Checkpoint creates pop-ups in order to disrupt long-term scrolling periods, to help you cut down on your time online, or cultivate a more intentional social media use habit.

Doomscrolling? Rabbit holes? Fatigue? The infinite mindless impersonal nonstop flood of information online? At their worst, social media sites are a challenge to mental health and wellbeing. At their best, they are a gateway to distant friendships an unexpected opportunities. 

So how do we make the most of our digital social spaces? Some people advocate for less screen time. Others promote grayscale screens to diminish our phone’s enticing visuals. But we aren’t just moths drawn to pretty things, are we? We still have the power to choose.

Several studies found that it often isn’t the length of time spend on social media or the sites themselves that determine whether we emerge better or worse—it’s how we choose to use these platforms, whether actively or passively. 

Ever catch yourself idly doomscrolling on Twitter, spending way too much time on TikTok, or losing sleep over Facebook? When we allow the algorithm to surprise us and leave our content up to chance, that’s passive use. 

When you deliberately choose to message a friend, post an update, or engage with people, that’s active use. And research shows that active use actually makes us happier. Passive use is the enemy.

I made Checkpoint to jolt myself out of my passive-use spirals, and engage with my friends online in more deliberate, mindful ways. I hope it helps you too.