7 ms·

Show HN: Scream to Unlock – Blocks social media until you scream “I'm a loser”

242 points by madinmo 1y ago

Hi all, I kept wasting time on social media, even though I’d promised myself I’d stay focused. Regular site blockers didn’t help. I needed something that felt annoying enough to break the habit. That’s how the idea came up: make the blocker ask me to say something embarrassing out loud before it lets me back in. If I actually have to yell “I’m a loser” into my mic. Even better - the louder I screamed, the more time I’d get. So I put together Scream to Unlock. It’s silly, but so far it’s done its job. My social feeds stay locked unless I really want them. Extension link - https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/scream-to-unlock-yell-to/pmmikajpbkehhpomkmelipgiafampkah?authuser=0&hl=en https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/scream-to-unlock-ye... Its open source and transparent - https://github.com/Pankajtanwarbanna/scream-to-unlock https://github.com/Pankajtanwarbanna/scream-to-unlock. No data collection or tracking, Audio processing happens locally in your browser. No recordings saved or transmitted.

SoftTalker 1y ago
Good idea. Could be applied to other self-destructive categories: Porn, hookup apps, etc.
- busymom0 1y ago
  I created a similar app which locks your addictive apps until you exercise (climb stairs, bike, run etc) to earn screen time points. It's called Run for Fun: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/run-for-fun-screen-time-focus/id6743376966 https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/run-for-fun-screen-time-focus/...
CoastalCoder 1y ago
You should run with this idea! Now make a "Dungeon Crawler Carl" -branded one that requires a webcam, bare feet, and nail polish!
GavCo 1y ago
This is cute, but in all seriousness it would be much more effective to shout "I'm a winner" Research: - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3354773/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3354773/ – Low self-esteem + rejection hurts self-control - https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2007_PowersKoestnerZuroff_JSCP.pdf https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2007_Power... – Self-criticism predicts less goal progress - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9916102/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9916102/ – Social exclusion slows inhibitory control - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1191134/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1191... – Low teen self-esteem → poorer self-control - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8768475/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8768475/ – Meta-analysis links shame to regulation drops - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28810473/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28810473/ – Self-compassion boosts self-regulation - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312138882_Self-Control_and_Ego_Depletion https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312138882_Self-Cont... – Ego threats deplete self-control resources - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21632968/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21632968/ – Self-criticism tied to worse goal progress - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-96476-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-96476-8 – Low self-respect → low self-control → problems Remember to be kind to yourself.
- hodder 1y ago
  But the point is you aren't a winner if you are unlocking social media. You are opening the gate to loserdom. I'm not sure how the I'm a winner concept would apply here using one of the four methods of operant conditioning. The research stands, but the practical application of his app is based on a Positive Punishment operant conditioning.
  - jigarjain 1y ago
    I imagine what the OP meant is that when you feel you are wasting time on Social Media, if you say "I am a winner / I am better than this" (or something more positive), it will block the social media for you. So basically the reverse.
    - 9rx 1y ago
      What suggests that shouting "I am a winner" is less annoying than shouting "I am a loser"? In fact, not just less annoying, but it has to be pleasant as in that scenario you would have to scream it while you are already struggling with impulse control. Even the slightest reason to not to do so would see you not do it in that type of situation.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - haswell 1y ago
    > you aren't a winner if you are unlocking social media. You are opening the gate to loserdom That is not a psychologically healthy way to frame this. And I think it’s a stretch to say that screaming “I’m a loser” is positive punishment, which seems just as likely to reinforce negative self beliefs that lead to the outcomes described in the parent comment’s research and opposite of what the user presumably wants. To your point, just flipping this around to “I’m a winner” doesn’t seem quite right either. But more importantly, reinforcing the idea that “I’m a loser” seems counterproductive either way.
    - 1y ago
netsharc 1y ago
The relevant code: https://github.com/Pankajtanwarbanna/scream-to-unlock/blob/main/content.js#L731 https://github.com/Pankajtanwarbanna/scream-to-unlock/blob/m... Are you sure Chrome doesn't talk to Google's server to convert the speech to text?
- sodimel 1y ago
  It seems to send the data to google's servers. > Note: On some browsers, like Chrome, using Speech Recognition on a web page involves a server-based recognition engine. Your audio is sent to a web service for recognition processing, so it won't work offline. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Speech_API/Using_the_Web_Speech_API https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Speech_...
- ethan_smith 1y ago
  Chrome's Web Speech API does indeed send audio to Google's servers by default unless you're using the newer SpeechRecognition API with continuous=false and interimResults=true for local processing.
snickerdoodle12 1y ago
Can't you just uninstall the extension?
