It鈥檚 simple to accidentally become entranced by an endless loop of videos on Instagram or TikTok. But sometimes, that mindless scroll is interrupted by a reminder that what you thought was a 10-minute break spent on your phone was closer to 30 minutes.
Olivia Yokubonis, armed with a kind voice and scientific research, often pops up in feeds on social platforms, gently reminding viewers that they might not remember the video they saw two videos before she appeared on the screen.
Yokubonis is a content creator who goes by the name online, making videos to combat overuse or . For the most part, people who view her videos welcome the disruption from the endless loop of content, treating it as a wake-up call to get off their phones. Other times, they are snarky.
鈥淧eople will comment and they鈥檒l be like, 鈥橭h, (it鈥檚) ironic that you鈥檙e posting. And I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃here else am I supposed to find you, Kyle? Outside? You鈥檙e not outside. You are here, sitting here,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淔or us to actually be seen, we have to be where people are.鈥�
Yokubonis鈥� content responds to the feeling many people have, that they spend too much time on social media or apps.
鈥淢ost people have no clue how much time they spend on social media,鈥� said Ofir Turel, a professor of information systems management at the University of Melbourne who has been studying social media use for years. Through his research, Turel found that when he presented people with their screen time information, they were practically 鈥渋n a state of shock鈥� and many people voluntarily reduced their usage afterwards.
Yokubonis is part of a growing group of content creators who make videos encouraging viewers to close out the app they鈥檙e on. Some are aggressive in their approach, some more tame; some only occasionally post about social media overuse, and some, like Yokubonis, devote their accounts to it.
She works for Opal, a screen time app designed to help users 鈥渞eclaim their focus,鈥� she said, but those who engage with her content might not have any idea she is working for the company. Brand logos, constant plugs to download the app and other signs of branding are almost entirely absent from her page. 鈥淧eople love hearing from people,鈥� she said. Millions of views on her videos point to that being true.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fine line and a balance of finding a way to be able to cut through that noise but also not adding to the noise,鈥� she added.
Ian A. Anderson, a postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology, said he finds this kind of content interesting, but is curious whether it’s disruptive enough to prompt action. He also said he wonders whether those with the strongest scrolling habits are 鈥渢houghtless about the way (they’re) intaking information.鈥�
鈥淚f they’re paying full attention, I feel like it could be an effective disruption, but I also think there is a degree to which, if you are really a habitual scroller, maybe you aren鈥檛 fully engaging with it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can think of all sorts of different variables that could change the effectiveness, but it does sound like an interesting way to intervene from the inside.鈥�
With billions of active users across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms, talk of cutting down on screen time is perennial, as is the idea of addiction to social platforms. But there鈥檚 tremendous disagreement over whether social media addiction actually exists.
Is social media 鈥渁ddiction鈥� real?
Researchers, psychologists and other experts agree some people spend too much time on social media, but the agreement tends to stop there. Some researchers question whether addiction is the appropriate term to describe heavy use of social media, arguing that a person must be experiencing identifiable symptoms, like strong, sometimes uncontrollable urges and withdrawal, to qualify as addiction. Others, like Turel, acknowledge the term seems to resonate with more people and is often used colloquially.
Anderson said he recognized the prevalence of casual mentions of being addicted to phones and was curious to see if that talk was 鈥渂enign.鈥�
A of his suggests the debate extends further than academic discourse. In a representative sample of active Instagram users, Anderson found that people often overestimate whether they are 鈥渁ddicted鈥� to the app. On a self-report scale, 18% of participants agreed that they were at least somewhat addicted to Instagram and 5% indicated substantial agreement, but only 2% of participants were deemed at risk of addiction based on their symptoms. Believing you are addicted also impacts how you address that issue, Anderson said.
鈥淚f you perceive yourself as more addicted, it actually hurts your ability to control your use or your perception of that ability and makes you kind of blame yourself more for overuse,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淭here are these negative consequences to addiction perception.鈥�
Cutting down on screen time
For those looking to curb their social media habits, Anderson suggests making small, meaningful, changes to stop from opening your social media app of choice. Moving the app鈥檚 place on your phone or turning off notifications are 鈥渓ight touch interventions,鈥� but more involved options, like not bringing your phone into the bedroom 鈥� or other places where you often use it 鈥� could also help.
Plenty of intervention methods have been offered to consumers in the form of products or services. But those interventions require self awareness and a desire to cut down on use. Content creators who infiltrate social media feeds with information about the psychology behind why people scroll for hours a day can plant those early seeds.
Cat Goetze, who goes by online, makes 鈥渘on-pretentious, non-patronizing鈥� content about artificial intelligence, building off her experience in the tech industry. But she鈥檚 also been on a lengthy road to cut down her own screen time. She often makes videos about why the platforms are so compelling and why we tend to spend longer than we anticipate on them.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole infrastructure 鈥� there鈥檚 an army of nerds whose only job is to get you to increase your time spent on that platform,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole machine that鈥檚 trying to get you to be that way and it鈥檚 not your fault and you鈥檙e not going to win this just (through) willpower.鈥�
Goetze also founded the business Physical Phones, which makes Bluetooth landline phones that connect to smartphones, encouraging people to spend less time on their devices. The inside of the packaging reads 鈥渙ffline is the new luxury.鈥�
She was able to build the business at an accelerated pace thanks to her social media audience. But the early success of Physical Phones also demonstrates the demand for solutions to high screen time, she said.
鈥淪ocial media will always play a part in our lives. I don鈥檛 necessarily think that鈥檚 a bad thing. If we can get the average screen time down from, if it鈥檚 10 hours for a person to one hour, or from three hours to 30 minutes, that is going to be a net positive benefit for that individual and for society,鈥� Goetze said. 鈥淭hat being said, I鈥檇 love to be the person that they鈥檙e watching for those 30 minutes.鈥�
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