Thread by @therealjpk

A practical guide to fixing your social media addiction. Here's a thread from what I've learned.

First, I tried to figure out what makes social media so addictive. Don't skip this bit, because you can't beat it if you don't know it.

@nireyal, the author of the book ‘Hooked: How to build habit-forming products,’ tells you how some products become a habit for users and some don't. There's a science to it. Product designers use these techniques to get us to use their products more and more.

Eyal calls it the hooked model, in which a product, by design, takes users through a series of carefully calibrated steps that will get you hooked to it.

It’s been reduced to a repeatable and reusable recipe. The essence of the hooked model is in this infographic by Eyal. Take a careful look at the four steps: Trigger, Action, Variable Reward and Investment.

Triggers cue the user to take action and are the first step in the Hooked Model. Internal triggers are things like notifications and external triggers are things like an e-mail alert or a recommendation.

Action is the simplest behaviour in anticipation of reward. For instance, posting a photo or a comment. Facebook nudges you to tell everyone you feel today, post a photo and so on.

The variable reward is the third phase of the Hooked Model. When a user performs an action, the product gives them a small reward. Like a new follower, hearts and favourites etc.

Unlike the action phase, which delivers immediate gratification, the investment phase concerns the expectation of a future benefit. It also locks the user into the platform. Like if you have 10,000 hard earned followers on Instagram, you'll never delete the profile.

I'll stop at this on the Hooked model for now. You should read the book if you are looking to build better products or like me, trying to save yourself from drowning in noise.

Social media companies also pour in billions of dollars into behavioural science and psychological research to figure out how they can make us use their products more.

@tristanharris, former Design Ethicist at @Google detailed how technology is “hijacking your mind.” As Harris shows us here: bit.ly/2ILHmH6, one of the psychological aspects product makers use is intermittent variable rewards, same as in the Hooked model.

Tech companies also create an illusion of choice and free will when in reality they’re taking you on a predetermined “user journey.” Harris lists them: fear of missing out, social reciprocity, infinite feeds, autoplay, all easy to trigger using your phone.

The phone and the apps installed on it, Harris argues, is like a slot machine which constantly nudges you to open and check it for a tiny reward. The mind gets addicted to it.

Now that I had a grip on some of the basics, I figured I'd list out a few actionable steps to start on the de-addiction journey.

1. Break Triggers: Avoid triggers like they are death. Weed them out like your life depended on it. Common triggers are notifications, e-mail alerts, popups and so on. So switch them off.

Or if you’re looking to detox, buy a feature phone. Place your phone upside down when you are in meetings so the notification light doesn’t intimidate you into opening the phone.

2. Avoid fighting with the literal net. Trust me, it’s a time sink. It’s also one of the biggest triggers. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, Urban Dictionary has the perfect definition.

Literal net: A phenomenon on the internet that involves the inability and tendency for most people on the "net" to not comprehend when a joke or flippancy is being used in conversation and to credulously take what is said at face value.

Most people on the net won’t get your jokes or the clever puns you make. Most people will take you literally. Most people will also assume that you know nothing compared to them. They don't know where you are coming from. Don't waste your time on them.

3. Keep it light: Use the web version of apps like Twitter and Facebook and turn off notifications. If you must, set aside some time to check on them but try to be very deliberate about why you use them.

Try to be thoughtful about what you are posting and why you are doing it. Social media, especially Twitter, can be really good for brand building. Use it to your advantage by sticking to areas you really have depth. Use tools like @gofuckingwork also to help you along the way.

4. Go Zen: On Instagram and such, it looks like everyone is always on holiday or eating at fancy restaurants. Why am I not? This line of thinking will make you super miserable. Go Zen. The more you want, the more miserable you become. This will also help you deal with FOMO.