
I quit social media and now I want a cigarette - supr_strudl
https://hadalin.me/blog/i-quit-social-media-and-now-i-want-a-cigarette
======
moksly
I’ve always found these articles fascinating on HN, because while anecdotal,
hacker news is easily the social media that has wasted the most of my time and
been the source of the most stress and anxiety (aren’t you using this new tech
yet?).

The privacy issue doesn’t exist here, at least not unless you decide to share,
but if you do, you actually won’t be able to delete your posts unless you
contact the admins.

Facebook actually adds a lot more value to my life than HN does because
Facebook is the place one of my friend groups arrange our 4-6 yearly weekend
retreats. This is the only thing I use Facebook for though, I don’t have any
of their apps and I only log on a couple of times a month. Don’t get me wrong,
I wish we could do it on some other medium exactly because of facebooks evil
history, but unfortunately Facebook is the only place everyone is.

I used to use Facebook differently, I used to follow things and interests, but
one I removed all my likes and follows it became a pretty harmless address
book that sells my information to advertising. Hacker news on the other hand
is where I waste the most of my online time, and mostly it’s on feeling
inferior because I’m not learning X and Y or starting some side project
company. This is anecdotal like I said, but I don’t think HN is any better
than FB from a purely psychological point of view. Facebook is obviously still
more evil due to the privacy issues, but this article is about the cigarette
side of social media.

~~~
agumonkey
we need a legacynews where people discuss how they're not transitioning to
java8 but keep java7 for now

~~~
shantly
"How Perl 5 is basically fine and gets the job done"

"If node is so fast why does my PHP site feel way faster than this
React+Redux+Node thingy? An inquiry into what 'fast' means."

"Why GUIs in things other than webtech are actually not hard at all and work
way better."

~~~
agumonkey
> "If node is so fast why does my PHP site feel way faster than this
> React+Redux+Node thingy? An inquiry into what 'fast' means."

this actually a true statement.

I probably spent a thousand hours deeply mocking PHP, but everytime I use
their website I'm shocked how lean everything is.

Given the infinte amount of brilliant work done on js VMs and HTTP2 or
whatever, I think there's something to be learned there.

~~~
derefr
PHP is, at its core (i.e. after in-engine precompilation), a hand-coded-in-C
virtual machine with its ISA purpose-designed for efficiently generating
dynamic HTML from the results of backend network service requests.

Honestly, that’s not a bad idea. It’s a lot like how many old game consoles
have ISAs that specifically make game software efficient to run compared to
generic application software. Purpose-built architectures can be exploited to
achieve incredible efficiencies in CPU/memory usage for a given effect—as any
demoscene programmer could tell you. Even emulators running this CISC code
often outperform the same code written idiomatically for the host arch (see:
one of the reasons that z/OS FORTRAN programs stick around.)

So far as I know, we haven’t recapitulated this approach in any other modern
stack. Sure, we “compile” templates, but only to the bytecode ISA of the
scripting language hosting the MVC framework, which has none of these dynamic-
HTML-oriented CISC opcodes (other than _maybe_ the Erlang VM’s vectorized
write of “IO lists” using writev(2).)

A web MVC framework for another language (e.g. Ruby, Node, Elixir, whichever!)
would actually likely do well in performance terms by having its “view”
component be a static PHP (or Zend microcode) generator, feeding the web
frontend (e.g. Nginx) a directory of PHP to expose to the world, which would
only call into the server backend (and so the MVC controller) through API-
subdomain subrequests. The static-generated PHP “app” would serve the same
purpose as a JavaScript SPA... but would exist on the server together with the
backend, so there’d be much less point in persisting state there (since you’re
not patching over a latency boundary by doing so.)

There’d probably be even more efficiencies to uncover if you designed an ISA
from the ground up to be used _solely_ for this purpose (i.e. being “edge-
worker logic” spat out during a backend’s compilation phase), though, compared
to PHP which must be Turing-complete for those that want to use it as a full-
stack solution. I imagine the resulting ISA would look like some weird
bytecode hybrid of eBPF, Server-Side Includes, and Nginx’s in-memory
representation of loaded location{} entries. (I also imagine that some
Cloudflare engineer already has a design for such an ISA in a notebook
somewhere, as a more-efficient-through-constraints Cloudflare Workers
target—but they haven’t bothered going further because it’s kind of an arcane
idea and they’d need buy-in from framework devs before it’d be useful to
build.)

