The intentional internet
What if digital wellbeing wasn't about using the internet less, but using it better?
Digital wellbeing is often framed as subtraction. Delete the app. Turn off the phone. Block the website. Reduce your screen time. Sometimes those solutions work. But they all start from the same assumption: The internet is the problem.
We aren't convinced.
The internet is also where life happens
We work online. We study online. We talk to friends online. We learn skills online. We discover ideas online. We create things online.
We don't want a smaller internet. We want a more intentional relationship with it.
Research on digital wellbeing increasingly recognizes that technology use isn't inherently positive or negative in every context. The effects depend on factors including the activity, the user, the context, and the way technology is used. PubMed Citation ↗
Intentional use vs. automatic use
The distinction we care about is simple:
- Intentional use: "I'm opening YouTube to watch this lecture."
- Automatic use: "I'm opening YouTube because I'm bored."
Neither is inherently good or bad. But they are different behaviors. The second can become a loop:
boredom → app → content → reward → more content → time passes
And because the next piece of content is always available, the loop doesn't need a natural stopping point.
So what should a digital wellbeing tool do?
Not necessarily block everything. Not necessarily tell you to stop using technology. Instead, it can help introduce choice. That can happen through a pause, a prompt, a hidden distraction, a clearer stopping point, better visibility into your habits, or a reminder of what you intended to do.
These interventions don't remove agency. They return it.