- yellow_lead 1y ago
  In order to uninstall it, you must scream "I'm a huge loser." (Just kidding)
  - throwawayq3423 1y ago
    You have to sit through a 10 hour YouTube video of Beck's Loser.
- ndarray 1y ago
  That's the problem with habit blocking extensions. A theoretical workaround would be to create two extensions - only make them work when both are installed and when one notices that the other got disabled, it does something like deleting your login credentials, or some form of reversible but very annoying punishment.
  - netsharc 1y ago
    There's such a URL-blocking extension, that cam be programmed to block the chrome://extensions URL...
bdbenton5255 1y ago
[flagged]
marginalia_nu 1y ago
At last verification can technology is real. YC better swoop this one up. It's going places.
mikesabat 1y ago
If you want to make a kids app... Forcing the child to do a number of math problems to continue using the tablet would be an amazing app that I would definitely pay for. My daughter is a second grader. If every 5 minutes of tablet use 'cost' her 5 correct arithmetic answers she would be working at space x right now.
- dekervin 1y ago
  Can I reach you over email ? Mine is in profile ! I want to share something not ready for primetime.
  - mikesabat 1y ago
    I sent an email - excited to see what you've got.
- graemep 1y ago
  It would work short term, but I would worry that it makes a a price to be paid which will impair joy in learning the subject in the long term. Its much better to make kids interested in learning than to reward reaching goals or punish failing to reach them.
  - serial_dev 1y ago
    On the other hand, the kids might do lot of exercises to keep playing, then they get better at something, then they realize that it is much more enjoyable to be good at something than not... Long term, it could still be a win. Obviously not the same, but in the first years of university, I hated math because it suddenly got hard (never before university did I have to learn math or physics just to barely pass). Then, after many nights of reading through books and practicing, grinding, I realized it's not that hard and it made me enjoy solving the "challenges".
    - JadeNB 1y ago
      > Then, after many nights of reading through books and practicing, grinding, I realized it's not that hard and it made me enjoy solving the "challenges". The only thing I'd change from this wonderful comment is that it is that hard! It's just that, like any other hard skill, lots of dedicated study and practice makes it easier to do hard things.
layer8 1y ago
Does singing the Beck song work?
hliyan 1y ago
Perhaps a better approach would be to randomly replace links in your social media app with links to a random image of what you imagine to be a social media addict, or someone who has ruined their lives due to social media. Perpahs with a message like "This will be you in X years". Hopefully over time the subconscious parts of your brain will get the message. In your current approach, the signalling is largely aimed at the conscious part, which is usually not where the problem lies.
- 9rx 1y ago
  > links to a random image of what you imagine to be a social media addict, or someone who has ruined their lives due to social media. Wouldn't that simply be a picture of himself?
- jiehong 1y ago
  That’s the idea of the disturbing pictures on packs of cigarettes in Germany. Not sure it works as well on people already addicted compared to people not yet addicted.
titusblair 1y ago
LOl hilarious!
throw7484889 1y ago
I found inverting colors in Accessibility settings works great. Phone is still useable, but everything feels strange and icky.
chaosprint 1y ago
I had similar efforts. so I made a Chrome extension that helps you be more mindful of your social media usage by prompting you to think twice before visiting social media sites. If you really want to see, just wait after the counting down: https://github.com/chaosprint/twice https://github.com/chaosprint/twice
wordpad 1y ago
So you think screaming 'im a loser' 10 times an hour is going to be good for mental health?
- serial_dev 1y ago
  You could also just stop visiting those sites that you previously decided were bad for you... Then you don't need to scream "I'm a loser".
escapecharacter 1y ago
For a subset of the population, this will have an inverse incentive. To support those people, perhaps have a toggle that requires them to say “I’m a good person”?
- draw_down 1y ago
  [dead]
throwanem 1y ago
Now ship something that requires a convincing demonstration of inner peace before allowing the user access to X Dot Com The Everything App, and you'll really be cooking with fire.
- netsharc 1y ago
  Use the front-camera and tell the user to meditate for 30 seconds/algorithmically watch them while they do so. I guess web browsers don't have integrated face recognition APIs yet, although phones could probably do this
  - throwanem 1y ago
    iPhones could do it well, using the face ID lidar to measure the user's pupils. (It already does this, taking advantage of the property that they are reflective in IR.) Androids with only a front camera would do it poorly. But either would require pairing with a wearable capable of SpO2, skin galvanometry, HR measurement, etc., in order to credibly analyze physiological stress. I suppose it needs clarifying that I say this all in jest, not as any kind of serious suggestion. Among other reasons, it would only improve the tone and not the substance.
- throwaway889900 1y ago
  Blade Runner 2049 style interrogation to prove you're not in a bad state of mind huh?
  - throwanem 1y ago
    I mean, it is social media. Will you really say you never heard an idea you liked less?
coip 1y ago
Could customize the user call out Maybe something like “I know this is the opposite of socializing but I want to give in the the mindless algorithmic manipulation for a little longer anyways”
mutlusakar 1y ago
Haha, definetely needed.
akoboldfrying 1y ago
That volume bar could be labeled "Humiliation:"
deadbabe 1y ago
