I've done plenty to mitigate my online time, using the Hide Apps feature that my phone has, and so far so good.

But today I woke up and saw that a friend who only has Instagram for some reason sent me a message on there. So I replied.

I hadn't been on there in weeks now, since it's mostly reels these days, but clicking on the notification didn't send me directly to the message for some reason (maybe by design) and on launching the app a reel immediately began to play. I hit the back button and another reel played on the feed page, and my thumb reached for the bottom of the screen to scroll further and for a split second I forgot about the message...

I went on the app with one intention and it distracted me from it.

There is no messenger app for Instagram, in order to access the messages you must see the feed or some reel they decide to show, causing your brain to immediately be drawn to whatever it is that's playing, wanting to be curious about it, maybe wanting more...

If that's not addicting design, I don't know what is. And in my experience the desktop website is cumbersome and annoying to navigate. Is this done on purpose so that people have to use the app instead?

I always come across thinkpieces about people quitting Instagram and that they feel like they’ve shed a 10,000 pound burden weighing them down like a boulder. I find that when I step away from Instagram, it’s the easiest app to forget. What’s to really miss about a basic photo album that has been around for 12 years that hardly anyone ever interacts with? Anyway, Instagram is easily the most forgettable app to me. Facebook on the other hand….

Back then I'd come home from school late and just watch TV for a while or use the computer and just chat with people or check out forums. I'd do my homework at an after school program so the rest of the evening was mine to just relax.

Social media as we know it didn't exist then, and MySpace came later. I think since social media is relatively new compared to the rest of the Internet (it began in 2008-ish as far as I know, and the rest of the Internet has existed since 1991, possibly earlier) I'm more comfortable with one on one chats or group chats like chat rooms.

Forums still exist, and by using the internet like this - there's little to no brain rot or stress.

It's fun. And I can use my phone this way too: texting, messaging, phone calls.

No videos, maybe just e-books and music. If there's a video I want to watch I can wait until I get home where my browser extensions block anything distracting.

TV streaming, however is a godsend. I can try and make it like it's still 2005 by watching an episode or two or browsing the Live TV option.

No news, no brain rot, no toxicity.

Have used accountability groups in the past and they are very effective for me

We post our goals at the start of each week and then post pics in discord throughout the week of us doing said goal

Gives you a nice dopamine hit eveytime you complete a goal and get to post in the chat, especially if everyone gives you a little praise

I will be starting a discord for this if anyone is interested let me know

I'm building a Windows app that blocks vulgar/offensive websites – looking for testers!

Hey everyone! 👋

I'm currently working on a Windows desktop project – it's an app designed to detect and block access to websites that contain your words base . It can be for excample social media words, movies etc.

How it works:

• It monitors browser window titles, clipboard contents and keyboard.
• It uses fuzzy matching and a custom list of banned words (which you can modify).
• If it detects something similar to banned words, it can automatically close the browser tab or block further access.

This is still a work-in-progress and very experimental. But it already works decently in many scenarios. I'd love to have a few people try it out and give me honest feedback on stability, effectiveness, or ideas for improvements.

If you're interested in testing or collaborating (or just curious how it works), feel free to DM me or comment below.

Thanks!

I get it in a general sense, but how does it actually work to get a user addicted? It's also crazy how protected these databases and softwares are.

If you have the excuse "meh, I'm not even addicted to reddit, I'm just on it to ask questions on my hobby subreddits", just keep it, whatever, this post is not for you.

For those of you who thought for a while about deleting reddit but didn't find the motivation, please delete it right now, and then use a website blocker and block the URL. If you spend most of your time scrolling on popular, it is high time you delete the app. Go on and replace the time you spent on reddit on another hobby. May it be a sport, reading, cooking, whatever, hell you can even watch a movie if you want, pretty much anything you can do will be better than scrolling.

I hope some can find some motivation in this post! Best of luck and thank you to all of you who delete your account with me!

I have extreme urges and phone addiction and trying to fight it from years and I need to use every second of my life and simply I can't

So I need something that is impossible to bypass And Free bec I'm extremely broke student that in domestic abuse

And unlimited at least in apps to block idc about ads but at least get those Basics

I tried most famous apps there and I researched them including stay focused, stayfree appblock and others Also I'm on ANDROID

I have managed to quit instagram tiktok and everything besides youtube shorts.

