Sharing some ideas I had around digital wellbeing in the hope there are already things out there that could do the job.<p>Idea #1<p>-------<p>A browser extension that hides comments on YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram and Hacker News.<p>The toggle needs to be convenient so users can 'reveal' comments on demand.<p>An implementation for apps could be nice but I assume it can't be done.<p>There is a chrome extension that does something like this but it's not easily toggled and is just limited to YouTube: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hide-youtube-comments/kehdmnjmaakacofbgmjgjapbbibhafoh?hl=en<p>Idea #2<p>-------<p>A browser extension watching user activity (keeping all data local). Can identify 'autopilot patterns' and lets users set up indicators to let them know when they fall into a pattern.<p>It could also provide digests / live metrics with an estimate of time spent in autopilot.<p>It's really important things are presented in a super non-judgemental way and are easily toggled; it shouldn't be like the anti-distraction apps that can feel imposing rather than a tool the user is free to use however they like.<p>Rationale<p>----------<p>I noticed that over lockdown I would spend a lot of time browsing YouTube on autopilot so, as an experiment, I started using an extension that hides comments.<p>This set-up gave me an instant "you're on autopilot" signal because most of the times I switch off, I will scroll down to the comments at some point.<p>Since starting to use the extension, I spend way less time on YouTube but still feel like I'm getting so much more out of it.<p>I'm also noticing that a lot of the time autopilot is triggered by some ego resistance, things like "this isn't my kind of thing" or "I don't like this person".<p>When I catch this in the moment, which is happening more often, there's an opportunity for me to understand that resistance, let it go and re-engage.<p>It's definitely brought some mindfulness to my day and made me more open to things.<p>I'd be really interested to see how a 'toggleable' comments / autopilot detection set up impacts other people and changes the way they use different sites.
"Distraction Free Youtube" is pretty good -- <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/df-tube-distraction-free/mjdepdfccjgcndkmemponafgioodelna?hl=en" rel="nofollow">https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/df-tube-distractio...</a>