It should be “I’m addicted” instead of “I’m a loser”. Forcing someone to call themselves a loser over and over eventually weighs heavy on the soul, how would you feel if a user did it so many times one day they just decided to kill themselves? The blood is on your hands.
aizk 1y ago
For the v0 captcha contest I was going to create a scream captcha where you have to scream really loudly to verify, but I got caught up with work. Nice job!
recursive 1y ago
A lot of people are objecting to the "loser" unlock key. A lot of ideas about what to do instead. I think the biggest problem with social media is the loss of attention span. So I think it should force you to stare into the camera for 180 seconds without context switching to unlock. Practice focus to unlock distraction.
- kevindamm 1y ago
  180 seems very high to me and I've already quit social networks (well, except for some forum-like ones such as HN). I like the idea, though, maybe five minutes for every 30 seconds of non-distracted gaze? Or something like that and tunable. Maybe even dynamic to the amount of time spent scrolling the feed in the last x hours?
  - recursive 1y ago
    People burn through half an hour scrolling like it was nothing. 3 minutes is a bargain!
    - pona-a 1y ago
      Maybe it can auto-relock on a timer, while the required time increases every time?
      - recursive 1y ago
        Whatever floats your boat! But I'm wary of creating reversed incentives. I can't let it lock! That would increase the cost. Must keep scrolling.
  - loloquwowndueo 1y ago
    > 180 seems very high to me Sounds like you would benefit from training 3 minutes at a time for starters!
  - dankwizard 1y ago
    If 180 is high you've got Tiktok Brain my friend.
rrgok 1y ago
Far from me criticizing people with disabilities. But are we, as a generation, really that desperate to use these kind of solutions to just control our impulses? Listen, I sometime spend my Saturday just doom scrolling and watching useless shorts for all day beside eating meals, doing nothing productive. But I can stop whenever I can. If you find hard stopping your compulsive behavior you have some other problem that these kind of apps can't solve.
- dylan604 1y ago
  I love it when normies come in and criticize addicts for having a lack of impulse control. Maybe we are not willing to use the addiction word, but until we accept people are addicted, we're never going to solve anything.
  - wraptile 1y ago
    Except things like this are not treatment but just memes
    - dylan604 1y ago
      If you think addiction to using a device is a meme, then we do have problems. Screaming to unlock, yes, is not useful in correcting addictive behavior. That doesn't mean the issue attempting to be addressed is not an actual problem though. Redirecting the conversation back to the actual problem is better than just throwing the baby out with the bath water because this attempt at the problem isn't a real solve
_ink_ 1y ago
Funny idea. I don't think I am a loser. But I'm pretty sure I'm addicted. So I'd prefer that sentence.
ge96 1y ago
It's crazy I am/was a reddit user and it's like a compulsion. I now only look at news, worldnews and combatfootage but I keep reaching for something. The other thing is YouTube which I'm trying to stick to the educational stuff of people making things (I did get premium)' Otherwise Hacker News or freelance/indiehacker sites edit: I do have a hobby (making hardware stuff) but I fell out of it/trying to get back into it (motivation) and work multiple jobs, but on downtime trying to do mindless stuff which isn't always bad/need a mental break
aaroninsf 1y ago
Does it work with LinkedIn
basisword 1y ago
This is hilarious. I can already imagine the real outcome though: I repeat "I'm a loser" 20-30 times a day, internalise it, and destroy my mental health even further :)
ssalka 1y ago
As much as I hate to say it, forcing users to look at ads probably does a decent job of limiting social media time, at least it would for me. On TikTok you can just swipe through ads when they come up, so lots of people now have built-in muscle memory to auto-swipe every 4th or 5th video, or if they see "Sponsored" in the lower left. If I was instead forced to watch every one of those through to completion, I'd spend a lot less time on there.
dvh 1y ago
I'm a programmer, a creative person, working on my projects, and regularly I need a short break, so on every break I usually lay in bed and checked the news and I often ended on YouTube watching more videos, wasting hours every day. What eventually helped me was use css to replace entire YouTube (and other doom scrolling websites) with a motivational picture that says: "One day, you'll realize that your dream died because you chose comfort over effort. Don't let that regret haunt you forever." And it worked. Edit: the css for yt looks like this: body { min-height: 100vh; background-image:url(https://example.com/effort.jpg); background-size: contain; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: center; background-color: black; } p,div,h1,span {display:none}
jag729 1y ago
Ha, might be more effective to have to say some long passage; could see myself eventually saying "I'm a loser" habitually to access the sites without internalizing the meaning.
wraptile 1y ago
I genuinely don't get this. Let's say you believe it's an addiction - how is this an acceptable treatment? Would we justify something like this for alcoholics? "Scream you're a loser for another can of beer" I'm not attacking this project and OP per se but if we do believe that social media addiction is a real problem we're approaching it in very immature ways. It's either an easy problem than can be solved with temperance or its a hard problem that needs to be solved with real science based tools. Anything in-between seems like it could be more harmful than helpful.
- ramblerman 1y ago
  you talk as if people have never overcome addiction with sheer willpower.
  - wraptile 1y ago
    Not sure what makes you think that way. I explictly said easy issues can be overcome with temperance (i.e. willpower) and hard issues need strong scientific based solutions. "Scream I'm a loser" is neither.
spajus 1y ago
That's brilliant! Please make a Firefox extension too!
Tech_005 1y ago
Great work
panic08 1y ago
[dead]