I'm trying to find a way to block youtube shorts or the site it self my chrome (android)
i've downloaded revanced but still seem to find my self in the chrome browser

anyone knows a way?

The 2012 digital revolution was just smartphones being affordable universally while it was only available for the upper classes before that, there were addictions but not significant to radicalise nor to be sloppy.

Fast forward a decade later, as a result of the pandemic, we have the 2023 digital revolution, but this time it was very significant. As almost everything is centralised on our larger smartphones and social media, many stuff are posted there, including grossly disinforming ones that create echochambers; such as Andrew Tate, Pearl, and the growing manosphere (and the female equivalent), the fake ex-Muslims, containing misogynistic, misandrist, homophobic, racist and even antisemetic stuff that stuffs down our generations' throats. Furthermore, other anti-life content. Due to the disinformation, literally so many people had been forced to lose their trust to the opposite gender, which results in so many refusing to go out. Let alone racism being a "funny" topic among our generation. You may say harassment of women and lgbt phobia was common among millenials in the 90s and 2000s in places like US (idk about here UK), but due to this revolution, these are normalised again. We should not have patriarchy reverting back, we should not make the Western world become similar to Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Middle Eastern or South African norms.

We need to realise soon that this is wrong, this is disinformation. The digital age should not be abused like that. The digital age should be used as an advantage and be used properly! Not as a source of radicalisation.

I need a desktop app that is free and doesn't block important features behind a paywall. It's crucial that I could lock it with a password.

Hello,

I enjoy streaming on twitch but I find myself constantly looking over at discord. I would like to limit my discord time. I have very low impulse control so something that completely stops me would be awesome. I’d like to have like an hour a day and a one day a week to use it. I would also like to always have it in the background running though.

Is this possible? I was looking at coldturkey but I don’t know enough about the software.

Thank you

These days, I wake up around 7am, cook breakfast with my partner, hit the gym, and get focused work done by noon. I’m reading again, building habits I actually stick to, and I feel -- calm. Present.

A year ago? I was falling asleep at 3am after hours of gaming, skipping meals, ghosting plans, and telling myself I’d “do better tomorrow.” I wasn’t addicted because I loved gaming -- I was addicted because I didn’t know how to face my life without it.

So I quit.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

- Gaming wasn’t the real problem. It was how I escaped stress, boredom, and anxiety. Once I stopped, those feelings didn’t go away—they just came to the surface, and I had to actually deal with them.
- Dopamine fatigue is real. Gaming gave me constant instant rewards, so everything else felt boring. After quitting, it took time, but I started enjoying little things again: walks, real conversations, making breakfast.
- Quitting gave me back mental bandwidth. I started going to the gym (used the Strong app to track workouts), did chores with music on, and rediscovered reading—though my attention span was fried at first. A friend recommended BeFreed, which made books actually accessible again with summaries and audio. That helped a lot.
- I built small habits to stay on track:
· Deleted all games and unfollowed gaming channels
· Used Streaks to track no-gaming days
· Made a "craving plan": water + walk + short journaling
· Journaled in Day One when I felt restless

There were tough nights. But waking up clear-headed, not ashamed or exhausted, made it worth it.

If you’re thinking of quitting, start with 3 days. Then 7. Then 30. It’s not about giving up fun—it’s about giving yourself the space to actually live.

So I prob am the old head in the room but ive been on the internet off and on since 1993, Maybe longer if your count BBS systems. I am in my early 40s and I honestly just cant take it anymore. The internet from a commerce and learning tool, is pretty damn awesome. From a social interaction point of view. Its mostly hot trash. From arguing to people in the comments just to be a dick and not add anything to the conversation. To noticing that we went from a decent ability to find information to, its all AI bot created garbage from dudes in india in hopes of making a couple dollars. Then you have half the internet trying to be youtube famous or a porn star on onlyfans cause working a simple job is too hard, got to show my thot ass on the internet, which by the way, side rant.

I could sort of understand if your decent looking, maybe you have a chance and no, not trying to pick on anyone but most of the women look haggard as hell like they went ww2, same with the dudes doing it. Im not trying to kink shame in what people like but damn, 60 yo 500 pound grannies with titties to the ground, why are you doing that grandma, like shouldnt you be making some cookies or something? No, who told you it was a good idea to make a OF to show off your 2 inch micro peen with your bud light beer gut with faded as hell tattoos my guy. Im old, I have no want to show my old ass on the internet, I think if I did, it would be marked as a crime against humanity. I have no issues with porn but come on, show some standards. Side rant over.

