A compelling theory on why social media promises fun but ultimately leaves us bored and listless
A young girl deeply engaged in a doom scroll.
The advent of social media and smartphones has nearly eradicated the idea of the empty moment. We no longer have to sit with our thoughts when waiting in line at the supermarket. Theres no need to strike up a conversation with someone at the bus stop to pass the time.
One doesnt even need to remember to grab a book before getting on a flight.
Social media makes the promise that its possible for us to be entertained and engaged during every waking moment. Writer Max Patrick Schlienger (@RamsesThePigeon on Twitter) challenges that idea by making a convincing argument that our habitual scrolling actually leaves us bored and listless.
Schlienger made his case in a Medium article entitled, The Cargo Cult of the Ennui Engine.
Here\u2019s a piece about the Ennui Engine and its effects on life, entertainment, and happiness:https://link.medium.com/X46Yz7jifmbRamses the Pigeon (@Ramses the Pigeon) 1640610979
Schlienger says this trouble started once online content creators realized that the bar was set pretty low on the internet and they could get a lot of attention with minimal effort by creating low-quality content.
Content creators took note of this trend, and while many of them resisted it, many more adjusted accordingly. After all, why should they expend a lot of effort on something when lazy offerings were seeing more success? he wrote.
Before long, accuracy, quality, and correctness became optional requirements, and online audiences learned to expect mostly low-effort content instead of refined assemblages, he added.
While watching videos of a guy eating it on a skateboard on Instagram or someone explaining psychological disorders in 17 seconds on TikTok arent bad in and of themselves, low-effort content is quick and simple and demands little of us so we consume it passively. Its a lot different than reading a book where we co-create meaning with the author or watching a film that asks us to make sense of complicated characters and plot developments.
Further, our constant diet of low-effort content also leads to more of it being produced.
When we amplify these thingsusing our likes, upvotes, retweets and shareswe encourage the creation of more low-effort content, and in so doing, we send the message that higher quality offerings are unwelcome and unwanted, Schlienger wrote.
After all, if we enjoy the low-effort content, why shouldnt we ask for more of it? Why shouldnt we encourage it? he wrote. Therein lies the real problem, however: We dont enjoy the low-effort content at least not as much as weve tricked ourselves into thinking that we do.
So how are we fooling ourselves?
Every second that we spend scrolling represents a tiny investment of emotional energy, the well of which is slowly drained as moments pass. To return to a previous metaphor, we start off hoping for a jackpot, then grow increasingly desperate to just break even, he wrote.
Unfortunately, since weve already demanded that we be served only low-effort contentand since that same jackpot is being buriedwere doomed to lose every time. We point to tiny blips above a baseline of boredom as evidence that were still enjoying ourselves, and we deny that our banks are being depleted, he adds.
Upworthy spoke with Schlienger and he compared habitual scrolling to an addiction.
I think it's a great thing that we've been entering into an era where mental health is much more at the forefront of our attention. Folks are much more open about their internal struggles. And yet in spite of that, we're going around chain smoking and encouraging others to do the same, he told Upworthy. When you start scrolling, when you start looking at this low effort content, it's hard to stop. And, just like a smoker, you tend to snarl at anybody that says, hey, thats bad for you.
Schlienger believes that this addiction to low-effort content is rarely challenged because everyone has a phone. I can sit and scroll through TikTok, and maybe that's bad for me, sure. But you know what? Nobody can criticize me for that because I'm using a phone just like they are, he said.
In addition to consuming a lot of our time, Schlienger says it also throttles our motivation. In The Cargo Cult of the Ennui Engine he makes the case that every time we pick up the phone and go hunting for something engaging, we are burning emotional energy on an activity that will rarely replenish what it has diminished.
It's like consuming junk food where you're not actually getting any nourishment, but it's still filling you up. It's getting rid of your hunger, although in this case, the hunger is sort of inverted and it's motivation. It's draining your motivation, he said.
Schliengers theories are backed up by recent studies on social media and boredom. Researchers from the Netherlands' Radboud University recently found that phone usage wasn't an effective method to alleviate boredom and fatigue and even made these feelings worse in many cases.
Schliengers idea that passively consumed low-effort content distracts more than it alleviates boredom is echoed by psychologist Nancy Irwin. Boredom is generally a quest for fulfillment from external sources. However, real fulfillment is an internal job, she said.
The first step in overcoming the addiction to low-effort content and habitual scrolling is to understand its limits and to be conscious of our daily behaviors. Schlienger doesnt believe we should immediately delete our social media apps, but to be more mindful of our use and careful about what we encourage.
Instead, we should remain self-aware and discerning as we traverse the web, encouraging, applauding and insisting on effort and earnestness from anyone who intends to contribute (no matter how small or substantial their contributions might be), he wrote in The Cargo Cult of the Ennui Engine.
Amplify emotional investments, he wrote, not blips above the baseline.
- Mom's reminder about teens and empathy in the age of social media ... ?
- How social media harms teen girls - Upworthy ?
- Research on screen time and mental health is fatally flawed ... ?
- March 3 is National Unplugging Day - Upworthy ?
- Man writes powerful post about doomscrolling - Upworthy ?
- Is social media 'killing the real you'? - Upworthy ?
- Why social media makes you feel bored all the time - Upworthy ?
- Is social media bad for you? The evidence and the unknowns - BBC ... ?
- Pros and Cons of Social Media | Lifespan ?
- Social Media and Mental Health - HelpGuide.org ?
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