfortunately, that may result in feelings of anger, frustration, anxiety or hopelessness. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of caring deeply. This is precisely why we turn to art, which probes both truth and beauty: the enemies of doomscrolling. Music is perhaps the purest of these art forms, tapping into our lizard brains to regulate our emotions that are seeking to make sense of this precious yet maddening existence. That’s why your Salon writers and editors have gathered the best albums of the year (so far), all the better to soothe you with. A great song offers pleasure, but a great album – no skips – is a doorway. On the other side lies transformation. Sound possesses power, whether you’ll be weary from dancing or blissed out from the frequencies massaging your nerves. So crank up the Victrola, press play on Spotify and nestle into your headphones. These albums will keep you energized …

How to actually reduce your screen time: 12 simple, realistic tips to stop doomscrolling | Technology

Published by Sam Flores

Everywhere you look, people are glued to their smartphones. If you haven’t noticed this phenomenon, it’s likely because you, too, are glued to the little dopamine-deliverer. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. In March, Meta and YouTube had to pay a combined $6m after a US court found that the tech companies’ platforms were designed to be addictive. Put such tempting apps in a device that’s carried everywhere, and that’s a recipe for compulsive behaviour. “We’ve outsourced our brain to California – our emotions, our thinking,” says Prof Marcantonio Spada, emeritus professor of addictive behaviours and mental health at London South Bank University, and chief clinical officer at Onebright, a private therapy platform. “I started my career in academia researching alcohol and nicotine, and then I came to realise 15 years ago that we would end up having a bigger problem with technology,” he says. Phone addiction doesn’t yet have the social stigma of alcoholism, nor the obvious physical side effects, but …

Dreambeans finally gives you a reason to stop doomscrolling, and it’s actually clever

Published by skeptic

Summary Dreambeans turns your Gmail, Calendar, Photos, Messages, YouTube and Search into daily AI illustrated stories. You choose which apps feed Dreambeans; disconnect anytime and it removes related content from future stories. Launching in the U.S. for 18+ Google One AI Premium (Gemini Advanced) subscribers; others can join the waitlist. We’re all guilty of a bit of doomscrolling now and then, but Google Labs’ latest experiment is designed to curb it, at least a little bit. Dreambeans is a new app from Google that connects to your Gmail, Calendar, Photos, Messages, YouTube, and Search history to generate daily personalized stories based on what’s going on in your life. Related Google’s Newest AI Tool Helps You Choose Your Perfect Career Google’s experimental “Career Dreamer” can help you find a job that fits your skills and interests. How Google’s new “Dreambeans” app works Dreambeans gathers data from your Google accounts to find events and activities going on in your life, then AI generates some watercolour-illustrated ‘news stories’ to give you more details. To address privacy concerns, Google …

Doomscrolling: is it really worth five years of your one wild and precious life? | Social media

Published by Sam Flores

Name: Doomscrolling. Age: The term first emerged in 2018, but took off in 2020 (when the doom got especially heavy). Appearance: All-consuming. Of course it’s all-consuming! Have you seen the horrors going on out there? War, climate collapse, AI … We need to stay informed: the robot apocalypse is coming, and I, for one, intend to be ready. Intentionally consuming news from reliable sources is one thing, but do you have any idea how much time you spend inadvertently making yourself scared and angry on your phone? No, and I suspect this is not information I will enjoy learning. Definitely not. New survey data suggests people might spend up to five years of their waking lives doomscrolling. What? That cannot be right – break it down for me. Well, a Virgin Media O2 survey of more than 6,000 people across the UK has found that 36% of our phone use is “unintentional”. That’s automatically flicking between apps and checking our phones out of habit, idly letting our thumbs show us all the most upsetting, frightening …

Gen Z Man Watches TV To Heal His Brain From Doomscrolling

Published by Jenni Sidey

Studies preaching about the negative effects TV had on kids’ brains were the bane of most of our childhoods, but some experts say it may actually be the antidote to too much doomscrolling. That’s not to say there wasn’t solid evidence to suggest TV harmed children, especially for those with seats 10 inches from the screen or who didn’t open a book until high school. In today’s world, however, the dangers of too much TV have been replaced with a different evil, known as short-form content. Somewhat surprisingly, many Gen Zers seem to be waking up to the impact a steady diet of TikTok videos has had on their attention spans. The solution one man proposed sounds a bit unconventional, though. A Gen Z man said he uses TV to ‘unfry’ his brain from endless short-form content. A Gen Z content creator known as @mmmmmmdelicious on TikTok admitted his penchant for short-form content, whether on TikTok, Instagram Reels, or elsewhere, has made it nearly impossible for him to watch anything longer than a short 30-second clip …