I guess Im just done with it. Done with the internet and smart...anything. I am not saying I will never want to use the internet again and be a Luddite. I still think its a good tool to buy stuff or learn a hobby but the social aspect and the constant shot gun blast to the face of news its draining.

Like I spent a week trying to filter out news from my feeds, my phone, my computer and it keeps coming back. I will disable the news feed within windows login screen and start bar and a week or two later, a update happens and bam, news. On youtube, i spent a good month, deleting subs that remotely dealt with the news. Disabling my history, blocking any channel they recommend and it came back to fucking news. I know the world is tire fire, but can i please be able to search tokyo walks or how to program a batch file and not have like non stop negative videos about the subject or news that aint even related to it. Then when I do get videos I like, the comments are insane. I was watching a 4k tokyo walk and someone posted about how people basically just leave their bikes out and unlocked there in a lot of places and no one takes them and that one comment spiraled into how bad black people are and we need to use the 2nd amendment to kill thieves in America. Like dude, its a walk video, no talking, just wondering the streets of shibuya, people watch these to calm down, have in the background, see things they never seen before, not argue about american politics, poverty, and guns. Yes I know there are browser extensions that can remove comments but sometimes comments are nice to see how others like the thing your reading or watching. Its just crazy that some of the channels I follow are not even in English, mostly Japanese or Korean and here come the fucking trolls to start shit in English. Like dude just shut your mouth and watch the video about cool shit. My next issue is AI information/ Dumb 5 min craft videos that can get you killed.

My other issue with the internet is the AI/bots. Like I used to find the internet very useful to find things, especially stuff from the late 90s, early 2k. Like when Im trying to remember a book or show, or maybe a computer setting in windows 98se I need to use. Its like everything after prob 2010 is mostly gone. I get sites shut down and people cant keep servers running forever but it just seems like a lot of early tech and internet stuff is just vanished. Its replaced with AI/Bot made content. Google use to be useful for their searches, now its just spam sites and AI crap. Then you waste half a day until you finally find the information that should of been on the front page. Its just draining me to the point I dont even want to look at the shit anymore. So I guess I wont. I might check things from time to time, order food through an app, use a learning site but beyond that I'm pretty much done.

I honestly think the internet became garbage when the normies came on the scene. The time when you had to use a computer to access the internet and most people couldnt really afford the long distance bill for their dial up service. Before when everyone had a smart phone and could just spew garbage all day. Like I liked early cell phones getting email or maybe use a java based app that you can Instant message friends, maybe post in a small walled garden kinda place like yahoo or aol chat but after that it just went to total trash. Sorry, its a bit of a rant.

TDLR- Most of the internet sucks now, kills your attention, social skills, and is only meant to show you bad news and AI made content. Its time to leave.

For context, I'm a 27 year old woman, single sheltered child with overprotective parents(I still stay with them, though I have stayed by myself in college at the hostel) , with anxiety(including some social anxiety, though it's not very obvious). Because of various stressors in college, I became addicted to the internet- and have been since the last 8 or so years, thought it's much less now, but it feels like it has permanently given me brain fog. I have friends , and am able to talk to strangers/ people and be friendly. But, this dynamic of teasing/ roasting/ sarcasm is a bit missing with my friends, from my side. I am a people pleaser too, so there's the matter of not wanting to say anything mean. So, I generally make straightforward, sincere statements, take things at face value a lot of times, and people consider me innocent, for lack of a better word. I sometimes do not get their sarcasm, neither do I indulge in it. It makes me feel sad. and socially a bit isolated. I also read somewhere, that 'concrete thinking' is the term for what I do, and it is seen in people who are not very analytical/ have low intelligence. Also, I'm a little less observant - some people call me a dreamer / I am not a very mindful person, so that's part of it. But me being this way is causing me distress- I feel low about myself a lot of times. I do know I have to work on being more mindful and observant, but is there anything else I can do to improve on this aspect?

Maybe this is not the right sub for it, maybe it's not because of the heavy internet usage, because a lot of people exposed to the internet are exposed to tons of sarcasm, and I fear that it's just me as a person who's like this- makes it worse for me, because it feels like there's no scope for improvement.