------
meerita
I have partially removed all my social networks except Twitter. I want to find
out about things in real time, and from various sources, therefore Twitter is
still a valid medium for this purpose. Although I interact little in the
discussions.

Leaving Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and other networks gave me automatic
anxiety relief. I no longer care what anyone close to me thinks and I don't
get into discussions with close relatives.

My life as a conservative is much better without social networks where they
censor me non-stop, just Twitter and being very careful with what I write and
how I write it I can more or less start conversations. Sooner or later I will
leave Twitter too, it is a matter of finding another social network, free and
open and nurtured by people.

~~~
jbob2000
I’m curious why you’re being censored. Are you a fiscal conservative, or a
social conservative?

Because I have a bunch of fiscal conservatives on my Facebook and the only
thing they post about is monetary policy. Nothing about abortions, marriage,
immigration, or policing - the things social conservatives tend to drive
themselves red in the face with.

It might be worth examining your own discourse to understand why you were
being censored (or _felt_ you were being censored). I’m not saying you’re
doing anything wrong, I’m just wondering if you’ve ever reflected on what you
post and how people react to it.

~~~
rpmisms
And what's the difference? What makes being a social conservative less valid?
You're coming from a very high-and-mighty standpoint here, when the simple
truth is that he should not be censored.

~~~
jbob2000
I don't want to get into the mud on social conservatism. These people want to
undo abortion and marriage rights, among a lot of other social progress we
have made. Do I really need to explain the difference between someone who
likes to debate interest rate hikes with someone who wants to remove rights
for women and LGBT people?

I'm not being high and mighty. I simply asked if he had reflected on why he
felt censored. If he was sharing fake news about Hillary being a lizard
person, then yeah, I understand why people would remove him from their
newsfeed.

~~~
rpmisms
And there you go. Check your bias, because it's making you sound remarkably
like you have an excellent elbow-pad-and-fedora collection,

------
seanwilson
I can't help but feel that people that become addicted to social media should
really be looking for underlying issues they need to address e.g. the need to
compare themselves to others, the need for validation from likes/upvotes. If
the underlying issue is still there, quitting social media isn't addressing
the cause.

I use social media to keep in contact with friends and can't relate to posts
like this at all. I don't check often, rarely see the point in posting and
generally feel bad for people that boast all the time about how great their
life is.

~~~
kennyadam
In my experience with addiction (drugs), there's always an underlying cause.
The problem is, there are lots and lots of people with unaddressed issues that
aren't seeking or can't obtain the proper solution/advice/help/whatever and
end up self-medicating with drugs, video games, social media, etc.

------
darrmit
This is a refreshing article to see on HN because it’s not the typical
clickbait “I did X and my life is changed forever” nor is it “I quit X and I’m
better than you for it”.

It echoes my personal experience. I’ve gone without social media for extended
periods - years. But I’ve always filled the boredom void with something else:
HN, work, other websites.

Now I have a Facebook account but I have a very small number of friends and
family I keep up with and I follow a small number of interests. I run out of
things to scroll often and that’s okay.

~~~
non-entity
Same here. Worse, I thought I would be able to channel my time into something
at least productive whether that be side projects or getting my life together,
but I still can't

------
BucketSort
I quit social media and after a while I couldn't even make sense of why I was
there to begin with. "There was no value lost... what the hell was I doing on
there all this time?" I never had any "glowing" experience on social media, no
memories, yet so much time wasted. People just aren't that interesting. It's
all the same stuff over and over again. And if you do get into something
interesting, you end up with an exchange of 20+ comments which just seems out
of place... especially on FB.

------
jordan801
I quit Facebook and Alcohol at the same time, cold turkey. Facebook I didn't
even notice. I looked back after a few months and thought, "oh yeah, I did
also quit Facebook". I didn't delete it. I just stopped using it.

Quitting Facebook changed basically nothing. Now I don't get done with a
Facebook binge and feel like I just wasted 10-30 minutes of life. Alcohol was
a totally different experience.

The one thing that I regret about not having Facebook is organizing events.
I've missed a couple with good friends, because I simply don't have Facebook.
As a software developer, I wonder if this is something I can change. Perhaps
couple Facebook's API with Twilio's API and convert events into text messages.
Perhaps a completely separate system that I have to urge my friends to adopt,
simply for my inclusion.

