Combatting Addiction — The Third of The “Things Wink Will Never Compromise On”
We are now in the thick of the things we will never compromise on and we’re tackling addiction. There’s alcohol addiction, tobacco addiction, drug addiction, gambling addiction, food addiction, shopping addiction and, as it turns out, screen time addiction. It goes without saying it is the last one we are interested in.
Maybe it’s not always labeled with the unpleasing term ‘addiction’, but screen time is an issue we face currently. It’s not just us who recognize a problem in this. The Screen Time feature integrated by Apple with iOS 12 — that we’re exceedingly glad about — focuses on precisely this point. Facebook and Instagram have similar features since August 2018. The fact is, screen time has become a problem. Like many other things used excessively.
We think that bringing our attention to the amount of time we spend in front of the screen — with analytics such as Screen Time — is a big step in the right direction. While we want to go along the same lines, with Wink we want to approach this from a different angle.
Let’s look at this from the inside out. From the very beginning, the app was built to counteract screen time addiction. Life won’t be interrupted countless of times by Wink. We want you to live life fully not intermittently. Notifications will only come up when absolutely necessary to ensure a satisfying experience. Aside from that, notifications will be fully customizable so you can define what’s a satisfying experience.
Wink will simply ignore the notion of infinite feed. Scrolling and scrolling and scrolling forever and a day is not in the cards for Wink. You will only see content you and your close friends created together. Don’t worry, long-distance relationship features are in the works.
You’re part of the memories you see so you can bid farewell to the comparison game. If we’re honest, it’s a game we will always lose. When scrolling through a feed, knowingly or unknowingly, we end up in a position where we compare the real version of our lives to the idealized version of someone else’s (since social media profiles reflect snippets of a carefully curated version of our lives). Centering around shared experiences can bring the comparison game to an end. At least for a while.
As for likes, we’re looking at them differently. They’re merely a way of keeping track of content you actually like. They are not visible to anyone else but you. This is a way of breaking the dopamine driven feedback loops.
How much better is it to stop wasting our time watching someone else’s life and focusing on living our own? How much healthier would that be for us and our mental health? More on mental health in an upcoming article.
The purpose of Wink is socialization and the cultivation of genuine relationships. The app makes sense when people get together and spend time with each other: it allows them to collect the unforgettable experiences they share. We advocate not being online when being with people.
When in physical proximity, friends are identified so they can participate in the memories created in the app. We’ll send you friendly reminders if you overstayed your welcome in the app so that you can focus on the people you’re with. Just like with almost everything, balance is key. Oh, the golden middle way!
This is what we have so far. Probably, there’ll be a lot more as we grow. What is certain is that we’ll channel our efforts in combatting addiction through everything we build.
As always, your feedback is more than welcome. Send your thoughts to hello@wink.social or simply respond below.
If you want to do more, you can pre-register at wink.social to become an insider and make Wink a reality for you and everyone. You can also follow us (in moderation) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to always know where we’re at.
We’re in this together,
The Team Powering Wink