242 points by madinmo 1y ago

SoftTalker 1y ago

Good idea. Could be applied to other self-destructive categories: Porn, hookup apps, etc.

busymom0 1y ago
I created a similar app which locks your addictive apps until you exercise (climb stairs, bike, run etc) to earn screen time points. It's called Run for Fun: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/run-for-fun-screen-time-focus/id6743376966 https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/run-for-fun-screen-time-focus/...

CoastalCoder 1y ago

You should run with this idea! Now make a "Dungeon Crawler Carl" -branded one that requires a webcam, bare feet, and nail polish!

GavCo 1y ago

This is cute, but in all seriousness it would be much more effective to shout "I'm a winner" Research: - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3354773/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3354773/ – Low self-esteem + rejection hurts self-control - https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2007_PowersKoestnerZuroff_JSCP.pdf https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2007_Power... – Self-criticism predicts less goal progress - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9916102/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9916102/ – Social exclusion slows inhibitory control - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1191134/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1191... – Low teen self-esteem → poorer self-control - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8768475/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8768475/ – Meta-analysis links shame to regulation drops - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28810473/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28810473/ – Self-compassion boosts self-regulation - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312138882_Self-Control_and_Ego_Depletion https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312138882_Self-Cont... – Ego threats deplete self-control resources - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21632968/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21632968/ – Self-criticism tied to worse goal progress - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-96476-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-96476-8 – Low self-respect → low self-control → problems Remember to be kind to yourself.

