Hacker News Reader

Comment by namaria | Hacker News Reader

I think it's incredibly misguided and crass to plug websites and apps in a discussion about people sharing struggles with addiction to websites and apps.

View on HN

I don't think I plugged anything. I shared the best thing I've found to partially solve this problem in my own life (open source software I have no relationship to), shared that my full time job is working on this problem (because it's the largest obstacle in my life, not because I am trying to grift) and what I've built so far, with the explicit note that I would not recommend as a single magic bullet for addiction, because it happens to be a really hard problem. And then shared what I am trying next - to address this problem in my own life and ideally as many others as I can.

You're very good at rationalizing. I don't think it's a grift. You don't need to get money out of this for this to be a plug. Personal satisfaction, pride, whatever. I think it's misguided to offer apps and websites to people complaining about addiction to apps and websites. At the very least shows lack of empathy and a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of the problem being discussed.

Do what you want with the information that a perfect stranger saw what you did here and was irked.

Thanks - just want to emphatically disagree that technology has no place in this discussion. The alternative - "just stop scrolling" doesn't work well for me, personally.

Just like non-alcoholic beverages are useful for people that have a drinking problem, I think it's likely anti-addiction technology will be useful for people that have a technology problem.

You did absolutely nothing wrong.

I have similar problems, and used to use selfcontrol when I was primarily a mac user. (I haven't found anything like it for windows, which I now must use for work)

Your app seems to be about phones....? My issue is more with distractions on computers, since I work on a computer with multiple big monitors and I'm far more likely to waste time with things there rather than on a phone.

The websites and apps mentioned aren't the sort that people would be addicted to anyway. (this should be blindingly obvious) In fact their very purpose is addressing the problem of web site addiction. Are you suggesting that people might be spending hours and hours on the "screentimeaccountability" web site, as part of their addiction?

Anyway, we're on a web site right now. Isn't any comment on this thread similarly "misguided" (including your own), since that is one more bit of content for the addicted person to consume?

Sure, taking part in the conversation out of concern for my own mental health and seeking external points of view is exactly the same as saying "oh you think you spend too much time online/watching videos? here's an app for that!"

Adding friction will not solve the problem for people with addiction. Telling me to not take part in the conversation if I dare to call out bad advice (or worse, saying calling out bad advice is just as bad as giving it) is quite disrespectful.

"oh you think you spend too much time online/watching videos? here's an app for that!"

I see absolutely no problem with that. The app is not showing videos nor is otherwise addictive in any sense, so what exactly is the problem? Is it simply because it falls under the label "app"? Therefore it must be just as problematic as apps that show videos or otherwise try to keep users engaged for as long as possible?

Your complaint is as absurd as saying "oh you think you are risking a head injury by riding a skateboard? Here's a helmet for that!" I mean, both skateboards and helmets are sports equipment, so it must be misguided to recommend addressing a safety issue with sports equipment with another piece of sports equipment. That's the logic you are using here.

Usually when I am drawn to an addictive web site or app (YouTube and Quora being the big ones for me), it is pulling me away from some other app I should be using instead, such as VC Code, which I am supposed to be using for my job. Again, not all apps are equally problematic.

I've used the selfcontrol app and similar apps for my own issues, and they work. That is not bad advice at all.

Also, addiction lies on a spectrum. I don't know if my issues count as true addiction or not, but they are problems for me. And I have good results with things like the selfcontrol app (which I miss now that I work on windows), and I have used other various mechanisms to help with behavioral tendencies I have that could benefit from external control. As a non-app example.... am I addicted to cannabis? I don't know. I do know I do better when I use a timer lock so I can reduce my temptation to use it at inappropriate times (i.e. hours I want to be getting work done), without eliminating it entirely (since I enjoy it and truly believe I get benefits from it). I suppose if I was a true addict, I'd just walk ten minutes to the pot store every time I got a craving. But I don't, because addictive tendencies lie on a spectrum. Same concept.

They are tools. Just because they use the same medium doesn't mean that they are the same thing.

OP has a problem with junk food. The person above mentioned fruits.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com