How to Teach Your Algorithm to Be Your Therapist

The first time my feed served nothing but tiny, furious headlines for three days straight, I unplugged in frustration. No one handed me a manual. So I started tinkering: muting phrases, following obscure botanists, and using the ‘Not interested’ button until my thumb ached. It worked. I stopped waking up to outrage. I didn’t quit the internet. I reshaped it. In this post I explain how I retrained algorithms on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to show more art, nature and learning—and how you can, too.

What is Slow Tech: A Practical Definition

I don’t want to quit the internet. I want to stop letting it act like my boss. The Slow Tech movement is my pushback: fewer tricks, more purpose—tools that last, respect attention, and don’t treat my brain like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

My Slow tech definition (the usable one)

Slow tech definition: technology chosen and used like craft, not a disposable commodity. It’s built (and configured) for long-term impact, not rapid deployment and forced novelty. If an app needs a slot-machine feed to keep me “engaged,” I’m not the customer—I’m the product.

Tristan Harris: “Design that hijacks attention is an ethical failure—interfaces should invite focus, not theft.”

Slow tech also has a physical side. We generate about 62 million tons of electronic waste every year, and only 22% gets recycled worldwide. Short device lifespans, locked-down repairs, and “your battery is fine, buy a new phone” energy aren’t personal failures. They’re structural ones.

Not tech minimalism. Tech selectivity.

This isn’t a monk cosplay where I throw my smartphone into the sea. Slow tech means I keep what earns its place. A Kindle that helps me read more books? Yes. A social app that turns every quiet moment into doom-scrolling? Hard pass. That’s mindful technology adoption: choosing tools that pay rent over time.

• Purposeful use (open the app for a reason, leave when done)
• Reduced screen time (less “just checking”)
• Human limits respected (no infinite scroll as default)

Cal Newport: “Clarity comes from deep, focused work, not constant connection.”

If your tech can’t survive without constant pings, maybe it shouldn’t survive at all.

How I Retrain Algorithms: Hands-on Steps for TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

I start ugly. I open TikTok and treat my For You page like a junk drawer: loud takes, fake “news,” and people yelling into ring lights. Then I get petty. Tap Share → Not interested. Again. And again. I hit it forty times in one afternoon. My thumb cramped. Worth it.

Ava Chen, UX Researcher: “Small, consistent feedback signals—taps, mutes—change recommendation models over time.”

Step 1: Spam the feedback buttons (yes, really)

Short-term, manual interventions move the needle. Fast. The CalmAlgorithm doesn’t need a manifesto; it needs data points.

• TikTok: Long-press a video → Not interested. Do it until the app gets embarrassed.
• YouTube: On Home, click the three dots → Not interested or Don’t recommend channel. On Shorts, same menu.
• Instagram: Tap the three dots → Not interested. For accounts, use Mute (posts/stories) or Restrict if someone’s a chaos merchant.

Step 2: Replace the loop with better people

Algorithms hate a vacuum. I follow three “antidote” creators: one artist, one naturalist, one teacher. I swapped doom-scroll clips for a watercolor painter and a birdwatcher who whispers Latin names like bedtime stories. This is Digital well-being with receipts.

Step 3: Use the hidden knobs

Mindful technology adoption means touching the settings you usually ignore.

• Instagram: Settings → Hidden Words to mute keywords.
• YouTube: Settings → History & privacy → clear specific watch items (surgical, not scorched-earth).
• TikTok: Settings → Activity Center → Watch history (delete the “why did I watch that?” streak).

Expect a wobble. Mine took several hours across a week before it steadied. The feed fights back. Keep tapping.

Hardware Matters: Repair, Refurbish, and Slow the Upgrade Cycle

I swapped a dying phone battery at a community repair café and, no joke, I walked out feeling richer. Same phone. Same life. Just no more 2 p.m. panic when it hit 9% and started acting possessed.

Right to repair is the calmest form of rebellion

Forced upgrades aren’t “consumer demand.” They’re structural: glued-in batteries, parts pairing, and software support that expires like milk. Right to repair laws push back by requiring parts, tools, and manuals to be available to normal humans, not just “authorized” shops with secret handshakes. Pair that with extended producer responsibility (manufacturers paying for end-of-life collection), and suddenly the upgrade cycle looks less inevitable.

Maya Johnson, Repair Advocate (Repair Cafe Network): “Fixing is a political act as much as a practical one—repair builds local skills and reduces extraction.”

Repair and refurbishment beat the algorithm at its own game

Every year we generate about 62 million tons of e-waste, and only 22% gets recycled. That’s not “oops.” That’s a system. Electronic waste reduction starts with keeping devices in use longer, and repair and refurbishment does it while creating local, hands-on jobs (the kind you can’t outsource to a chatbot).

My rule: if a device can’t be repaired with a screwdriver and patience, it’s not “premium.” It’s fragile.

What I check before I buy (or keep)

• Repairability scores and teardown guides on iFixit
• Local repair cafés (bring snacks, learn something)
• Refurb options like Back Market
• Device swap programs through libraries, schools, or city e-waste events

Advocates keep floating a ten-year smartphone benchmark. I want that world. My thumbs do, too.

