Scrolling is not relaxing – it’s more like smoking

Why scrolling is not relaxing

Person with social media addiction, showing how scrolling is not relaxing
Scrolling is not relaxing. It’s more like smoking in that it can become an addictive activity, often detrimental to mental, emotional, and social well-being. [Image source: Doctorxgc, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons] 
Readers of this site know that, as a user experience advocate, I haven’t held back criticizing social media over the years. Many social media platforms are designed to be little more than a time suck. They’re addictive by design and detrimental to both mental health and social life. However, there’s an objection to this criticism. And the objection generally goes something like this:

Hey, what’s wrong with scrolling through social media if you just want to zone out for a while and relax?

Unfortunately, scrolling is not relaxing. Quite the contrary …

Scrolling is more like smoking

There’s a saying that encapsulates why it’s so misleading to liken scrolling to relaxing. Rather than relaxing, it’s more accurate to say that scrolling is the new smoking. To see how, consider the design of this technology, particularly the algorithms behind it. Here’s what social media algorithms do by design:

  • First, hijack your attention the second you log on to social media. For example, place click-bait ads or viral content into your social media feed.
  • Next, collect all the data you happen leave traces of online. In addition to your comments and messages, such data includes your ‘likes’ and the amount of time you spend scrolling and glancing at ads or content.
  • Then, sell access to your data to advertisers and outside parties. In turn, advertisers and outside parties can use that info to target you with even more ads or content, especially if those ads and content keep you ‘liking’ and scrolling endlessly through your social media feed.

By monitoring online behavior, harvesting private data, and manipulating what people see online, social media algorithms work 24/7 to keep users addicted to scrolling … and scrolling … and scrolling …

Addictive scrolling incentivizes online outrage

What’s more, this addictive scrolling disproportionately incentivizes a lot of explosive emotions online, including anger and outrage. That’s because what’s most likely to addict users to scrolling on social media is often whatever’s most outrageous at the moment.

As a result, social media platforms are virtually designed to gin up as much online outrage as possible. Clearly, this kind of addictive design is antithetical to a calm state of mind that fosters rumination, reflection, and imagination.

If you want to relax, get off of social media

That’s why logging on to social media and mindlessly scrolling is not relaxing. So there’s a big difference between scrolling and relaxing. If relaxation is the goal, it’s more likely to be facilitated by recreational activities that are more mentally or physically fulfilling, such as reading a book or walking through nature.

Nature walk with dog
There are few things in life that I find more relaxing than taking a nature walk, especially with my dog.

In short, if you want to relax, log off of social media. Or, if you’re feeling brave, consider deleting social media altogether.

 

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