Scrollin

I made a song about our social media problem.

Scrollin.. Scrollin.. Scrollin

I wrote a song called Scrollin. I wanted the chorus to feel like the action of scrolling on social media - repetitive, mindless, entrancing. My favorite piece of feedback about the song is when someone says they heard the chorus in their head during a scrolling session. It happens to me a lot too and I always find it both hilarious and meaningful. I laugh at the thought of hearing a voice (mine in this case) narrating my actions, especially when what I’m doing is so monotonous. I find it meaningful because it’s a moment of consciousness during a typically unconscious activity. If I’ve helped even one person break out of that unconscious cycle for a moment, I’m happy.

It sounds intense but what so many of us are experiencing is addiction, by design, in plain sight. The by design part is important and I hope that comes through in the song. My goal is not for people to hear the song and feel bad about their social media usage. Instead, I want us to think more about how these platforms have been designed and what their end goals are. Social media today is not accidentally addicting. There are thousands of very gifted engineers optimizing features to make them as addicting as possible. 

One of those features is literally called infinite scroll. It’s hard to find a popular platform without this feature these days - Instagram, X, Tik Tok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more recently even Google Shopping. With features like these, it can feel like there’s not much we can do to combat the stronghold that social media has on our lives. Some of Facebook’s own founders and former employees compared the addictive nature of the platform to gambling and cigarettes, with Facebook founding president Sean Parker claiming that they exploited “a vulnerability in human psychology”. In other words, these platforms have been designed to entice and entrap our minds, to overwhelm our willpower. So basically, we’re cooked right? Nah. Hold on.

Hold On, Get it Back

When I say “Hold on, get it back”, I’m referring to that moment in a scrolling session when I break free. I’m grateful for that moment. I want our society to have that moment in a broader sense. These platforms have a massive advantage on humankind in their understanding of human psychology and data about human behavior. Despite that advantage, I still think we could win. 

Thankfully, there are some great minds raising awareness about the harms of social media and advocating for the platforms to have more accountability. Folks like Jonathan Haidt, Jiore Craig, Tristan Harris, Dr. Vivek Murthy and Renee Diresta are shining a light on the impact of these social media platforms and their effect on how we engage with one another. There is a resistance of smart, well-studied people attacking this problem from a variety of angles. Some are focused on disinformation, others on addiction, others on policy and so on. I’m trying this music angle and seeing if I can meet people where they are.

What You Looking At? Tik Tok or Reel?

I recognize the irony of marketing Scrollin on social media, in the hopes that people scroll to it and see it. The sad truth is that social media remains one of the best ways to market anything in this day and age. It puts me in this tough spot where I want people to see my song, but what I really want is for people to be more free from the addictive pull of social media. Social media has this heavy gravity now. If there’s anything you want to highlight or do, you need a social media page. 

So I’ll make some Reels and Tik Toks. That’s where people are. And I want to reach them with this message. Selfishly, I would love it if a video for Scrollin is the last thing someone watches before closing the app for the next few hours. But that’s not how it works. Either way, I hope to chip away and raise awareness through a special form of expression for me -- music. Feel free to listen to the song and share it with a friend. But more importantly, feel free to unplug and actually feel free. Hit the lock button on this device. Look around. Take a walk. Hold on, get it back.