hodder 1y ago
But the point is you aren't a winner if you are unlocking social media. You are opening the gate to loserdom. I'm not sure how the I'm a winner concept would apply here using one of the four methods of operant conditioning. The research stands, but the practical application of his app is based on a Positive Punishment operant conditioning.
- jigarjain 1y ago
  I imagine what the OP meant is that when you feel you are wasting time on Social Media, if you say "I am a winner / I am better than this" (or something more positive), it will block the social media for you. So basically the reverse.
  - 9rx 1y ago
    What suggests that shouting "I am a winner" is less annoying than shouting "I am a loser"? In fact, not just less annoying, but it has to be pleasant as in that scenario you would have to scream it while you are already struggling with impulse control. Even the slightest reason to not to do so would see you not do it in that type of situation.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- haswell 1y ago
  > you aren't a winner if you are unlocking social media. You are opening the gate to loserdom That is not a psychologically healthy way to frame this. And I think it’s a stretch to say that screaming “I’m a loser” is positive punishment, which seems just as likely to reinforce negative self beliefs that lead to the outcomes described in the parent comment’s research and opposite of what the user presumably wants. To your point, just flipping this around to “I’m a winner” doesn’t seem quite right either. But more importantly, reinforcing the idea that “I’m a loser” seems counterproductive either way.
  - 1y ago

netsharc 1y ago

The relevant code: https://github.com/Pankajtanwarbanna/scream-to-unlock/blob/main/content.js#L731 https://github.com/Pankajtanwarbanna/scream-to-unlock/blob/m... Are you sure Chrome doesn't talk to Google's server to convert the speech to text?

sodimel 1y ago
It seems to send the data to google's servers. > Note: On some browsers, like Chrome, using Speech Recognition on a web page involves a server-based recognition engine. Your audio is sent to a web service for recognition processing, so it won't work offline. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Speech_API/Using_the_Web_Speech_API https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Speech_...
ethan_smith 1y ago
Chrome's Web Speech API does indeed send audio to Google's servers by default unless you're using the newer SpeechRecognition API with continuous=false and interimResults=true for local processing.

snickerdoodle12 1y ago

Can't you just uninstall the extension?

yellow_lead 1y ago
In order to uninstall it, you must scream "I'm a huge loser." (Just kidding)
- throwawayq3423 1y ago
  You have to sit through a 10 hour YouTube video of Beck's Loser.
ndarray 1y ago
That's the problem with habit blocking extensions. A theoretical workaround would be to create two extensions - only make them work when both are installed and when one notices that the other got disabled, it does something like deleting your login credentials, or some form of reversible but very annoying punishment.
- netsharc 1y ago
  There's such a URL-blocking extension, that cam be programmed to block the chrome://extensions URL...

bdbenton5255 1y ago

[flagged]

marginalia_nu 1y ago

At last verification can technology is real. YC better swoop this one up. It's going places.

mikesabat 1y ago

If you want to make a kids app... Forcing the child to do a number of math problems to continue using the tablet would be an amazing app that I would definitely pay for. My daughter is a second grader. If every 5 minutes of tablet use 'cost' her 5 correct arithmetic answers she would be working at space x right now.

dekervin 1y ago
Can I reach you over email ? Mine is in profile ! I want to share something not ready for primetime.
- mikesabat 1y ago
  I sent an email - excited to see what you've got.
graemep 1y ago
It would work short term, but I would worry that it makes a a price to be paid which will impair joy in learning the subject in the long term. Its much better to make kids interested in learning than to reward reaching goals or punish failing to reach them.
- serial_dev 1y ago
  On the other hand, the kids might do lot of exercises to keep playing, then they get better at something, then they realize that it is much more enjoyable to be good at something than not... Long term, it could still be a win. Obviously not the same, but in the first years of university, I hated math because it suddenly got hard (never before university did I have to learn math or physics just to barely pass). Then, after many nights of reading through books and practicing, grinding, I realized it's not that hard and it made me enjoy solving the "challenges".
  - JadeNB 1y ago
    > Then, after many nights of reading through books and practicing, grinding, I realized it's not that hard and it made me enjoy solving the "challenges". The only thing I'd change from this wonderful comment is that it is that hard! It's just that, like any other hard skill, lots of dedicated study and practice makes it easier to do hard things.

layer8 1y ago

Does singing the Beck song work?

hliyan 1y ago

Perhaps a better approach would be to randomly replace links in your social media app with links to a random image of what you imagine to be a social media addict, or someone who has ruined their lives due to social media. Perpahs with a message like "This will be you in X years". Hopefully over time the subconscious parts of your brain will get the message. In your current approach, the signalling is largely aimed at the conscious part, which is usually not where the problem lies.

