Escaping the Sirens of the News Feed

For many years throughout high school and university, I had a habit of spending several hours a day scrolling through Facebook. It became a problem, so I tried to stop. At first, I used willpower and discipline to quit cold turkey, but this only worked briefly before I fell back into the habit. Relying on willpower wasn’t sustainable.

I struggled with this for a long time until I discovered News Feed Eradicator, a browser plugin that replaces Facebook’s home page news feed with an inspiring quote. Unlike other plugins that completely block social media, it still allows you to use Facebook. The only difference is that the home page news feed is no longer there.

Over time, I began spending less time on Facebook without even realizing it. I still used it for instant messaging and keeping up with groups and events—useful functions that had previously made it difficult to quit scrolling—but without the news feed, I was no longer pulled into its addictive stream of novelty. While I still felt the urge to check the feed, it required far less willpower to resist when it wasn’t there.

When it comes to changing habits, addressing the cue that triggers the habit loop is critical. Once the loop begins, willpower alone is rarely enough to stop it. In this case, by removing the news feed, News Feed Eradicator eliminates the cue and disrupts the loop. Less willpower is needed, and habit change becomes sustainable.

Food for Thought

A recent trend I’ve noticed is the push towards unplugging from social media and using analogue tools instead. The first glimpse I got of this was last summer when I came across a video titled a summer without algorithms. Before even watching it—which I ironically came across through the YouTube algorithm—the message was clear to me: stop using social media as a means to discover content.