Can I get a description of the subjective experience of unfun superstimuli? Usually for me, I'm having fun - but clearly many others don't but do it anyways.
For some reason I seem to be much less susceptible to consuming unfun superstimulus, which is weird given how I am generally impulsive/lazy/low executive function/etc and even used to have harmful compulsions.[1] If I didn't already know better I would predict I'd have a problem with unfun social media!
Short form video generally is boring, it don't want to see more unless I feel like the next might be good.[2] I generally prefer text over video. The content is banal and so doesn't hold my attention for long. When I was much younger I'd scroll reddit for memes but those (along with video games) became less interesting. It's like when people talk about celebrities I don't care about, or sports, except at least then there's some substance to engage with and they can talk in more depth about it.
Here are some other examples of superstimuli, most of which I enjoy; I also don't feel that my joy in other stuff is dampened (a common concern of superstimuli):
I'm glad the world has makeup and that I get the opportunity to see prettier people (both in meatspace and on TV).
Probably this makes me feel worse about my appearance via ingrained standards, but internally it doesn't feel that way (it internally feels bad if I look anti-pretty, good if I look pretty, and while I wish I looked super pretty it really doesn't feel like it makes me feel worse about myself), and it also doesn't diminish my enjoyment of romantic or sexual partners.
Likewise I really like staying up late, even thought it has bad consequences. It's like (a weaker form of) chilling with friends when you have work to do - it has a cost but it's part of what makes life fun.
Obviously many don't feel this way, I hope someone describes what they hate about it and how they are drawn in anyways. It's unfortunate that most who feel like this and write about it assume it's universal, as they had the perfect opportunity to explain it to me.
From when I was younger and depressed: banging my head on tables and finding it difficult to stop despite the experience sucking. It's like scratching an itch that actively hurts to scratch, even knowing that you'll make things worse by doing so and not wanting the wound to grow.
Likewise I struggle to do work in a way that feels somewhat similar. I would think social media for others is analogous, but also when I describe my difficulties getting myself to e.g. fold my clothes, people tend to not relate.
My twitter feed sometimes has cool stuff, but othertimes is filled with boredom, so sometimes I find myself scrolling past boring stuff hoping to hit something cool even when this expectation is unreasonable. But if my feed never had cool stuff then I think I wouldn't have the problem.
I remember watching Youtube videos and thinking "This is the last video, I will quit after this". However, as soon as the video ends, my preferences would suddenly change to wanting to do one more!
Many of us understand this false dichotomy:
after the video endsat 3 amSo I would (sometimes) stop binging videos, but only if I quit mid-way through.
Then short-form videos wrecked me.
These (tik-toks/shorts/reels) have NO "middle of the video" to have a moment of reflection. I'm constantly in that "high preference for the next hit" state. The algorithms are optimized against me and they're only getting worse!
From social dark matter, if it's taboo to admit to some "problem", then you won't hear about how many people have that "problem"[1]
My shoddy estimate[2] tells me that:
- 1/2 people reading this "waste" 1.5 hrs/day on unendorsed hyper-stimuli
- 1/4 waste 3+ hrs/day
- 1/5 waste 4+ hrs/day
- 1/10 waste 5+ hrs/day
And it's embarassing to talk about! I'm only writing this post because I have been productive/non-binging these past 2 weeks.
Solutions are likely personal, but here's what worked for me.
Keeping electronics & chargers outside of bedroom
When I waste time, it's usually on my side, in bed w/ my phone up to 3am (or when my phone dies).
Turns out I can simply keep my charger outside my bedroom and hook it up at night. In it's place, I've been reading fun, hard-cover fiction books, like The Martian, which I really enjoyed and look forward to:)[3]
Since I've started associating laying down in bed w/ only going to sleep, I've gotten much better sleep (so unintuitive, right?)
You too could move your chargers outside your room, read fun books, and get great sleep!
Seeing a Psychiatrist
I think I might have ADD, so I scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist with that ADHD-specialty advertised. I got an off-label prescription for Wellbutrin, which isn't an ADHD treatment (hence "off-label"), but has worked for me so far!
Other's on wellbutrin have said it doesn't help them w/ ADD specifically, but instead allowed starting better routines/habits, which is similar for me (see "Keeping electronics & chargers outside of bedroom")
Even if the effects wear off eventually, I do now have a psychiatrist to figure out a new solution. I predict I'll have found the medication that works for me in 5 months at worst, and I'm glad I started the process.
Take Vitamin D
It's currently winter and I don't get much sunshine, so I started taking vitamin D (w/ the wellbutrin, so unsure on the counterfactual).
Advice that previously worked for me
These are things I currently do which help or worked for a time but weren't sufficient.
Screen Time Passcodes that I don't Know
You can set app limits for your phone, such that you need to enter a passcode to add more time to[4], but I thought "but I'll know the passcode so I can just enter it".
But someone else can make the passcode instead (h/t to Thomas Kwa). Ideally this is someone you are in regular contact with (a partner/roommate) that can give you more time, but maybe it's embarassing because you told them you want to spend less time on it.
So I have a 5 min timer shared across instagram, youtube, X/twitter, & reddit.
A month of minimal social media usage
Alex Turner spent a month w/o social media based off of Digital Minimalism:
I did this back then and it was one of my most productive months! I do recommend reading the post if you intend to do so. You really do need good alternatives (e.g. reading books, calling friends, fun/exciting hobbies).
Just one cup of Coffee in the morning
If I drink coffee past 3pm, I have trouble falling asleep at 11pm.
Maybe Meditation?
Usually if I'm meditating 1+hrs/day, I can be quite productive and happy, but that's a lot! It also requires being skilled at it/not trying too hard, which is hard to explain.
I mention this because I signed up for that jhana Jhourney meditation retreat as a hedge in case other things don't work out for me. It's expensive though (like $1k-$3k), but a DYI version is close to these guided meditation sessions (which might require skills earlier in that guide) with a bigger emphasis on relaxing (e.g. laying down while meditating and being okay w/ napping) and even more playfulness/ experimentation.
New Year, New You
Hyperstimuli is bad and is just going to get worse. More people than you'd naively guess are affected by it due to selection effects, but I've succeeded (for 2 weeks, lol) and am much happier as a result.
I do jokingly tell my partner "New year; new me" when I choose to go to bed earlier. And you know, it is a new year, so feel free to use that as a good excuse to change your habits and live a better life.
I hope any of this advice is helpful for you, but I am also curious: how do you deal w/ super-stimuli?
"problem" in quotes because it's problematic relative to the current society (e.g. being gay was taboo in the US)
Most websites gave the average social media usage (for everyone in US) as 2 hrs 14 min But for children/teenagers, ~1/5 spend 3+ hours on tiktok alone. I sadly couldn't find a graph like above for adults and for all social media usage.
Extrapoloating, we could add an hour for other usage and subtract 30 min, assuming teenagers spend more time.
For me, the endorsed amount of short-form videos is 5 minutes and 1 hr for long form videos (if I'm watching it w/ someone).
Suppose everyone ideally wants 30 min/day, your avg person is spending 2 hours. Your top 20% is spending 3-4+ hours. Then 1/2 people reading this are "wasting" 1.5 hrs/day, 1/4 are wasting 3, 1/5 4, 1/10 5
I would recommend something funner/not too fun. I used to read meditation books, but those were too boring so there wasn't much incentive to go to bed early
on iPhones, you also have to select a button that makes the passcode required, otherwise you can just skip it. Who designed that?