It’s not you. Phones are designed to be addicting.

The 3 design elements that make smartphones so hard to put down, explained by Google’s former design ethicist.

Batch notification research by the Center for Advanced Hindsight, Duke University & Synapse Inc

Today’s phones are hard to put down. Push notifications buzz in your pocket, red bubbles demand attention, and endless distractions sit at your fingertips. It can feel impossible to pull away from. But that’s kind of the point. When people talk about the “attention economy,” they’re referring to the fact that your time and attention are the currency on which today’s applications make money. Because apps profit off of the total time you spend on their platform, there’s a strong incentive to use psychological tricks to keep you endlessly hooked. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Tristan Harris, who runs Time Well Spent, is working to create a world where platforms can more honestly respect their users’ time.

[harrypotter]

Now they give us dark mode so we can use it when we’re about to sleep

[jooku]

the slot machine and pull to refresh analogy blew my mind

[karafaulkner]

I just realized that YouTube has infinite scroll.... I'm in trouble.

[TTTechnoPro]

It’s not you. Vox made this title addicting

[colem_h]

Huh. So it isn’t, “Those kids and their phones.” It’s just.. “Those phones and their kids.”

[edhozell]

I just turn off all my notification... now i feel lonely...

[randomdude]

Duolingo is genius. They kept reminding me of the lessons each day which I kept ignoring and then they said "since I guess these notifications aren't working, we'll stop sending them." Lol

[cocoajinni]

Nintendo always' tells me to take a break 😉

[hazelnutsheep]

That's why the subscribe button is red...

[SuicideBunny]

Nowadays I'm more addicted to YouTube, watching random science, ted-ed, vox ... videos just to keep on watching, than I'm scrolling through my Facebook feed. Like I'm doing now ...

[SupremeSector]

*You should stop scrolling here*








This comment section is a BOTTOMLESS VORTEX OF STUFF

[Expirations]

Vox: Phones are meant to be addicting.

Also Vox: *uploads a 6 minute video for a bunch of high schoolers to watch before they go to sleep when they have school tomorrow*

[nataliac]

Another thing: Most apps, particularly game apps, hide the clock from the screen. The same thing happens at casinos: there are no clocks there.

[mindsauce]

You kept on scrolling didn't you? Welcome to the bottomless vortex of stuff ;)

[shb]

Vox, your editing style is so aesthetically pleasing that I can't stop myself from appreciating it.Good work!

[xyon]

*Scrolling through comments* by the video's description of Infinite may also be an addiction.

[ggmxz]

Haha jokes on you.

*I'm using a tablet*

[fhovtuj]

I appreciate how Instagram now has this feature of "You've done! You've scrolled the new contents of today" or something like that so I can actually see what I've been missing on without spending too much time scrolling on three days old posts. Also, Twitter is really addictive with the infinite scrolling feature. It's fortunate that I've realized this before I watch this video

[selimshakur]

Now I feel bad scrolling down to see comments.

[GuitarLessonsBobbyCrispy]

Companies are also addicted to apps! Seems like you can't do anything these days without having a smartphone to buy a product or shop in their store. Pretty soon people won't be able to get on a bus or buy a coffee without having to pull out your phone and use their app. Feel sorry for people, mainly senior citizens, who don't own smart phone and feel like they can't function in society, and therefore feel obsolete.