Hey y'all,
I run a social platform, yet I'm not sure we should be on every day. I use a Light Phone so I can't even get notifications!
Almost every contemplative tradition takes a day off. Chick-fil-A closes Sundays and outperforms its competitors anyway. Schools are banning phones (ht Haidt). We all know always-on isn't healthy... so why does every social network, including (currently) ours, encourage users to be one seven days a week?
So this week's open question: Should UpTrust have a sabbath?
It's real question the team has debated over the past few years, that we don't know the answer to. Some specific versions I've been chewing on:
- Should we just turn notifications off one day a week?
- Should we actually close—like Chick-fil-A?
- Should each person pick their own day?
- Is "sabbath" the wrong frame entirely, and the real move is something else? Will we polarize the non-religious?
And a harder question underneath: if we know always-on isn't healthy, and we built this thing, what's our actual responsibility?
Would love your honest thoughts in the thread. We especially want to hear from anyone who thinks this is a bad idea. Live discussion today (Wednesday) at 5pm central.
Lots of love,
Jordan Myska Allen
UpTrust CEO