Digital minimalism can leave room for your friends

Wanting less social media does not mean wanting less of your friends. You may still care about their photographs, their news and the book they think you'd enjoy. The part you want to reduce is the time spent checking for something else after you've caught up.

Digital minimalism is useful when it helps you decide what a tool is for and how much of your day it deserves. Keeping in touch is a clear purpose. A social app should be able to serve that purpose without turning every available minute into another opportunity to open it.

TouchGrass is designed around that expectation. Your feed follows the people you choose. There are no algorithmic suggestions, public like counts or endless scrolling. You can read, share something, have a conversation and return to what you were doing.

The responsibility belongs partly with the people building the software. We shouldn't demand more discipline from users while designing more reasons for them to stay. A non-addictive social network ought to help a person make a deliberate visit and feel satisfied when that visit is over.