9rx 1y ago
> links to a random image of what you imagine to be a social media addict, or someone who has ruined their lives due to social media. Wouldn't that simply be a picture of himself?
jiehong 1y ago
That’s the idea of the disturbing pictures on packs of cigarettes in Germany. Not sure it works as well on people already addicted compared to people not yet addicted.

titusblair 1y ago

LOl hilarious!

throw7484889 1y ago

I found inverting colors in Accessibility settings works great. Phone is still useable, but everything feels strange and icky.

chaosprint 1y ago

I had similar efforts. so I made a Chrome extension that helps you be more mindful of your social media usage by prompting you to think twice before visiting social media sites. If you really want to see, just wait after the counting down: https://github.com/chaosprint/twice https://github.com/chaosprint/twice

wordpad 1y ago

So you think screaming 'im a loser' 10 times an hour is going to be good for mental health?

serial_dev 1y ago
You could also just stop visiting those sites that you previously decided were bad for you... Then you don't need to scream "I'm a loser".

escapecharacter 1y ago

For a subset of the population, this will have an inverse incentive. To support those people, perhaps have a toggle that requires them to say “I’m a good person”?

draw_down 1y ago
[dead]

throwanem 1y ago

Now ship something that requires a convincing demonstration of inner peace before allowing the user access to X Dot Com The Everything App, and you'll really be cooking with fire.

netsharc 1y ago
Use the front-camera and tell the user to meditate for 30 seconds/algorithmically watch them while they do so. I guess web browsers don't have integrated face recognition APIs yet, although phones could probably do this
- throwanem 1y ago
  iPhones could do it well, using the face ID lidar to measure the user's pupils. (It already does this, taking advantage of the property that they are reflective in IR.) Androids with only a front camera would do it poorly. But either would require pairing with a wearable capable of SpO2, skin galvanometry, HR measurement, etc., in order to credibly analyze physiological stress. I suppose it needs clarifying that I say this all in jest, not as any kind of serious suggestion. Among other reasons, it would only improve the tone and not the substance.
throwaway889900 1y ago
Blade Runner 2049 style interrogation to prove you're not in a bad state of mind huh?
- throwanem 1y ago
  I mean, it is social media. Will you really say you never heard an idea you liked less?

coip 1y ago

Could customize the user call out Maybe something like “I know this is the opposite of socializing but I want to give in the the mindless algorithmic manipulation for a little longer anyways”

mutlusakar 1y ago

Haha, definetely needed.

akoboldfrying 1y ago

That volume bar could be labeled "Humiliation:"

deadbabe 1y ago

It should be “I’m addicted” instead of “I’m a loser”. Forcing someone to call themselves a loser over and over eventually weighs heavy on the soul, how would you feel if a user did it so many times one day they just decided to kill themselves? The blood is on your hands.

aizk 1y ago

For the v0 captcha contest I was going to create a scream captcha where you have to scream really loudly to verify, but I got caught up with work. Nice job!

recursive 1y ago

A lot of people are objecting to the "loser" unlock key. A lot of ideas about what to do instead. I think the biggest problem with social media is the loss of attention span. So I think it should force you to stare into the camera for 180 seconds without context switching to unlock. Practice focus to unlock distraction.

kevindamm 1y ago
180 seems very high to me and I've already quit social networks (well, except for some forum-like ones such as HN). I like the idea, though, maybe five minutes for every 30 seconds of non-distracted gaze? Or something like that and tunable. Maybe even dynamic to the amount of time spent scrolling the feed in the last x hours?
- recursive 1y ago
  People burn through half an hour scrolling like it was nothing. 3 minutes is a bargain!
  - pona-a 1y ago
    Maybe it can auto-relock on a timer, while the required time increases every time?
    - recursive 1y ago
      Whatever floats your boat! But I'm wary of creating reversed incentives. I can't let it lock! That would increase the cost. Must keep scrolling.
- loloquwowndueo 1y ago
  > 180 seems very high to me Sounds like you would benefit from training 3 minutes at a time for starters!
- dankwizard 1y ago
  If 180 is high you've got Tiktok Brain my friend.