This tiny, magnetic e-reader could stop you from doomscrolling

Published by skeptic

It was love at first sight. It felt like scouring the mall, dipping in and out of sprawling department stores in search of a specific, elusive item, only to finally find what you’re looking for. Only, I didn’t even know I was searching for something like the Xteink X3, because I never dared dream of something so delightful: a tiny, MagSafe-compatible e-ink reader that could attach to my iPhone like a Pop Socket. This was it. My life would change forever. I would get my hands on the Xteink X3, and I would stop doomscrolling forever. I would read more books than ever before… which is saying something, since – brag – I read at least 50 books a year. But – not a brag – I probably spend even more time on social media than I do reading. I know that I feel generally less anxious when I limit my social media time, but alas, the siren song of TikTok beckons me. What if instead of opening social media, I could just flip my …

A chunky digital cat is here to help you stop doomscrolling

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Every day, the average American spends nearly 2.5 hours scrolling through social media. Cats, on the other hand, waste approximately no time on the internet. Which species generally appears less stressed and anxious? Sure, this may not be the most scientific analysis about mental health and screen time, but it’s never a bad idea to try limiting the amount of idle time wasted in front of a computer or smartphone. And while there are plenty of apps and devices promising to reduce your social media consumption, their results are often uneven and many require costly subscription fees. Knowing this, a developer in Japan released a completely free Chrome browser extension designed to throttle your doomscrolling. Their secret weapon? Cat Gatekeeper. “You know that cat who always shows up right when you’re trying to work? We’vee recreated that classic cat-owner experience in your browser,” the extension’s creators explain on its description page. “Let’s face it—humans are just servants to their …

Apps to distract you from the endless cycle of doomscrolling

Published by skeptic

You open your phone to check the time or a quick message. The next thing you know, an hour has passed and you’ve scrolled through endless celebrity drama, cat videos, awful news stories, influencer rants, and whatever else the algorithm decided to throw at you. Even though you probably don’t want to keep wasting your time and energy on this mind-numbing content, you do it again the next day. Doomscrolling, the habit of spending excessive amounts of time consuming content on social media, has become incredibly widespread. A survey from last year found that 64% of Americans say they doomscroll. Researchers have warned that doomscrolling can negatively affect several aspects of your well-being, including your mental health and attention span. Spending long periods scrolling can lead to brain fatigue, difficulty focusing, and disrupted sleep. And if a lot of the content you’re consuming is negative or stressful, it can leave you feeling disheartened, anxious, and emotionally drained. It’s hard to break the cycle of doomscrolling, but there are plenty of apps that provide content that’s …

Why Missile Alerts and War Updates Trigger Doomscrolling

Published by skeptic

As missiles crossed the Persian Gulf this weekend and explosions were reported across the region, millions of people did the same thing: They reached for their phones. Within minutes, social media feeds filled with videos, breaking news alerts, and speculation about what might happen next. The strikes followed the US-Israel attacks inside Iran earlier in the week, triggering a wave of retaliatory missile launches and air defense interceptions across several Gulf states. Moments like this are when social media can quickly turn into doomscrolling—the compulsive consumption of bad news delivered through endless updates, alerts, and algorithmically amplified crises. A quick check for information can easily spiral into a stream of war updates, political instability, cyberattacks, and constant crisis coverage. In the days since the first strikes, that stream has only intensified. Videos of missile interceptions, airspace closures, and cyber incidents (as well as plenty of misinformation) have circulated online within minutes of each new development. With confirmed information emerging slowly but updates arriving constantly, many users find themselves refreshing feeds repeatedly, trying to piece together …

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All posts tagged: Doomscrolling

The best albums of the year (so far): Music to stop the doomscrolling

How to actually reduce your screen time: 12 simple, realistic tips to stop doomscrolling | Technology

Dreambeans finally gives you a reason to stop doomscrolling, and it’s actually clever

This tiny, magnetic e-reader could stop you from doomscrolling

A chunky digital cat is here to help you stop doomscrolling

Apps to distract you from the endless cycle of doomscrolling