Not sure what the solution is, but the problem itself isn't worthy of luring
me back into Facebook.

~~~
a_geeky_bro
Do you care to share more about how quitting alcohol was? How much were you
drinking before you quit? How do you curb cravings? I'm in a similar boat and
I've honestly found LaCroix to be one of the best substitutes for the urge to
open a drink.

~~~
rahoulb
If you've not already, I recommend reading "This Naked Mind" by Annie Grace

------
mordymoop
Social media is addictive in roughly the same sense that not punching yourself
in the face is addictive. The "dopamine hit" aspect is grossly oversold.
Social media is distraction from suffering. Most addictive behavior is, but
social media is almost _entirely_ distraction from suffering.

If you don't do something about the background suffering that's leading you to
the distraction, you'll just fill that void with something else.

~~~
beshrkayali
Dozens of studies show the opposite of what you're saying. Social media
companies do every tick in the book, and then some, to get people addicted. In
certain cases what you're saying is true, but it might as well be the other
way around for the rest.

~~~
mordymoop
Let's say for the sake of argument that I was being hyperbolic with my
"punching yourself in the face" statement. Let's say you are addicted to
social media, and you use it for 5 hours a day. Let's say I take away your
phone. For a week. You will probably feel gradually diminishing impulses to
look at your phone, which will eventually subside almost entirely within a
handful of days. You will not experience withdrawals. You will not lose sleep.
You will (probably) not try to scam somebody else out of their phone. If I
hand you your phone back after a week, there's a good chance you might just
delete the social media apps off the phone yourself, having realized how much
time you were wasting.

In other words, if the social media companies are doing every trick in the
book, it's not really amounting to much. If you were spending 5 hours a day on
Facebook, it probably had a lot more to do with the general shape of your life
and opportunities for actualization and socialization, than it had to do with
intermittent reinforcement schedules.

And fundamentally what I'm saying is correct: it is mundane daily suffering
that creates the void filled by social media and other distractive addictions,
giving them a foothold in your life. This is orthogonal to any claims about
whether social media is "actually" "addictive".

~~~
beshrkayali
I think you're still generalizing based on how you feel, instead of analysing
this objectively. I quit a few years ago and for the most part I didn't even
notice after a month. But I've seen friends get offended and get into
arguments over likes, and teens online cry and go through withdrawal-like
symptoms over losing followers. The full effects of this stuff is yet to come
with young gen.

And no, it's not like anything physically addictive of course, but it still
has a hold on some, and the patterns are similar to other non-physical
addictions.

Edit: And how can you even say conclusively that it's mundane daily suffering
that creates the void filled by social media, and not that social media is
causing the creation of this void that is leading to mundane daily suffering?

------
donatj
> I absolutely cannot understand people who have 153 unread notifications.
> They're probably the same people who sleep with a blanket turned the other
> way around — zipper facing the head.

a) What kind of blanket has a zipper? I don’t think I have encountered any.

b) As the kind of person with several thousand unread emails, I don’t know why
people bother? I can easily search for the important stuff, and visually scan
the new pile a few times a day. I have better things to do with my life than
manage my inbox, I don’t need that stress. Family, video games, basically
anything else. It’s way more work than reward. I know a number of people this
drives absolutely nuts, but I don’t get it.

~~~
bestest
> a) What kind of blanket has a zipper? I don’t think I have encountered any.

This most probably refers to the "hole" which is used to insert the insert of
the blanket, which, for most people at least, means that it should be at the
"feet" end of the bed. It's just some blankets have zippers to cover the hole,
others have buttons etc.

~~~
donatj
Oh, I think we’re taking about a duvet cover? I believe that’s distinct from a
blanket, which is usually sealed fully or a single ply.

I have certainly never been duvet levels of fancy.

~~~
Broken_Hippo
One doesn't need to be fancy for duvet covers - merely live in a country where
the duvet is standard and the blanket is secondary.

United States: Duvets are fancy. Norway: Common, everyday stuff.

------
enz
> Social media is like smoking. It takes a while to get addicted. You do it
> because everyone is doing it

I would add: Besides, it tastes awful when you start, but you do it anyway
until you get familiar with it.

Just like the first days when discovering a social media without understanding
it and doing dumb things such as posting the wrong stuff etc.

