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ქართულიDoomscrolling alternative
A doomscrolling alternative that keeps the scroll and the people
Most advice on doomscrolling asks you to give something up: the app, the phone, the habit, and the friends who are in there with you. spirkz asks you to change one thing. You keep short videos, the swipe, the likes, the comments and the people you send things to. What you land on is a lesson of around 30 seconds.
Free on the App Store and Google Play.
What changes when you switch
Stays
- The reach for your phone
- The swipe to the next video
- Likes, comments and replies
- Sending a video to a friend
- Follows, friends and messages
Changes
A video picked to hold you
A lesson of around 30 seconds
What to do instead of doomscrolling
Search for this and you will find the same good advice everywhere. It is worth taking. It also has a weak spot: most of it asks for a decision at the moment you have the least energy to make one. Here is what each option gives you and what it costs.
Delete the app
- What it gives you
- A clean break, and for some people it sticks.
- What it costs
- The people go with it: the friends who send you videos, the comments, the chats. And the reflex is still there, looking for another app.
Set limits or use a blocker
- What it gives you
- A pause at the moment you reach for the feed, which is when it matters.
- What it costs
- A limit can be tapped past. When it holds, you are left with a spare minute and nothing to do with it.
Put the phone down
- What it gives you
- A walk, a book, a call, some sleep. When you can do this, it is the best option on the list.
- What it costs
- It does not always fit a queue, a bus, or the end of a long day when you have nothing left.
What spirkz does
Change what the scroll lands on
- What it gives you
- You keep the habit and your social life, there is nothing to decide in the moment, and the minutes leave you with something.
- What it costs
- It is still screen time. spirkz will not lock you out of anything or tell you when to stop.
Leaving the doom should not mean leaving the people
A lot of what keeps you in a feed is not the videos. It is the friend who sends you one, the comment you want to answer, the person whose next post you are waiting for. Take the app away and that goes too, which is why quitting is so hard to keep up. spirkz keeps the social part and changes what it is attached to.
In a doomscrollA friend sends you a video, and you are still in the app long after you have answered
On spirkzA friend sends you a lesson. It lands in your chat, and you can talk about it there
In a doomscrollYou open the comments and leave angrier than you arrived
On spirkzComments, replies and @mentions under a lesson, where the next question is about the subject. You can report a comment or block anyone
In a doomscrollYou follow people, and the feed fills up with strangers picked to hold your attention
On spirkzYou follow people whose lessons you like, and every video in the feed has to teach something, whoever made it
In a doomscrollNews and rage bait, because anxiety holds attention
On spirkzNo news feed and no rage bait. A video has to teach something to be published
In a doomscrollYou close the app and cannot say what you watched
On spirkzYou close it with something to pass on, and someone to send it to
spirkz is a learning app, not a medical or mental-health service. If scrolling is affecting your sleep, mood or work in ways you cannot change on your own, talk to a doctor or a mental-health professional.
How to make the swap
Set this up once, when you are not mid-scroll. After that, the reflex has somewhere else to land.
- 1
Put spirkz where the old feed was
Same spot on your home screen, same thumb movement. Your hand has nothing new to learn.
- 2
Tell it what you are curious about
Pick your subjects and a language when you join. Those come first in your feed, and you can change them later in settings.
- 3
Bring one friend
Send a lesson by link through any app. Once you follow each other you are friends, and videos go straight into your chat.
- 4
Say something about what you watched
Ask what the video left out, answer someone's question, or start a thread on the subject. Now the session has something in it besides watching.
What a swipe lands on
Lessons from teachers, professionals and creators, each on their own subject. It is not all school, either: there is music, psychology, money and art in here too.
~30 s
A typical lesson, always under a minute
12
Subjects to choose from
10
Friends you can send one video to at once
5
Photos or videos you can add to a discussion thread
The subjects on spirkz
- Science
- Languages
- History
- Coding
- Math
- Business
- Art & Design
- Health
- Finance
- Geography
- Music
- Psychology
A few lessons, as they appear
How vaccines train your body
Science32sWhat actually caused 1929
History28sBig-O, without the math
Coding35s
Doomscrolling alternatives: common questions
- What is a good alternative to doomscrolling?
- It depends on how much energy you have. If you can, put the phone down: a walk, a book or a call beats any app. For the moments when that does not fit, the most realistic alternative is to keep the reflex and change what it lands on. spirkz does that: the same swipe, likes, comments and friends, and every video is a lesson of around 30 seconds.
- What can I do instead of doomscrolling when I am too tired to do anything else?
- Pick something that needs almost no decision. If you are in bed, sleep is the best answer, so leave the phone out of reach if you can. If you are not ready for that, try music, a podcast, or a show with an ending. If you still want to scroll, scroll something that leaves you with an idea rather than a mood, which is what spirkz is for.
- Can I stop doomscrolling without quitting social media?
- Yes, and it can be more realistic than quitting, because social media is also where your friends are. You can keep the chats and the people and move the scrolling somewhere else. spirkz has likes, comments, shares, follows and direct messages, so the part you move does not have to be a solitary one, and you do not have to delete anything.
- Is spirkz a social app or a learning app?
- Both. The feed is education only: a video has to teach something to be published. Around it are the social features you would expect: likes, comments and replies, follows and friends, reposts, one-to-one messages, and Threads for longer discussions.
- How do I talk to friends on spirkz?
- Follow each other and you become friends. You can then send a video straight into your chat, with up to ten friends at a time, and message each other one to one. You can also comment on the same lessons or start a thread on a subject. If you want it quieter, you can approve followers yourself and limit messages to friends.
- Will spirkz limit how long I scroll?
- No. spirkz is not a blocker and has no timer, so you can keep swiping for as long as you like, and videos you have already seen come back once you have watched what is new. If you want a hard limit, use your phone's built-in screen-time tools alongside it.
- Is spirkz only for school subjects?
- No. There is Science, Math, History and Languages, and also Business, Finance, Health, Coding, Geography, Art & Design, Music and Psychology. It is for anyone who would rather come away from a scroll knowing something.
- Is spirkz free?
- Yes. spirkz is free to download and free to learn from, on both the App Store and Google Play.
Same swipe. Same friends. Something to show for it.
Short videos that each teach you something, with the likes, comments and messages you are used to. Free on the App Store and Google Play.