I often catch myself mindlessly flicking through apps, almost as if I’m window-shopping in the digital world. It’s that odd sense of doing without actually doing anything meaningful.
Imagine a scenario where you’re feigning phone usage—like what IAIYWOYP lays out. This site has me responding to random prompts that feel oddly specific.
“Raise your eyebrows and then frown,” it instructs.
I find myself tapping circles as they appear, swiping when directed, and sometimes even giving my screen a swipe to ‘clean’ it. Combined, these activities are the perfect shield for those moments when you want to seem busy rather than eavesdropping on the conversation at the table next to you.
What’s both captivating and slightly unsettling is how satisfying these activities become. There’s something surprisingly enjoyable about tapping a pink circle or absentmindedly touching my lips as if deep in thought. Maybe it’s the theatricality of it all, or perhaps I’m realizing that this simple kind of feedback is what I subconsciously seek from my phone anyway. Despite obsessively using it, all I have to show is nearly 2,000 wins in Sawayama Solitaire.
So, if a clever interactive app can grip my attention just as effectively as endlessly scrolling through Bluesky, it really makes me pause and question what I’m actually achieving with my screen time.
