Addiction & Psychology
Social media is not a tool. It is a precisely calibrated reward system. This section is about the neurology behind the feed: dopamine loops, variable rewards, behavioral addiction — and the documented parallels to classical addictive substances like tobacco. The central thesis of these essays is also the foundation of the book Quit the Feed!.
Essays in this topic
Social Media is the New Smoking — And Science Increasingly Agrees
Addiction by design, addiction with intent, addiction with consequences. The parallels between social media and Big Tobacco are no longer a metaphor — they are documented. A look at the neurology, the business model, and the moment the dealers themselves began to doubt.
How to Deal With Social Media Addiction: The Honest Field Guide
Screen-time limits don't work. Detox weekends don't work. The honest answer is a four-step sequence — see the stories, run a 72-hour diagnostic, decide between managing and cutting, and replace the slots the feed was filling. Here is the field guide.
What Even Is This Dopamine Everyone Keeps Talking About?
Dopamine is not happiness. Dopamine is: "Go on. Do that again." Why "dopamine detox" is scientifically nonsense — and still hits the most tender nerve of our time. A deep dive for anyone who wants to understand why social media is so damn sticky.
Why Social Media Is Bad for You — the Honest, Evidenced Answer
Is social media really that bad? Short answer: yes. The longer one: not everywhere equally, but measurably where it counts — brain, sleep, self-worth, relationships, democracy. A compact overview, with sources, that doesn't moralise — and tells you what to do about it.
Other topics
Social Media Critique
This is where we collect the arguments against a business model that long ago stopped being communication and became the attention economy. Essays on the mechanics of the feed, on dark patterns, on the economic pressures behind infinite scroll — and on the reasonable-sounding stories with which we sell ourselves the addiction. Companion reading to the book Quit the Feed! by Henriette Hochstein-Frädrich.
Digital Detox & Withdrawal
A real exit is not a self-optimization weekend — it is a protocol. This section collects structured guides for a social media withdrawal, the typical phases of the first weeks, the most common pitfalls, and concrete tools to avoid falling back into old reflexes. The full protocol appears in the book Quit the Feed!.
From essay to protocol
These essays are the entry point. The complete exit protocol — five hours, five steps, six months — lives in the book.
Read the Book →