I notice a stark difference between how I view my chronic-onlineness in the midst of it vs. after a hiatus.

Once I've had something like a good book or trip with friends take me away from my phone for a week, my phone takes on an entirely different persona; it manifests as an anxiety machine for me.

Almost every app, even my email inbox, becomes a source of stress. Something about the immediacy with which crippling/harmful information can be revealed makes the whole sxperience a nightmare. This is then curbed with a few days of use.

Keyword: linked. Who would have thought that people with happy and fulfilling lives have something else to do than being online?

Much of the stress I see from people who are struggling with stress from online is caused by “the news” at large. Could this same result be said if these same individuals read the NYT everyday? I wish you could study this and control for politics, or even - government. I am skeptical that the technology itself causes this, I am doubtful that “brain rot” content causes stress.

Water is wet