I n 2024, no one needs another reminder they’re spending too much time on their phone; that the internet, and specifically social media, is designed by thousands of Silicon Valley geniuses to keep us scrolling, helpless pawns in the attention economy, blah blah blah. But let’s get granular: what are the worst ways to be in thrall to your small shiny rectangle and its big brother, the larger electronic rectangle? I asked about people’s most irresistible, life-consuming, pointless and occasionally poisonous internet rabbit holes. Then I tried to work out what they (and I) could do instead.
1. Laughing at cats Or dogs. Or marmosets.
Or whatever the algorithm knows you self-soothe with for hours before bed. The infinite pit of internet animals being funny is existential balm, and as a person whose social media feed is 90% pygmy hippos and seagulls, I’m not here to judge. I’m just here to gently wonder if you could get comfort in other ways occasionally.
View image in fullscreen Dogs being derps is even better IRL. Photograph: electravk/Getty Images Instead: Meet some real animals: the Cinnamon Trust is always looking for volunteers to help elderly and terminally ill people all around the UK look after their pets. The Dogs Trust and the RSPCA also have hands-on volunteering opportunities.
2. Ranters Manosphere nonsense-spouters, Farage fans, climate deniers ..
. the laudable desire not to live in an echo chamber can shade all too quickly into feeling it’s somehow your �.