Hi,

Thanks for subscribing. This is the first thing Unfollow has ever sent, so here's what it's about.

We're an initiative, currently focusing on the UK, campaigning against a specific set of social media features: publicly visible follower and subscriber counts, infinite scroll, autoplay, and engagement-optimised notifications. These aren't neutral design choices. They're built to turn ordinary use into compulsive use, and there's real evidence behind that, not just a hunch (we've written it up, with sources, on our FAQ page).

Two things we're not against: following people, and the platforms themselves. Staying in touch with people you've chosen to connect with is how social media works, and it's not what we're campaigning against. Same goes for banning these platforms outright, or for under-16s only. We've laid out why in detail on the site, but the short version: the harm isn't age-limited, bans are trivial to get around (see: Australia), and there are real benefits, for small businesses especially, that a ban would take out along with the harm.

What we want is narrower, and we think more achievable: strip out the addictive mechanics, keep everything else.

The site's live at unfollow.org.uk. There's a full FAQ if you want the detail, and a bit about who's behind this on the Team page.

More soon. If you know someone who'd want to read this, forward it on.

Dominic
Founder, Unfollow