Opal retweeted
On Japanese Trains, Everyone Looks Down.
And Keeps Looking Down Even After They Step Outside.
006: w/ @opalapp
Opal retweeted
In 35 rich countries, a typical 15-year-old now reads no better than a 14-year-old did a decade ago. A slow-motion disaster is under way. We explain what must be done to stop it bit.ly/3SH47FM
Illustration: George Wylesol
Opal retweeted
Good stuff.
@opalapp is great for adults (I use it daily).
Meta will enforce a two-hour daily limit on Instagram and Facebook for children as part of a record $17.1B settlement with 29 states over social media addiction claims:
• The “Productive Pauses” for children include mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling
• “Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
• Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year
• Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users
• Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm
• Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls
• Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, that have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens
• Both the implementation and effectiveness of the features will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states
variety.com/2026/digital/new…
Opal retweeted
Time to get this prehistoric bad boy on @opalapp!!!
I would just like to say I disabled Opal for one day and this is the only day I've tweeted a bunch like all year if you need evidence that this is a very useful app for taking back ur time
Opal retweeted
A few of my favourite details from the new Opal app, starting with entering a beautiful cave to get your gemstones, each one changing the theme of the whole app.
Opal retweeted
The Chatbase team is in Paris.
If you haven’t checked out @opalapp yet, now’s the time.
Lovely people, amazing product.
Opal retweeted
Escape cognitive underclass with @opalapp
A lot of folks talk about "escaping the permanent underclass". If AGI pans out, the future class divide won't be based on wealth, but on cognitive agency. There will be a "focus class" (those who control their attention and actually do things) and a "slop class" (those whose reward loops are fully RL-managed by AI)
Opal retweeted
Apple CEO Tim Cook: "I don't want people looking at their smartphone more than they're looking in someone's eyes."
"If they are just scrolling endlessly, this is not the way you want to spend your day. Go out and spend it in nature."
Opal retweeted
7 day social media fast is a longevity therapy.
Also outperforms antidepressants.
7 day (FB, IG, X, TikTok)
+ well-being +9%
+ depression -9%
+ anxiety -8%
7 day general
FOMO - 13%
7-day (FB, IG, Snap, TikTok, X)
+ anxiety -16%
+ depression -25%
+ insomnia -15%
Finished a seven day social media fast. It feels like the most effective longevity therapy I've done.
Everything got better: mood, sleep, energy, presence, judgment, relationships, and optimism.
Evidence shows a seven day fast produces a reduction of anxiety (16%), depression (25%) and insomnia (15%). The effects felt bigger.
Conversely, dipping back in, I can viscerally feel that my body metabolizes social media similarly to a fast food meal, corrosive relationship, hangover, and sleep deprivation. My body hates it.
After the previous fasts (40/hr and 70hr), I wrote that social media is pollution. Not a vice or guilty pleasure. It’s closer to water toxins, air pollution and microplastics.
This time, the major insight was that social media is a form of intoxication.
Alcohol is honest intoxication. It clearly tells you what it's taking from you. Social media on the other hand does not disclose itself as an intoxicant.
It produces the sensation of being informed, engaged, and connected while quietly evacuating your capacity for depth and independent thought.
You don’t feel drunk, you feel current. But evidence shows that it causes your brain to shrink. The impairment is real by you can't feel it. Making it the more dangerous type.
If you haven't tried it, I strongly encourage you to try a social media fast. Even if for one day.
Opal retweeted
Yes! our billboard is having kids theguardian.com/society/2026…
xitter.cf/opalapp/status/1976064…
Replying to @opalapp
Today, as always, we’re doubling down.
We’re putting Scrolling Kills up on a massive NYC billboard

































