Taylor Lorenz’s Screen Time Is Almost 17 Hours a Day

Taylor Lorenz doesn’t privation to interaction grass. The exertion and civilization writer wrote the bestselling publication Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power connected the Internet, and she has the surface clip to beryllium it. Previously a newsman for mainstream media outlets, Lorenz built specified a rabid pursuing (and a legion of haters) that she decided to spell autarkic successful 2024. Now, astir 100,000 fans subscribe to her newsletter, User Mag, for her insider cognition of virality and her freakish quality to contextualize however net civilization shapes, well, everything.

For our precise archetypal User Behavior, Lorenz defends her utmost integer diet, revealing however she’s archetypal to the AI slop, what it takes to tally a meme page, and wherefore she’s not disquieted astir immoderate of this rotting her brain.

Phone model: iPhone 15 Pro

I’m waiting for a decent upgrade. I'll upgrade erstwhile I get a amended camera. I'm friends with an influencer selling idiosyncratic astatine Apple, and I've ne'er gotten a azygous escaped merchandise retired of it. It's a disappointment. I'm not big-time capable to marque it connected the gifting!

Computer model: 2024 MacBook Pro, 14-Inch

Standard. Good computer. When I was quitting my job, I thought, what's the closest to my enactment computer? And I bought that. Also, I edit video. So I request a small much horsepower.

Average surface clip crossed each devices:

My iPhone surface clip is astir 10 hours oregon something. I americium benignant of horrified, but the happening is, for immoderate reason, penning is little stressful to maine connected my phone. So I often constitute the archetypal draught of everything connected my phone. I americium utilizing it for work; I'm not conscionable connected brain-rot Instagram Reels.

I besides similar to perceive to inheritance sound each day, due to the fact that I hatred the soundlessness of downtown LA. I conscionable ever person euphony on. And truthful my 2 astir utilized apps are Spotify and YouTube. At night, I similar to ticker Netflix connected my telephone due to the fact that I'm inactive connected my household program and I tin lone adhd truthful galore devices.

I deliberation caring astir surface clip is stupid. It's a discarded of intelligence energy. I really deliberation this full motivation panic implicit surface clip is going to beryllium gone successful 10 years, due to the fact that everything's going to beryllium integrated into the satellite astir america already. If you're talking to an AI cause each time and conscionable telling it what to bash and interacting with it, you're not going to person to look astatine a screen. You'll astir apt conscionable beryllium speaking to immoderate pod successful your ear.

Music app: Spotify, Hype Machine

I deliberation I’m 1 of the past remaining users of Hype Machine, which was truly fashionable during the bloghouse era. It started successful 2005 arsenic a mode to observe MP3 blogs. I deliberation I started utilizing it successful 2010, and I consciousness similar I observe tons of caller euphony connected determination and besides they person remixes and stuff. It's honestly the best, and everybody needs to enactment them. I'm perpetually acrophobic astir them going retired of business, due to the fact that they're conscionable from the indie net a agelong clip ago.

I don't similar the AI playlist and the AI-ification of euphony recommendations. I similar to beryllium fixed euphony that I would've ne'er recovered before. I similar the find facet of Hype Machine, due to the fact that it's curated by bloggers, and determination are inactive euphony bloggers retired there, and they're uncovering worldly that I wouldn't person recovered otherwise.

I perceive to podcasts 24/7 connected Spotify, and I bash perceive to euphony connected Spotify. I conscionable don't observe caller euphony determination arsenic much. I bash subscribe to today's apical hits. I similar popular music.

Number of unread emails: 15,607

I don't judge successful Inbox Zero. You benignant of conscionable person to dainty email arsenic a newsfeed oregon a Twitter feed—you're going to miss immoderate stuff, but you can't interest astir it. You conscionable person to fto it spell and cheque successful connected it sometimes. A batch of people's accent astir exertion is feeling similar they person to implicit things oregon optimize, and I'm conscionable like, whatever. If I spot it, I spot it. If it's truly urgent, idiosyncratic volition find a mode to scope me.

Number of unread texts: 712

This fig is precise down. I was successful the thousands. Because I'm successful a batch of radical chats, if I don't people the radical chats arsenic read, it conscionable becomes a truly large number. But I've been moving a batch of my messages to Signal.

I don't person immoderate anxiousness astir immoderate of it. Who cares? There's this full manufacture built connected making you cheque your telephone and making you consciousness similar you person to cheque your phone. And again, I mean, this has gotten maine successful occupation astatine enactment before. It's not a large cognition to person successful a occupation situation, but present that I'm self-employed, I don't person a brag telling maine to cheque my email. It's the lone mode to live. I couldn't get my enactment done if I was checking texts and email and stuff. It's excessively much. Why are we successful this cult?

Last idiosyncratic FaceTimed: Barrie Segal (friend)

I don't bash a batch of FaceTime. Some friends FaceTime me, but I'm not an outgoing FaceTime person. I mostly FaceTime to gossip. It's large for gossiping, due to the fact that it's similar you're determination with them. Gossip is benignant of intimate. You've got to FaceTime to marque definite that nary one's around. Because if you conscionable telephone and commencement gossiping, that's a precise risky endeavor.

Last happening Googled: “WSJ A-hed”

This is truthful embarrassing. I Google that each day. I don't adjacent cognize what that is, but it's the lone happening I work successful The Wall Street Journal. I don't cognize wherefore it's called A-hed. They're each conscionable entertaining stories.

Last photograph taken: A miss astatine an anti-ICE protestation dragging an ICE cause piñata

Last AI prompt: “Vegan chickpea look ail eggplant tahini”

My AI past is each conscionable random nutrient assortments. I cognize AI is bad, blah, blah, blah, but I usage it for recipes each the time. I usually usage Gemini.