Some people say that putting your phone to greyscale will reduce phone addiction, for those that tried that, did it work? Tell me your experience

I swear, every time I try to be productive, the internet drags me into its web like a spider with a PhD in distraction. One second, I’m Googling “how to fix my sleep schedule,” and the next, I’m an expert on wallpaper from the French Revolution. Is this the "deep dive" I signed up for? Help me, I’m drowning in tabs.

It's so easy to suppress our problems when we can just numb ourselves to that empty feeling. I feel like I have an actual neurological dependence on my phone I can feel it lingering even when i'm not using it and it's scary. I don't feel like an actual human anymore. I'm trying not to use it for the rest of the day because i'm trying to lower my screen time substantially and just wanted to brain dump these thoughts in case anyone can relate .

[Cena 1 – Abertura com música animada] Narrador (voz alegre): “Olá, amiguinhos! Hoje vamos falar sobre… os parasitas! Eca! Mas calma, eles podem ser assustadores, mas a gente vai aprender a se proteger deles!”

[Cena 2 – Apresentação dos personagens] Animação mostra dois personagens: o Dr. Corpo (um corpo humano com jaleco) e a Lili Lupa (uma lupa falante).

Dr. Corpo: “Oi, pessoal! Eu sou o Dr. Corpo, e hoje vou mostrar quem são esses visitantes chatos que causam as parasitoses!”

Lili Lupa: “Oiê! Eu sou a Lili Lupa, e vou te ajudar a enxergar esses bichinhos minúsculos que adoram bagunçar o nosso corpo!”

[Cena 3 – O que são parasitas?] Imagens animadas de vermes e protozoários fofinhos (mas com cara de malandros).

Dr. Corpo: “Parasitas são seres muito pequenininhos que vivem dentro ou fora do corpo de alguém, só pra se alimentar e causar confusão!”

Lili Lupa: “Eles não pedem licença, entram escondidos e podem deixar a gente bem dodói!”

[Cena 4 – Tipos de parasitas] Animação com destaque para: lombriga, piolho e ameba.

Dr. Corpo: “Tem parasita que vive no nosso intestino, como a lombriga…”

Lili Lupa: “E tem os que moram na cabeça, como os piolhos! Coçam que é uma beleza!”

[Cena 5 – Como eles entram no nosso corpo?] Cena de uma criança comendo sem lavar as mãos, nadando em rio sujo, pegando bichinhos no chão.

Lili Lupa: “Eles entram quando a gente não lava bem as mãos, come comida suja ou anda descalço na terra!”

Dr. Corpo: “Por isso, higiene é super importante, viu?”

[Cena 6 – Como evitar parasitoses?] Lista ilustrada com voz alegre: • Lavar bem as mãos • Beber água limpa • Lavar frutas e verduras • Não andar descalço • Tomar banho todo dia

[Cena 7 – Encerramento] Lili Lupa: “Agora que você já conhece os parasitas, é só seguir essas dicas e se manter saudável!”

Dr. Corpo: “Nosso corpo agradece! Até a próxima, pessoal!”

[Cena 1 – Abertura com música animada] Narrador (voz alegre): “Olá, amiguinhos! Hoje vamos falar sobre… os parasitas! Eca! Mas calma, eles podem ser assustadores, mas a gente vai aprender a se proteger deles!”

[Cena 2 – Apresentação dos personagens] Animação mostra dois personagens: o Dr. Corpo (um corpo humano com jaleco) e a Lili Lupa (uma lupa falante).

Dr. Corpo: “Oi, pessoal! Eu sou o Dr. Corpo, e hoje vou mostrar quem são esses visitantes chatos que causam as parasitoses!”

Lili Lupa: “Oiê! Eu sou a Lili Lupa, e vou te ajudar a enxergar esses bichinhos minúsculos que adoram bagunçar o nosso corpo!”

[Cena 3 – O que são parasitas?] Imagens animadas de vermes e protozoários fofinhos (mas com cara de malandros).

Dr. Corpo: “Parasitas são seres muito pequenininhos que vivem dentro ou fora do corpo de alguém, só pra se alimentar e causar confusão!”

Lili Lupa: “Eles não pedem licença, entram escondidos e podem deixar a gente bem dodói!”

[Cena 4 – Tipos de parasitas] Animação com destaque para: lombriga, piolho e ameba.

Dr. Corpo: “Tem parasita que vive no nosso intestino, como a lombriga…”

Lili Lupa: “E tem os que moram na cabeça, como os piolhos! Coçam que é uma beleza!”