------
corodra
PSA for anyone who does this, regarding the friends part. Hell, works well if
you happen to move to a new place too.

Go join a hobby club of some sort. Even if you're introverted. A structured
"social" activity makes it super easy, approachable and everyone (in my
experience) is welcoming.

Meetup.com is a pretty good place to start. Even the generic social groups are
fun too. Try your local library and rec center too for get togethers near you.
Or if you do have a decent friend circle already, do the leg work to
coordinate something. Doing a structured social activity helps a lot. Even
everyone bringing a random bottle of whiskey and watching a movie while you
all try different whiskeys is better than being home alone.

Having a real social network you meetup with, makes it real easy to cut back
on the addiction of social media.

~~~
woodrowbarlow
in my experience (4 years without "friend"-based social media), becoming
disconnected from friends is temporary. during the first year after quitting
social media, you will have to work hard to maintain relationships; _you_ will
have to instigate social time with your friends through other channels. but
after a while, it will start to work in your favor. when those same friends
are setting up events on facebook, they'll start to remember that you can only
be reached through other channels and they'll start reaching out to you even
when they might not have thought to invite you via facebook. and when they
want to have a conversation with somebody but don't feel like opening the
facebook app, who will they reach out to? you.

my approach was to keep my facebook account, but strip it of everything except
my name and a profile picture that says "i don't use fb, please text me". that
way, people can still be reminded that i exist and they know i'm always a text
message away.

------
imgabe
> I would pay a monthly subscription for an ad-free version of Facebook.

I think we're on the cusp of an explosion of ad-free subscription sites. An
ad-free subscription Facebook could provide all of the actual benefits of
Facebook at a fraction of the cost. No need to employ hundreds of PhD machine-
learning experts to analyze mouse movements if you're not trying to hyper-
optimize ads.

~~~
goatinaboat
The paradox is: people with the disposable income to pay for ad-free social
media are the most desirable advertising targets.

The reality is that a subscription Facebook would take your money _and_ sell a
profile of you for ads on other sites.

------
ubermonkey
My wife and I have taken opposite approaches, kinda, to curtailing social
media.

She removed the FB app from her phone, so she only takes a stroll through that
feed at night, while we're watching TV or whatever. She left Twitter entirely
(well, her account is there, but she neither reads nor posts anymore).

I still participate in Twitter, though I've moved some of the prolific
accounts I enjoy to Feedbin so my feed isn't impossible. It's about evenly
split between "people I actually know" and "entertainers / writers I like who
are clever." I don't go in for rage-Twitter or whatever.

I wish I could abandon FB entirely, but the network effects keep me there. The
biggest one is cycling. I'm an avid road rider, and in my city pretty much ALL
the coordination for cycling events (group rides, out of town trips, even
happy hours) is on FB. If you leave FB, you're out of the loop.

So in a real sense, FB is both healthy AND unhealthy for me.

~~~
ssully
I did the same thing your Wife did with Twitter. I found myself checking it at
work whenever I was stuck on a problem or basically whenever I was slightly
bored. It's great on keeping up on things and getting some good laughs, but it
was also draining in many ways as well (politics, being up to date on every
terrible thing in the world, etc).

I still check it every other night on my computer/ipad at home, or I'll login
from my phone if something big is happening. But not having the app on my
phone has made a huge difference.

A minor aside, but it was almost pathetic how the first day after I deleted
the app, without thinking, I would open my phone and click where the Twitter
app used to be. It took me about 2 days to get over that habit. It truly is an
addiction.

------
hartator
The funny thing is the people the most adamant about quiting social media are
usually the ones oversharing the most on it.

~~~
rbonvall
Selection bias. You don't find out about the ones that don't share.

I also quit social media and told no one (oops, it seems I just did).

------
bvanderveen
Apropos of LinkedIn: I run my own business. I deleted my LinkedIn last year
(having nuked everything else a year before) and the only thing that changed
is I get fewer mass mails from recruiters. My overall deal throughput is not
large enough make any statistically significant conclusions.

