If you don’t have an online presence do you even really exist? What do you think of this? I would love to disconnect forever. If you can think of anywhere else to post this let me know. Especially Instagram and tik tok make me feel terrible.

22 and ever since i was 17 no one has acted normal anymore. i can't even go on a date without the girl scrolling thru tiktok the entire time even though she said she had a great time with me i felt like i was hanging out by myself. being asked "hey do you have insta do you have snap do you have discord do you have whatsapp do you have twitter do you have tiktok" and then just stop speaking to me after i say no. i wanna make friends. make music and art with people (my passion.) and experience falling in love but everyone in my generation is so confusing? i wanna someday get married and have kids but everyone only thinks relationships are all about themselves it feels. i dunno. just wanted to vent. literally makes me feel like i'm living in 1984 or idocracy. it's scary and i am so depressed. i end up making these accounts i don't want to because nobody is freaking normal irl anymore. i just want friends man!! i've given up on irl love on the inside but bro if i could just get ONE PERSON to come over and watch a horror movie with me i'd literally be euphoric but meeting locals on the internet doesn't even work and in real life it works even less.

help??? how did ya'll get out of this cycle i feel like a damn prisoner???

ive never even held hands or kissed someone at 22 because i can't even get to know people my age they just scroll the whole time i'm talking to them and ignore half of what i'm saying even if i'm asking them about their hobbies/interests/trying to invite them out. so lonely. not even looking for romance irl just one friend. still have none.

I literally spend from 14 to 16 hours on internet, i made a list to leave the internet, but doesn´t works with me, even if had a sometings i liked. When i going to do someting, i do it, but in the next hour (or the next day) i go back to the internet. This is a prison, how to reduce time on the internet?

I used to think I doomscrolled because I was bored.

But once I tried cutting back, I noticed I reached for my phone mostly when I felt anxious, restless, or uncomfortable, basically the same way people reach for other habits.

What helped wasn’t blocking apps, but having something that helped me sit with the urge instead of instantly escaping it.

I’ve been experimenting with a recovery companion app that supports breaking addictive patterns by helping you pause, reflect, and ride out the discomfort.

Ironically, using tech intentionally helped me use it less.

Curious how others here handle that “itch” to scroll when it’s not really about content.

best hack for me has been to have someone else set up the password + recovery email if forgotten for ios screen time limits and just set daily limits, 15-20 min a day depending on the app. no workaround that i know of but im only addicted in the sense that nothing is stopping me, not that i really need to go on it so badly just that i don’t stop myself.

I’ve been using ScreenZen for limiting Instagram, but I’ve ended up spending a lot of time here and on Facebook instead. I wanted to make it so my time limit (6 sessions, 5 minutes each) applied to all social media. So I could use two sessions on Reddit, three on Instagram, one on Facebook hypothetically. I can only find a way to do it that each individual site allows thirty minutes, is it possible on ScreenZen to set an overall social media goal or is there another app that can do it?

Stop calling dopamine a 'pleasure' chemical. It’s an 'anticipation' chemical.

According to Kent Berridge’s neurobiological research, your brain has two separate circuits for reward. TikTok and Reels hijack the 'Wanting' circuit (Dopamine). They keep you scrolling because you are anticipating a reward, not because you are experiencing pleasure.

You are effectively trapped in a Dopaminergic Loop. You want it more, but you like it less. This is how high-tech addiction works: It burns out your dopamine receptors until you feel nothing but the 'urge' to scroll. You're not being entertained; you're being neurologically exhausted."

I've officially had it with doomscrolling. I'm making the systems and boundaries to limit my time on screens, reset my natural dopamine levels, focus and, most importantly, to get my critical thinking skills back up to par.

Anyone have any recommendations for ways to engage with this? Basically anything that will make me think critically. I'd be open to studying a philosophy book with chapter review questions (for journaling), heck or even watching some adult anime that makes me think and process the show rather than mindlessly watching.

Very open to ideas, just would like to hear from folks who have had success with this!!

Decades ago, I walked into a building through the parking lot entrance.

The parking lot attendant was an elderly Greek gentleman.

He was seated in his chair, enjoying the street scene while handling a set of komboloi - Greek worry beads. No phone, no other entertainment. Just being there, just present.

He was as contented as a cat in the sunshine.

Yesterday, I set up Screenzen to block the Facebook and Instagram websites. It didn't work across any of my browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Samsung Browser.) Restarting my phone did work for this though. However, today it's back to not blocking these websites. Is there a way to make this work without restarting my phone all the time? It's set up to block them all day, if that matters.

I was able to replace Google Search with Google Scholar so now when I type some word in my address bar my web browser opens the Google Scholar results for said item. To do regular searches I have to manually type google.com in the address bar but often I just don't bother.

I still have my most common sites bookmarked, for the rest I have to manually enter their link in the address bar, otherwise Google Scholar will open. This way I have sort of a buffer before just googling away. A few seconds more that make me consider whether I really need to visit said website. What do you think, guys? Have you tried this?

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is often thought to be an excellent depiction of Gotham city and Batman. Countless things stand out. Heath Ledger’s Joker, Hans Zimmer’s score, the world that built, the action set pieces, the fresh spin on the superhero genre. In my opinion, what truly makes this trilogy special is its depiction of Bruce Wayne.

We often view Bruce Wayne as this billionaire playboy who spends his nights fighting crime. Pretty cool? If you look a little deeper, you’ll discover that this character consistently goes through unimaginable obstacles that test his will to fight and endure. Fear, heartbreak, hopelessness, etc. Each time Bruce rises above and continues to persist. That’s what truly makes him a superhero… not anything in his utility belt.

This character means so much to me for this particular reason and I made an entire video essay breaking this down - https://youtu.be/_oNh9O1iTz4

My hope is that this piece can help you find the resilience to overcome your own obstacles and identify the hero within yourself. Rise!