I was disappointed reading this article after seeing the headline -- essentially this is a fairly boring and bog-standard critique of social media and screen addiction. We've heard these same exact critiques so many times on this site! It's been rehashed to the point that it is entirely cliche, which makes the post's comments on how thoughtless screen time diminishes "unique insights, ... and exceptional outcomes" feel like self-parody.

Mainly I am disappointed because this blog post never expands on what is meant in the headline by creating space -- the headline is why I bothered reading it at all, and yet the only connection the post bothers make to it is the singular exhortation that we should "[c]reate space for something better", which feels like a glib afterthought.

I'm being harsh here, firstly, because IMO it's important for titles to connect meaningfully with content, because otherwise there's a negative mismatch in expectations. And specifically if the connection feels like an afterthought, I feel duped. The headline seemed interesting! You grabbed my attention! But the content failed to deliver

Secondly, as I said, there's nothing new here -- this horse has been flogged to death and then some. And there's not even a hint of awareness that this is the case, no attempt to engage with other posts or research on this, and there is no sense of awareness that this is a conversation we've been having now for decades. You aren't a hermit philospher, nor are you an island of a person -- at least you shouldn't strive to be those things when writing for other people

Finally, the analysis of our usage patterns is reductive. I realize this isn't a PhD thesis, but there are lots of reasons people use "the apps" other than that it is the bread and circuses which we have been handed and therefore mindlessly consume. I realize that the apps encourage mindless consumption, and our lizard brains are more than happy to oblige, but not everyone who engages with social media is an idiot, and original thought and meaningful connection does indeed happen there.