(edit: speling)

------
mikedd
I'm in the same boat. Recently quit LinkedIn too and am working on my
github.io page for people to contact me for potential opportunities. Have no
idea if it'll work out or not, in the long run but tbh, I feel a lot better
not being on these sites than vice-versa. Just my 2c :)

~~~
OJFord
My (early career, not notable - hang on why am I doing this to myself :)) CV
is hosted on GitHub, FWIW I have had a few people contact me as a result.

Sample size is small and it's anecdotal anyway, etc., but I do think the
quality (of all of them) is much higher than the average I get through
LinkedIn. I think it's certainly worth doing.

(And if you want to or have already written it in LaTeX, feel free to use the
Docker image & CircleCI config I created for the purpose.)

------
outime
I left Twitter (where I was very, very active since ~2008) and FB (which
didn't use much anyway) 2.5 years ago. For me, the typical listed benefits are
mostly true. I have a lot more time to spend mainly on side projects and
books, I stopped caring about futile arguments (-> less anxiety) and also
realized how little real connections most of us have. Overall, it made me
focus on the important stuff and never looked back.

Granted I do have other distractions and I'm not aiming to be a perfect
productive robot but social networks do affect us in at least some negative
ways.

Nevertheless there are cases where balanced usage is possible and you can reap
many benefits while experiencing fewer drawbacks. I couldn't use it in a smart
way though.

------
gwbas1c
> Social media is like smoking. It takes a while to get addicted.

It only takes about a pack of cigarettes to get addicted; but it takes awhile
to _realize_ you're addicted.

I'd say the same thing is true with Facebook. It took me about a decade to
realize I was addicted.

------
danso
> _For every “good” post I had to consume thirty “bad” ones. 30 /1 is just not
> that good of a ratio._

It'd be interesting to see the writer expound on his expectations for "good"
and "bad". Speaking for myself, I go into social media with much different
(i.e. lowered) standards than I do for other media, because the energy of
consumption/opportunity cost is so low. I couldn't stand consuming 10 bad
books/movies for every good one, but for tweets it's no problem. And of course
there are ways to increase the signal-noise ratio (trimming the list of users
you follow), but I generally like the serendipity of seeing what people are
randomly tweeting. I don't feel the pressure to consume my timeline feed more
than just a few swipes. And I find the Twitter default non-chronological sort
does a decent job of surfacing interesting content for me.

------
KirinDave
I can't work out if I should flag these articles or not. They seem off topic
and are almost invariably uninteresting and uninsightful. This one has the
added flaw of being written in an obnoxious way.

Why are these articles so popular here?

------
nakodari
Why not balance the usage with moderation that works for you? I would always
catch myself picking up the phone randomly and checking Facebook even if I
didn't plan to. I decided this was bad and it was distracting me from
experiencing the world and spending time with my family in the evening. So I
removed FB from my phone. I check FB once or twice a day for a few minutes on
my laptop during work and that's all. It works for me. I stay in touch with
some friends and at the same time, I am not addicted to checking it over and
over again on my phone throughout the day. Has anyone else tried the same?

~~~
tsmarsh
I quit for a year. Then figured I’d just use facebook for the bits that work
for me: local sales, peloton and fitness groups. My deal is no friends, not
even my wife. No posting about me, just the group, just helping/commenting
where it feels healthy for both me and the group.

------
ShadowFaxSam
I've always reflected on the idea of deleting my social media accounts,
especially after studying media in University. The more I learn about social
media, and other forms of media the more aware I am with regards to what I
post and share online. At the same time, I have friends all across the globe
and use social media to stay in contact with my friends. I have a question
though, would you consider Whatsapp to be social media? Especially because
users can share stories on the platform.

~~~
ryandrake
Don’t think of it as “I have to quit all Social Media. What is the exact
definition of Social Media so I include it in my quitting?”

If you think something you are doing is harmful, just stop doing it and don’t
worry if it counts as Social Media. It is highly personal and will be
different for everyone. For some people their WhatsApp usage is a net negative
and they should stop. For other people it might not be.

------
MatekCopatek
I have a slightly similar experience - I got off all social media, felt good
but not life-changing. My guess is this is due to not being an extremely
addicted user in the first place.

~~~
goto11
Don't you consider HN social media?

~~~
jperry
Why would you? I see it as more like a news site with a comments section.

I don't consider those to be social media either.

~~~
misterman0
Aren't we socializing right now?

~~~
HenryBemis
We have different definitions of socializing. Commenting on a piece of news or
opinions to enhance our thinking and gain knowledge/motivation/ideas, I don't
call that socializing. I haven't made any connections through this platform
and if I don't check the HNews for a week, I don't feel sad or missing anyone.
But that's me. Someone else may be more (in)vested in here and consider HN as
an integral part of their social life. I won't judge them.

