The Newsfeed Eradicator

Welcome to The Reboot, a weekly column to help you build a healthier, more intentional relationship with technology.

This week, I’ll be testing out something new—a shorter, more actionable format highlighting a specific tool that has become a key component of my tech(less) stack.

I’d love to hear which style you’d prefer, so feel free to reply to this email or shoot me a DM on Twitter with any and all feedback.

But first, if you were forwarded this email and want to receive my next article in your inbox, please add your email below:
 

If you’ve ever tried quitting a social media app, you’ve probably went about it one of four ways:

1) Setting screen time limits until you slowly wean yourself off

2) Deleting the app entirely

3) Only using the app on your desktop or laptop

4) A combination of options 1-3

While these methods can sometimes work, they often fall short, leaving you to immediately fall back into the same habits when the apps are reinstalled.

There are two main reasons for this…

1) These apps are ingrained into our lives, and we truly may need them for work, creative pursuits, or keeping in touch with friends and family. Getting rid of them all together for many people is damn near impossible.

2) The underlying issue isn’t just the access; it’s the design of these platforms. They are built to keep us engaged, constantly pulling us back in with endless feeds and notifications. Simply limiting access or changing the medium doesn’t always address the root cause of the addiction.

I’ve lived it first hand. Until recently, I struggled to find a middle ground between having the app on my devices and not using it excessively. I could delete apps cold turkey or add extreme friction to prevent access, but if they were within reach, I'd be right back to mindless scrolling.

10,000+ person engineering teams with billions of dollars: 1
Randy: 0

Then I stumbled upon newsfeed eradicators.

These tools do exactly what they sound like: removing the most addictive aspect—the infinite scroll of newsfeeds. This way, you can still use the app for its intended purposes, like following one or two specific creators, posting for work, or connecting with others, without getting lost in the rabbit hole of endless content.

I’ve been using the creatively named, Newsfeed Eradicator, Chrome extension for the last month and it has significantly reduced my time scrolling Twitter on my laptop.

Here’s how it works:

1) Download the extension, select the newsfeeds you want to block, and an amount of time you want it ‘eradicated’ for.

2) It then replaces your entire news feed with an inspiring quote which don’t really do much for me, but hey to each their own.

Now, I can still see my notifications, use my DMs, and intentionally search for specific people whose content I want to view, without getting sucked into the feedback. Peak intentionality.

That’s it. Dumb simple. 100% free. Crazy effective.

You’re probably thinking…

Damn, this would be sick if I could do this for my phone too.

Well, it’s possible. Sort of. Right now, there is only one app that I’ve seen that works for only removing Instagram and YouTube feeds (and hopefully soon for TikTok), called BeTimeful. 

Tbh, the UX/UI kinda sucks & the reviews on the App Store aren’t great, but it’s a start. I have no doubt that it will continue to get better and that more competitors will enter the space over the next few years.

That’s all I got. Go download the extension and test it out for yourself. I guarantee it works. You’re welcome.

Resources

Digital Wellness Coaching: If you’re interested in digital wellness coaching to help you build healthier, more intentional relationships with your technology (either individual or group), feel free to book a call here.

Digital Detox Tools: A free directory of 75+ digital wellness products, software, and services. Access it here.

Accountability Group: I’m creating an accountability group for people who are dedicated to reducing their screen time and building more intentional relationships with technology. It will be paid, but reasonable (gotta have some skin in the game). Reply to this email if you’re interested.

Contact Me: If any of my writing resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you. You can reply to this email or DM me on Twitter.

Short Form Video: Last week, I kicked off with Cut30 - a 30-day short-form video bootcamp.

I'm a complete noob and the first few videos are gonna suck (for now) but it's been fun af getting to experiment with something new.

Plus I'm getting a lot of energy from the copywriting aspect (writing scripts, tweaking hooks & CTAs etc.) and the idea of sharing information that can truly help people change their lives.

If you wanna follow along, you can find me on TikTok (@randy.ginsburg) & Reels (@randy_ginsburg)

@randy.ginsburg

The non negotiable tactics to spending less time on social media #screentime #mentalhealth #digitalminimalism #productivity

Lastly, if there’s anyone in your orbit who you think would find this interesting, it would mean the world if you shared this on social or sent it their way.

Now stop scrolling and do something great!

Randy