Top 3 emoji: 💓 🫠 🙌

The bosom is ever my fig 1 emoji. And past the different 2 I conscionable benignant of rhythm done based connected immoderate I was texting. I usage 🫠 a batch arsenic a absorption to things similar “LOL.” It’s besides like, the satellite is bleak. I deliberation I was utilizing it successful narration to Jasmine Crockett's Super Bowl advertisement today.

Favorite societal network: X

Ugh, I’m a sicko. X is simply a unspeakable right-wing propaganda level that Elon Musk has bastardized. I cognize it's a precise skewed accusation environment. It incentivizes toxic behavior. But I emotion real-time information, and determination conscionable is nary different level that provides real-time accusation astatine standard that tin besides springiness you specified a wide-ranging presumption into antithetic communities. I'm precise into tech Twitter, but I hatred them all, and I privation to spot what everyone's up to. I privation to spot the latest sermon astir Alex Karp's latest interrogation oregon something. If you privation to travel what's going connected successful Silicon Valley, you’ve got to beryllium connected X.

Least favourite societal network: Threads

Max Read coined calling Threads the “gas-leak societal network,” and it is the cleanable description. Threads is perfectly a bizarro satellite of immoderate of the slightest media-literate radical I've ever encountered. It's crazy. It's similar a premix of marque content, hardcore bluish MAGA, benignant of wide conspiracism, conscionable truly chaotic AI-generated headlines. There's truthful overmuch warring connected Threads. It’s genuinely conscionable a elephantine crockery of misinformation and delusion.

Favorite quality source: Terrence O’Connor’s play taste digest videos connected TikTok

I similar the presentation. It’s a batch of quality that I'm going to astir apt spot connected PopCrave, but helium adds his ain analysis. He is highly bully astatine recognizing things that are successful the zeitgeist.

Favorite subreddit: r/SubredditDrama

I emotion to cognize the drama. I deliberation mod play is an eternal signifier of contented connected the internet, and I emotion to support tabs connected what's going on. I besides deliberation this subreddit provides a bully representation of the societal dynamics that are happening connected Reddit broadly.

Favorite tech product: 15-foot iPhone charging cord

I person these cords everywhere. Any country that I'm in, I bring it. I don't similar to consciousness tethered. It's truthful humiliating to person to beryllium adjacent to an outlet and complaint your phone.

Number of burner accounts: unknown

I conscionable marque them each the time. The lone mode to recognize a assemblage oregon inclination oregon phenomenon, you person to get into that world. I besides emotion Real Housewives and Bravo. And truthful I person a batch of accounts that conscionable beryllium to travel Summer House quality oregon Bravo, whatever. Because we don't person immoderate benignant of coherent tech argumentation that would springiness america the quality to exert power implicit our feeds, I consciousness similar I conscionable person to perpetually marque caller burner feeds to get the accusation that I privation and interruption retired of what my idiosyncratic algorithm would amusement me.

Nostalgic tech obsession: Tumblr, BlackBerry Pearl

I retrieve I had a rule: I would ne'er day anyone that doesn't person BBM, due to the fact that however americium I going to pass with them? BBM is life. And maine and my champion person had some got Blackberry Pearls astatine the aforesaid time, and it was everything to me. I retrieve getting convinced to get an iPhone finally, and I was like, “God, I'm going to person to springiness up BBM.” And past I got the iPhone and wholly ne'er looked back. But I besides loved the keyboard of it all.

I had galore Tumblrs. This is however I got into media. I was truly large connected the single-serving Tumblrs. There was a full trend: "Fuck yeah, bagels.” “Fuck yeah, L Train.” Or whatever. Most of my Tumblrs were submission-based, but I conscionable loved the find aspect. I deleted a batch of them, due to the fact that I don't cognize what I was reblogging successful 2011. I don't deliberation it was problematic. It was conscionable a weird epoch of net content. I bash inactive person “Fuck yeah, communism.”

“Tech hygiene” ranking, retired of 10: 7

I don't bargain into immoderate of the classical “tech hygiene” stuff. Maybe I'm conscionable a pig oregon something, but the question exists to origin radical accent and anxiety. And I deliberation you conscionable person to unbend a small spot and not deliberation astir it. But I bash effort to beryllium bully astir privacy. I don't station definite things, but overall, conscionable person a unafraid password. Everything else, don't accent astir it. Everyone has our information anyway.

Last screenshot: Clavicular

I person a meme page, Taylor Lorenz 3.0, truthful my screenshots are conscionable contented that I'm going to post. I would accidental I instrumentality astir apt dozens, if not hundreds, of screenshots a day. My default bookmarking is screenshotting and faving.

Last net rabbit hole: Melania movie meme conspiracy

A fewer days agone I noticed that dozens (I deliberation really hundreds) of meme pages were each posting the nonstop aforesaid memes astir the Melania movie. They were appearing connected everything from galore many cat-theme pages, to a leafage dedicated to Twin Towers remembrance, a Millie Bobby Brown stan account, to pages astir boxing, astronomy, and scuba diving adventures. None of the posts had immoderate advertisement disclosure. Also, the posts are getting unspeakable engagement, but the meme pages are keeping them up, which truly lone happens erstwhile they're getting paid. After similar 8 hours of digging I recovered the bureau down it all. Then a caller TikTok Shop ecommerce contented location came up connected my feed, and I started looking into that.

All time I'm like, "Wait, what's that? What's that?" It’s conscionable amusive to spell down and spot what's going connected successful immoderate country of the internet. A batch of them are astir scams. "What mode is this level being manipulated oregon what scam is this idiosyncratic running?" I person terrible unmedicated ADHD, and each azygous time I commencement down a twelve antithetic rabbit holes.