~~~
TeMPOraL
I suppose there's a subtle viewpoint difference. You see yourself "commenting
on a piece of news". I (and presumably GP) see you socializing with the GP,
the way you could casually socialize with a stranger on a bus stop.

------
raverbashing
While social media impact on mental health is important, I have to confess
it's mostly self inflicted.

Once I realized the unfollow/mute button was there (not knowing it was,
realizing it was there), it was a no-brainer to just unfollow toxic people.

And while there's FOMO, sorry, don't turn your social posts into a political
propaganda piece/disgrace curating panel and I wouldn't have muted you

Follow the right people and it will be a much more smoother experience.

------
MrOxiMoron
I don't get that people want notifications for basic stuff. I always turn off
notifications and only leave the really important ones. Also no blinking
lights or sounds or vibrations, I check my phone often enough and if it is
really important those people can call me. Then social media is just a thing
to scroll through while on the toilet .

------
bobloblaw45
I had Myspace for a short period of time and hated it. When Facebook came out
I had it for about 2 weeks before deleting it, hated it as well. Even back
then people would love to get in stupid arguments for stupid reasons and
display a fabricated life. I've always felt like the weird one for not being
into these forms of social media.

------
amriksohata
According to Hinduism, we are all here in this world because our jiva (souls)
want to be the enjoyer, so we get the opporunity to enjoy. Hence the dopamine,
on anything, video games, cigs, social media etc. However self realisation is
when we realise we are but a tiny spec and not the true enjoyer at all.

------
quirkafleeg3
I've never had any issues with social media, and they key is making sure your
feeds are pleasent. I make sure that the people I follow on twitter are people
I like and people who post nice things, like fan art of franchises I like or
jokes. I never follow people who post stuff about politics.

------
jdlyga
I stopped posting pictures to social media since I realized I was just using
it to share them with friends and family. Instead, I just send them to group
chats or people individually. It feels a lot more personal that way.

------
Kiro
I mostly use social media to follow artists and DJs I like. It's my prime
source of finding new music and almost everything I see is relevant. I can
never relate to these posts and I feel like I'm in total minority.

~~~
mojuba
Very similar experience here, plus I find that Facebook is good at suggesting
and planning events, seeing who's going. Pretty much the only useful function
for me. I follow a bunch of music venues and galleries and occasionally invite
FB friends to attend if there's anything interesting. Works just brilliant.

Twitter is more for following music makers, labels and things like Boiler
Room. Just for a daily doze of music and music news. I guess that's another
form of addiction though...

Everything else, I just don't understand what people are complaining about and
why it would require such an effort to quit. Don't like what you see, or don't
find it useful? Just unfollow!

~~~
markus92
Guess I'm also in this boat. Facebook is my main way of keeping track of gigs
in and around town.

------
investologia
Some people scroll social media, some watch the Khardashians, Some play World
of Warcraft, and some smoke cigarettes

Most of the people are addicted to something and it might not be the worst
thing in the world if you somehow keep it balanced

~~~
BigJ1211
Just because you spend a large amount of time on something that doesn't mean
you're addicted to it. We shouldn't really throw that around willy-nilly. If
your hobby isn't detrimental to your life, you're fine.

------
agumonkey
forget social network, join a local group that do whatever is nice for
neighbors or the area

it's probably widely healthier on every metrics

~~~
ryanmercer
Many local groups use Facebook to organize/communicate though.

Via private groups: our local Atari group does and we similarly have one for
regional vintage computer gatherings, my Church does, one of my Lodges does,
one of my gyms does and I know of several others in the area that do.

Via pages/events: some local tattoo shops that regularly have events, several
local venues, numerous gyms and their various strength competitions will have
all communication/announcements through an event page associated with the page
of the gym hosting the event, etc.

It's effective because people know to go check Facebook for an update about
the group/event, you don't have to worry about an email ending up in a spam
filter or someone not seeing a flyer posted, you can post real-time updates
like when our meeting place for the local Atari group was closed due to the
weather instead of needing to text 2 dozen people, or when snow/ice
necessitates a Church event being cancelled or when there are storms in the
area and we can post what members need help.

~~~
agumonkey
Then cut facebook usage as a tool too. #radical

------
ulisesrmzroche
How trendy. Next up hipster PDA making a comeback?

------
eafkuor
Another "I quit social media" post? Haven't we had enough of this? How are
these interesting?

