From 0c08edc2a02a82de1c5291369a6f3a6c2d50f1d1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Thomas Date: Fri, 16 May 2025 22:20:05 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] blog: What was the last push notification you received ? --- ...he-last-push-notification-you-received-.md | 42 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 42 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/content/blog/2025-05-16-what-was-the-last-push-notification-you-received-.md diff --git a/src/content/blog/2025-05-16-what-was-the-last-push-notification-you-received-.md b/src/content/blog/2025-05-16-what-was-the-last-push-notification-you-received-.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cfe032a --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/blog/2025-05-16-what-was-the-last-push-notification-you-received-.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: What was the last push notification you received ? +date: 2025-05-16T21:14:19.726Z +slug: 2025-05-16-what-was-the-last-push-notification-you-received- +author: Thomas Wilson + +--- +I was listening to *Search Engine*'s [most recent episode](https://www.searchengine.show/how-to-stop-being-so-phone-addicted-without-self-discipline-or-meditation/): "How to stop being so phone addicted (without self-discipline or meditation". You should listen to it, but after you've read this blog post. PJ, the host, is chatting with David Pierce from *[The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/authors/david-pierce)* about their persistent fears about their, and our, relationship to the online world through our smartphones and the social internet. + +They are worried, like a lot of us are worried, about how similar our relationships to our phones look and feel like things we would call "real" addictions (or dependencies; misuse). Things like alcohol and other recreational drugs. I won't labour the explanation - you are probably familiar with it, and maybe even concerned about it. + +Despite these worries and feeling like we spend "too much" time on our phones, probably on social media, and feel anxious about what the [smartphone's triumph over boredom](https://www.afterbabel.com/p/on-the-death-of-daydreaming?hide_intro_popup=true) means for our brains… we keep coming back. They stay in our pockets, we keep Instagram or TikTok or Reddit on our home screens. + +Hence the comparison to substance addiction, dependency, and misuse disorders; or to abusive or unhealthy interpersonal relationships. + +One of the ways we are pulled back in, despite our best intentions, is through push notifications, which create a juicy bump for our brains. Even better: 90-99% of the time, a push notification brings only banal information: there's a sale on, new newsletter just dropped. + +But 1-9% of the time: it's juicy. A message from someone you like, a job offer, a reply to a DM, your favourite podcast just dropped a new episode. + +Our brains *love* rewards that are unpredictable and occasionally strongly positive. + +We feel some sense of duty to these notifications, because sometimes they give us the Strong Feels. We should be on standby, and triage them as soon as they come in. + +What if we missed something important? + +But what was the last notification you received? + +What was the last important notification you received? + +Unless it was something unusually noteworthy, you probably don't know what your last push notification was. + +We feel compelled to react immediately to push notifications, to be on hand to triage them, but we don't remember them. + +What was the last book you were reading (with eyes or ears)? What was the last movie you chose to watch? Who did you last share a meal with? What was the last artist or record you craved to hear? What was the last game you played (tabletop- or video-)? Who would you love to talk to, most in the world right now? Where are your favourite pair of jeans? + +When something is important to us, *actually* important - we remember them. We don't scramble to try and replay the last time we picked up our phone screen and looked at it. + +I'm not giving some holier-than-thou advice. I actively limit who can send me notifications (way less than 50% of the apps on my phone), and I have a Focus Mode schedule that blocks notifications in the evening and during work hours. + +I use an app called [Jomo](https://jomo.so/) to limit me to 15 minutes of social media a day, and to shut down access to social media later into the night. + +But *still* I feel myself pulled towards them. I see that little `1 Notification` on my Lock Screen and I think "oh". I still get lost on the low-value Subreddits when I only went on to find DIY advice. I still don't read as much as I want to because I feel too tired, but would rather scroll than go to bed.