Here are some resources related to digital wellbeing, screen usage, the impacts of social media, and so on. I will add more as I find things.

Blocking/limiting sites and apps #

• Freedom – I’m using this to block web sites and apps on a schedule. There’s a free trial that includes work sessions. After that it’s subscription based but there is a one time purchase option. They also have some standalone browser extensions that are free and very useful on their own. The program plus browser extensions are great if you are looking to limit yourself but probably wouldn’t stop any teenagers from getting around them. There is a “lock mode” but I haven’t tried that yet.
• Unhook browser extension – This makes YouTube a little less addictive by providing options to hide features like recommended videos, the end videos, and disabling autoplay.

Less creepy tech #

By “less creepy tech” I mean software that respects our privacy and doesn’t go overboard with AI or tracking and selling our data. Some of this list is just alternatives to the mainstream platforms.

• Zoom (video conferencing) alternatives
• Calendly alternatives – I really like cal.com.
• Awesome privacy – A list of privacy oriented alternative services.
• Phone – I like the Above Phone and recommend it to people regardless of tech skill level.
• Open source tools for video, text, and code collaboration