~~~
dev_256
All of them are about how awesome life is after quitting. This one is not.

------
11235813213455
the good side about social media is you can totally ignore it, cigarettes on
the other side it's not easy as soon as you're among other people

~~~
Funes-
Well, social media, and smartphones in general, make people around you ignore
their immediate environment--including you--, so there's that.

------
tripzilch
That Joe Rogan video linked in the article has some _super_ questionable
statistics and misleading graphs (which are then described badly for the
podcast listeners leaving out "details" such as "there are only three data
points but they still drew a line through them").

Not that the thing they're talking about might not be a real effect, but holy
hell

~~~
blow-jogan
Joe Rogan is fantastically meat headed about so many things, but really he's a
jack of all trades, master of none, and he majors in cardio kickboxing.

The thing is, he often operates pretty engaging interviews, and the Murray
Gell-Mann amnesia is in full effect for all of them. He's basically talk
radio, and despite the subject matter, he refrains from sophomoric shock jock
goofing off, unlike Howard Stern.

He is willing to meet most guests in the middle, and he's got the gift of gab,
but infrequently waxing blow hard, with a few exceptions. Most notably: gender
identity politics. But other than that, he's plays pretty fair with everyone
across the political spectrum (he's had more than a few gay/lesbian gender
bending guests on), even if head count favors hypermasculine tropes, and
satellite ideologies.

But while having serious pop-science guests on the show, fringe UFO theories
are bread and butter among pro-wrestling enthusiasts that enjoy the art of
kayfabe. And if you think it's all in good fun, hey that's fine, but Joe Rogan
certainly seems to eat up junk science all the time.

His recent show with Bob Lazar, discussing Area 51 was filled with "what-if"
tales of anti-gravity and synthetic Element 115, which was futuristic when it
emerged in the 1980's but hasn't withstood the test of time. He talks of
cyclotrons shooting anti-matter at government synthetsized Moscovium fuel
pellets to produce free energy and, then by turns, anti-gravity, concluding in
time travel and teleportation. Joe just gobbles it up like a wide-eyed Joe The
Plumber, and the rest of the bullshit artistry piles up. Now, faster than
light travel across megaparsecs is an open, probable reality, and so too,
alien races from Zeta Reticuli. The _Grays_ are really androids. They're at
war with The Reptilians, which is why an asteroid killed the dinosaurs.
Riiiiight...

But it's all faces and heels in an MMA match, nothing more. Unless you're not
in on the joke.

Most people don't grok particle physics enough to be dismissive of the premise
of magical (or rather, unstable) element 115. They don't get that it's just
another blob of the usual nucleons that we're all so familiar with, no free
gravity, no free lunch. That lights in the sky do not, a spaceship, make. Oh
well...

~~~
somatic
There’s no question that Rogan’s style is to make every interview as “warm” as
possible, rarely challenging any guest on any extraordinary claim.

There’s also an argument to be made about his “platforming” of arguable kooks
and so on, though it’s clearly preferable to entertain unconventional ideas
than to dismiss them out of hand, the cumulative payoff of an unconventional
idea being so very great.

Flying saucers are always good entertainment, though not good enough to paper
over the fact that half of that Bob Lazar “documentary” was footage of a
tattooed guy shouting into his smartphone for the benefit of like three
different GoPros.

The open secret of physics is that nobody really knows WTF is going on.
Particle theory is obviously a rough approximation, and string theory and
quantum theory have been effectively stalled for long enough that it’s
increasingly apparent that the complexity of the Universe has more moving
parts than the working memory of the human brain. Humility is called for. “We
know” ... yeah, okay.

------
HNLurker2
Malboro red long or die

~~~
coolnow
You mean Marlboro Red Long _and_ die?

~~~
HNLurker2
I smoke 'cause I'm hoping for an Early death And I need to cling to something

------
amelius
I wonder if the endless edit-compile-run and "see if it works" cycle is as
addictive and harmful as social media. At least with social media I'm
interacting with other people.

~~~
agota
It probably isn't, given that social media is intentionally designed to be
addictive, while tinkering with things (code in your case) isn't.

~~~
amelius
I was thinking, perhaps it helps to make the edit-compile-run cycle as long as
possible.

E.g. coding until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and only then running code and
testing.