[Cena 5 – Como eles entram no nosso corpo?] Cena de uma criança comendo sem lavar as mãos, nadando em rio sujo, pegando bichinhos no chão.

Lili Lupa: “Eles entram quando a gente não lava bem as mãos, come comida suja ou anda descalço na terra!”

Dr. Corpo: “Por isso, higiene é super importante, viu?”

[Cena 6 – Como evitar parasitoses?] Lista ilustrada com voz alegre: • Lavar bem as mãos • Beber água limpa • Lavar frutas e verduras • Não andar descalço • Tomar banho todo dia

[Cena 7 – Encerramento] Lili Lupa: “Agora que você já conhece os parasitas, é só seguir essas dicas e se manter saudável!”

Dr. Corpo: “Nosso corpo agradece! Até a próxima, pessoal!”

I know harsh changes don't build good habits in the beginning, but I have been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and have just really wanted to get my life together, I'm 21F and dropped out of high school when I was 18, while I regret this now I let that regret hold me back because I made it "too hard for myself" and instead of thinking practically on how to build a life for myself, I have spent the past 3 years on a screen, completely distracting myself from everything, turning days into minutes. This is embarrassing to admit, and I'm privileged to have family who have while not enabled me, kept me somehow surviving. I want change. I crave change. I don't want to never have social media again (if this is in the wrong group lmk) but I want to go cold turkey until I am positive that it would only be a creative outlet for me.

Done with rambling, this is a part of the 75 soft challenge I'm doing, normally the soft has easier habits and mine does, this is the only really hard one I have but I know it's needed if I'm going to accept where I am in life, I'm unsure if I'm going to allow this particular subreddit (I feel like it could help keep me motivated OR just give me the one thing I need to scroll) and I also know this is a horrible lack of self-discipline, that's why I want to do this, but yeah any advice before I go MIA tonight would be appreciated, long time lurker first time poster :p

edited a typo lol

I am leaving the internet because it's too addictive and any good it has given me is outweighed by all the time I have lost mindlessly scrolling.

Pretty much any time I go on the internet it's because I get an urge to see what's happening on reddit or pass some time watching youtube videos. I didn't know how to say no to these urges and at first, I didn't even think of it as wrong.

But as I grew more addicted to these things, I became more antisocial and less personable. My entire time in high school was ruined by this and I mostly kept to myself and didn't make any friends. Any break or lunch you could find me standing off by myself on my phone. I never did any homework because I would spend all my time procrastinating on screens. I still got all A's, which was more of a curse than a blessing because everyone, even my own family, thought of me as such a disciplined person, destined to succeed in life, and I never got any help with my addiction.

I have always been able to do well in stuff with little work. I don't say this as a brag, because I don't see it that way. I don't think it has actually helped me in life at all. To grow as a person you have to be challenged, you have to step outside of your comfort zone. I want to grow as a person, I want to get married, have a family, live a normal life. I don't want to go to college and have an easy time. I don't want to get a bunch of degrees. I don't even care about having a decent paying career. I just want to live life and connect with other people. But I wasted all my time doomscrolling during high school, and since I could get away with not doing homework, I just became more addicted, pushing me away from other people, and keeping myself perpetually immature.

My life reached a low when I went away to college. I couldn't find any motivation to study or make friends, and I resorted to spending all my time at the dorm on my laptop. I was diagnosed with ADD, but even adderall couldn't help me become the person I wanted to be. I was getting A's and B's even without studying, but my screen addiction was causing me to fall apart mentally. I went back home after one semester.

When I look back over the past few years, I can see that the internet has done nothing for me. While my screen addiction may not be the only problem I have, it is by far the one thing in my life that has done me the most harm. This is why I am giving it up. I'm deleting this account and blocking everything on my phone. From now on I will only use the internet when I need to.

The real world has so much better stuff to offer. I am going to spend my time working, reading books, playing piano, spending time with people, and growing as a person. There's a girl I'm going to ask out. I'll start going to a bible study. I'll use my time to go on hikes in the mountains. At 18, I still have some life ahead of me, and I'm not going to waste it on the internet.

I am not making this post because I think everyone should give up the internet. I am sure some people can find genuine joy from using it and not get addicted, but not me. I just hope that someone might come across this who has faced similar problems and be inspired to make such a change to better their life. For anyone reading this, I pray for the best in your life.