Reprinted an article on Zhihu: How did Douyin ruin us?

Original link: https://blog.frytea.com/archives/675/

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Written in front:

In this article, Douyin is just a concrete representative.

What I want to talk about is a group of entertainment apps with algorithm as the core represented by Douyin.

Every era will have some elimination mechanisms, but in the current era, people will be eliminated based on self-control and information screening ability.

But there are always some people who are unwilling to wake up. When they find that they have achieved nothing, they will choose to complain about others and the society, and then pin their hopes on the next generation. In the eyes of this group of people, it is not them who are wrong, but the society. Hope this person is not you.

01 –
The lower the level of people,

More like spending time on entertainment

A few days ago, Douyin released an “explosive video”. The number of comments alone exceeded 1 million, and the number of views exceeded 10 million.

This is almost an unattainable amount for us writers. And behind the number, there are people who have devoted their time and energy to it.

In addition, I believe you have seen a lot of words like this in the circle of friends: “I have been poisoned by Douyin”, “I can’t stop using Douyin at all, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. …”

I believe that people who have used Douyin, or Kuaishou, Volcano Video and other small video software will feel deeply about this point.

If you see a person moving his fingers and smiling from ear to ear on the side of the road or at a rest place, he is probably watching a short video.

We will unconsciously fall into it, and suddenly find that several hours have passed.

Neil Postman wrote such a passage in “Amused to Death”:

“All public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertainment and becomes a cultural spirit. Our politics, religion, journalism, sports, education, and business are all willingly subordinated to entertainment, without complaint or even sound, and the result is It’s us who have become a species of entertainment to death.”

The lower the level of people, the more they like to spend time on entertainment.

More and more people are suffering from Internet addiction, becoming addicted to various entertainment news, becoming dependent, following others’ advice, following suit, and indulging in the virtual world and unable to extricate themselves. I am afraid that in the long run, I will become a transparent body with an empty head and indulge in sensual entertainment.

Some people say that where you spend your time, you will be what kind of person. People with a high profile do not spend too much time on entertainment.

We are falling in love with these industrial technologies that make us lose our ability to think. Software such as Douyin, Kuaishou, Douyin, and Weibo are rapidly strengthening our demand for novelty and increasing our sensitivity. At the same time, it reduces the need for text and patience.

After using more software such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weibo, we will form a kind of inertia: I don’t have the patience to read a long article or book. There is no time to think, because we are always looking forward to the next novelty that catches the eye, waiting for it to be directly presented in the video.

For example, you may not be able to finish reading this long article of mine.

And after being bombarded a lot, we will gradually fall in love with this feeling of “being fed”. And when “being fed” forms a habit, we will be lazy to think, and our patience and ability to dig deeper will be gradually obliterated.
Chen Tianqiao, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shanda Network

02 –
You foolishly immerse yourself in it all the time

In return, the operators are full of money

This is a very “legendary” company. At the end of 2001, Shanda had only about 300,000 US dollars left on its books. Chen Tianqiao poured out his money and bought the Chinese agency rights of a second-tier Korean game “Legend”.

In 2002, “Legend” had more than 600,000 simultaneous online users, making it the largest online game in the world at that time. Shanda’s average monthly sales exceeded 10 million, and its market share exceeded 60%.

But Chen Tianqiao said more than once in an interview with reporters: “I never play “Legend” because it is a bad game and a waste of my time, but Shanda is a good company.”

But it is undeniable that this highly sought-after bad game has indeed attracted tens of millions of sales.

Did you see it? You foolishly immerse yourself in it all the time, and what you get in exchange is a lot of money for the operator.

“I don’t know why, I feel so happy when I’m using TikTok, but after I’m done, I feel so empty, depressed, and even more inferior.” A fan private messaged me at one o’clock in the morning.

He said that he just finished using Douyin on the bed, and then he suffered from insomnia.

We are most likely to feel our own helplessness and emptiness in the lonely night.

I replied: “Because you fell in love with a virtual and novel world, but you are still doing nothing, and your life is still ordinary.”

I call Douyin, Volcano Video, Toutiao, Kuaishou, etc. software with algorithm recommendation as the core: drug software.

An APP similar to Douyin is backed by a strong operation team, supported by professional consumer behavior studies, using the most cutting-edge technology, the most detailed data, through sound, light, interaction, feedback, etc. The approach is carefully crafted under the guidance of various theories of psychology, behavioral economics, and cognitive neuroscience—what is the purpose? To create a virtual space to kill your time.

The satisfaction it brings is too easy to obtain, and once you get used to this “easy-to-get” satisfaction, you will no longer want to do those “high-input” things. For example, complete homework and think about problems in a state of high self-discipline.

In this world full of entertainment, when we don’t have enough self-control, we will be “inactive” because of indulging in various temptations.

03 –
Bill Gates’ family sets 13 as age limit for getting a cell phone

Jobs didn’t allow his kids to use iPads

Bill Gates once said in an interview that he thinks 13 is the right age for a child to have their first mobile phone.

He, Jennifer, and son Rory Gates, born in 1999, were not allowed to use mobile phones until after their 13th birthday, while their youngest daughter, Phoebe, was looking forward to getting her first mobile phone on her 13th birthday .

“Our family has a 13-year-old age limit for getting a cell phone.” Because of the rule, Gates says, kids often come home from school and complain to him, “I’m the only one who doesn’t have a cell phone, all the other kids have cell phones.” Man, it’s embarrassing.”

do you know? Jobs did not allow his children to use iPads.

Jobs had three young children during his lifetime. The New York Times reporter Nick Bilto asked him one day:

“Your kids must love iPads, right?”

Old Joe replied:

“They don’t use it. We limit kids’ use of smart products at home.”

Sound weird? The father of the iPad doesn’t allow his kids to use the iPad? Feels like a drug dealer doesn’t allow his kids to use drugs…

Coincidentally. In Silicon Valley, among the top executives and engineers of many high-tech companies, it has become popular to prevent their children from being exposed to smart technology products.

They even send the kids to the traditional Waldorf school, which is completely devoid of smart and technology products, and there are no computers on the campus of this school at all!

04 –
who can control time,

To take control of your life.

What we see is that electronic products are rapidly becoming younger, and Douyin Kuaishou has quickly occupied the lives of elementary school students.

And because of the lack of self-control, they will be immersed in it and cannot extricate themselves. They choose to be comfortable at the age when they should struggle most, and are instilled with a lot of bizarre and unhealthy trends when their values ​​​​are formed.

So they began to imitate, chasing after the underage pregnancy wind to become a treasure mother, dancing social rocks with young people, thinking that low cut and eyeballs can make a lot of money… When the control is unfavorable, the degeneration begins.

Those things we love are gradually uprooting us.

I saw such a passage in the article of writer Zhou Chong:

When your time is no longer used for in-depth learning, when your attention is divided by others, when you only watch variety shows and TV dramas, when you stay in groups for longer and longer, when your execution is getting worse, When you judge others more and more, when you complain more and more, when you think about the past more and more…the destruction has already happened.

How you allocate your time is up to you.

In the future, on the battlefield of time, there are two businesses that will be particularly valuable.

The first is to save others time. The second is to help others waste the time saved on those beautiful things.

Only those who can control their time can control their own life.

In this city, half of the people are working hard, half are accepting their fate; half are fighting for time, half are wasting time; half are burning their youth, and half are wasting their youth.

Which half would you like to be?

Evaluation

In the future, the test of human self-control will become more and more severe.

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