#30 Social Media - A Study of Thumb Movements and Their Correlation with Sleep Quality

Episode thirty of The World's Most Boring Podcast - Bore Me to Sleep is titled Social Media - A Study of Thumb Movements and Their Correlation with Sleep Quality, and it is exactly as uneventful as that title promises. Over sixteen unhurried segments, this episode explores the surprisingly soporific world of social media research, sleep science, and the humble human thumb, in a way that is specifically designed to be easy to miss if you happen to drift off halfway through, which is entirely the point. If you are looking for a sleep podcast, a podcast to fall asleep to, or simply something monotone and gentle to listen to at bedtime, this episode will serve you well without ever raising its voice or doing anything unexpected enough to keep you awake. Topics covered include the biomechanics of thumb scrolling and the one-handed use envelope, the infinite scroll and its inventor Aza Raskin, the displacement hypothesis in sleep research, blue light and melatonin suppression, the pineal gland and René Descartes, sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman's thirty-two days in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, the concept of vamping and late-night under-the-covers phone use, pre-sleep cognitive arousal, and the surprisingly poetic idea of social media as a modern campfire. There are also digressions involving Philip Glass, Walt Whitman, Norwegian winter darkness and the word mørketid, opposable thumbs and the caves of Lascaux, and a golden retriever who cannot catch a frisbee. The episode is calm, dry, gently witty, and goes absolutely nowhere at a very comfortable pace. It is ideal for people dealing with insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, racing thoughts at bedtime, or anyone who simply enjoys falling asleep to quiet, monotone talking. It is also suitable for people who have no sleep problems at all but enjoy the particular pleasure of a voice that keeps going after they've stopped listening. Whether you search for sleep meditation, bedtime podcast, talk me to sleep, boring podcast, sleep stories for adults, or simply social media and sleep, this episode will meet you where you are and ask very little of you in return. We currently have forty-nine subscribers, which is seven squared, and we are quietly proud of that. If you would like to suggest a topic for a future episode, ask a question, or simply make contact with the most boring podcast on the internet, you are warmly invited to write to us at [email protected]. We will read it. Slowly. The World's Most Boring Podcast - Bore Me to Sleep. Produced by Audun Kvitland Rostad. Scroll responsibly.