Community and Culture: Building Slow Tech Habits Together

I don’t trust my willpower. I trust my neighbors. The fastest way I’ve seen a feed calm down is when a Slow tech community treats attention like a shared resource, not a solo self-help project.

Community repair cafes: fix stuff, break the upgrade spell

Community repair cafes are where “my screen is glitching” turns into “oh, it’s just a loose ribbon cable.” You show up with a sad laptop, someone shows up with a tiny screwdriver set, and suddenly you’re not shopping for a new device at 11:47 p.m. Repair and sharing also cut e-waste and keep money local—parts from the neighborhood shop, not another panic-buy online.

Want a directory? Start here: Repair Café International.

Swap parties and tool libraries (yes, they work)

I organized a device-swap once. No speeches. Just a folding table, masking tape labels, and a rule: wipe your data before you arrive. Someone left with a better camera and two new friends. That’s the point. You trade gear, you trade know-how, you trade the itch to consume.

• Host a phone-case-and-cable swap (everyone has a drawer of lies)
• Join a local tool library for chargers, tripods, even label makers
• Post a “repair buddy” request in your neighborhood group

Feed clubs: collective curation retrains algorithms faster

Here’s my favorite trick to Build community slow: a feed club. Small group. Weekly drop: one playlist, one artist, one documentary. Everyone watches/plays, then searches and saves the same picks. Recommendation systems learn from patterns; collective patterns hit harder than isolated attempts.

Lina Ortega, Community Organizer: “Shared curation beats solitary rage. When people swap playlists instead of outrage, algorithms notice.”

Bonus: workplaces testing 4-day weeks or hybrid schedules pair nicely with this—less screen-time theater, more intentional slow work.

Policy, Industry, and Resistance by Design

I don’t buy the “just use less screen time” lecture. The system is built to keep you scrolling and to keep your phone feeling “old” right on schedule. If we want a sustainable future slow, we need tech industry reform that changes the incentives, not just our willpower.

Right to Repair: the anti-upgrade button

Right to Repair and extended producer responsibility aren’t niche nerd issues; they’re the closest thing we have to a brake pedal. Ethan Ramirez, a policy researcher, put it cleanly:

“Policy tilts markets. Right to Repair won’t just help users—it will shift design incentives upstream.”

That “upstream” part matters. If manufacturers must provide parts, manuals, and fair pricing, they stop designing phones like glued-shut oysters. I want a boring standard: a ten-year smartphone benchmark, with battery swaps that don’t require a heat gun and a prayer.

Recycled-content requirements (and receipts)

Recycled-content rules force companies to plan for materials recovery instead of pretending every launch is a clean slate. Refurb marketplaces like Back Market prove demand is real; policy can make it normal, not a side quest.

Addictive design regulation is coming. Good.

Platforms won’t volunteer to weaken their own slot machines. Regulation around addictive design is expected to shape digital evolution through 2026 and beyond—think tighter rules on dark patterns, youth protections, and clearer disclosures. My ask is simple: transparency in recommendation signals. If “For You” is steering me, I should know what it’s optimizing for.

• Resistance by design: default “Following” feeds, friction on infinite scroll, and a visible “Why am I seeing this?” panel that isn’t buried.
• Auditable metrics: time-spent can’t be the only scoreboard.

Slow tech is pro-innovation. Better, slower progress beats frantic release cycles that burn users and the planet.

Sources: Guidelight Innovations, Critical Playground, Climatesteps, BackMarket, WorkDesign, Dave Shap substack.

Work, Meaning, and Intentional Slow Work

I used to treat my phone like a tiny boss that lived in my pocket. Slack pings. Email badges. “Quick question” DMs that were never quick. Then I tried an intentional day: no notifications until noon and one deep project block before I touched anything reactive. Productivity didn’t die. My brain just… showed up again. I wrote cleaner copy, made fewer dumb mistakes, and stopped rereading the same paragraph like it was written in smoke.

Dr. Helen Park, Organizational Psychologist: “Slower rhythms at work restore attention and lower chronic stress—people perform better when not constantly interrupted.”

This is the part of the future of work I actually care about: not another app, not another dashboard, but intentional working practices that protect attention like it’s payroll. Tech industry burnout isn’t a mystery. It’s math. Too many inputs, too little recovery, and a culture that confuses “available” with “valuable.”

WorkDesign-style workplace experiments keep circling the same truth: flexibility works better when it’s paired with rituals. Hybrid schedules don’t save you if every day is a free-for-all. Four-day workweek pilots across multiple companies didn’t succeed because people magically became disciplined; they succeeded because teams set rules, boundaries, and meeting hygiene that made time feel real again.

My favorite rituals are boring on purpose. I check email twice—11:30 and 4:30—and I don’t “just peek.” Lunch is a zero-notification hour, full stop. Once a week, I run a 20-minute “purpose sync” with colleagues: what are we building, what are we refusing to build, and what’s getting in the way of meaning? That last question hits hard.

Slow Tech at work isn’t quitting ambition. It’s refusing scale that trashes your values. Try one morning with silence. If your job can’t survive four hours without pings, what exactly are you being paid to do?

Thanks for watching. For more life-changing articles and posts, visit stablegrace.com

TL;DR: Practical steps to retrain your feeds, reduce digital fatigue, support repairable devices, and build slow-tech habits that favor meaning over rage-bait.

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