rrgok 1y ago

Far from me criticizing people with disabilities. But are we, as a generation, really that desperate to use these kind of solutions to just control our impulses? Listen, I sometime spend my Saturday just doom scrolling and watching useless shorts for all day beside eating meals, doing nothing productive. But I can stop whenever I can. If you find hard stopping your compulsive behavior you have some other problem that these kind of apps can't solve.

dylan604 1y ago
I love it when normies come in and criticize addicts for having a lack of impulse control. Maybe we are not willing to use the addiction word, but until we accept people are addicted, we're never going to solve anything.
- wraptile 1y ago
  Except things like this are not treatment but just memes
  - dylan604 1y ago
    If you think addiction to using a device is a meme, then we do have problems. Screaming to unlock, yes, is not useful in correcting addictive behavior. That doesn't mean the issue attempting to be addressed is not an actual problem though. Redirecting the conversation back to the actual problem is better than just throwing the baby out with the bath water because this attempt at the problem isn't a real solve

_ink_ 1y ago

Funny idea. I don't think I am a loser. But I'm pretty sure I'm addicted. So I'd prefer that sentence.

ge96 1y ago

It's crazy I am/was a reddit user and it's like a compulsion. I now only look at news, worldnews and combatfootage but I keep reaching for something. The other thing is YouTube which I'm trying to stick to the educational stuff of people making things (I did get premium)' Otherwise Hacker News or freelance/indiehacker sites edit: I do have a hobby (making hardware stuff) but I fell out of it/trying to get back into it (motivation) and work multiple jobs, but on downtime trying to do mindless stuff which isn't always bad/need a mental break

aaroninsf 1y ago

Does it work with LinkedIn

basisword 1y ago

This is hilarious. I can already imagine the real outcome though: I repeat "I'm a loser" 20-30 times a day, internalise it, and destroy my mental health even further :)

ssalka 1y ago

As much as I hate to say it, forcing users to look at ads probably does a decent job of limiting social media time, at least it would for me. On TikTok you can just swipe through ads when they come up, so lots of people now have built-in muscle memory to auto-swipe every 4th or 5th video, or if they see "Sponsored" in the lower left. If I was instead forced to watch every one of those through to completion, I'd spend a lot less time on there.

dvh 1y ago

I'm a programmer, a creative person, working on my projects, and regularly I need a short break, so on every break I usually lay in bed and checked the news and I often ended on YouTube watching more videos, wasting hours every day. What eventually helped me was use css to replace entire YouTube (and other doom scrolling websites) with a motivational picture that says: "One day, you'll realize that your dream died because you chose comfort over effort. Don't let that regret haunt you forever." And it worked. Edit: the css for yt looks like this: body { min-height: 100vh; background-image:url(https://example.com/effort.jpg); background-size: contain; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: center; background-color: black; } p,div,h1,span {display:none}

jag729 1y ago

Ha, might be more effective to have to say some long passage; could see myself eventually saying "I'm a loser" habitually to access the sites without internalizing the meaning.

wraptile 1y ago

I genuinely don't get this. Let's say you believe it's an addiction - how is this an acceptable treatment? Would we justify something like this for alcoholics? "Scream you're a loser for another can of beer" I'm not attacking this project and OP per se but if we do believe that social media addiction is a real problem we're approaching it in very immature ways. It's either an easy problem than can be solved with temperance or its a hard problem that needs to be solved with real science based tools. Anything in-between seems like it could be more harmful than helpful.

ramblerman 1y ago
you talk as if people have never overcome addiction with sheer willpower.
- wraptile 1y ago
  Not sure what makes you think that way. I explictly said easy issues can be overcome with temperance (i.e. willpower) and hard issues need strong scientific based solutions. "Scream I'm a loser" is neither.

spajus 1y ago

That's brilliant! Please make a Firefox extension too!

Tech_005 1y ago

Great work

panic08 1y ago

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