2023-03-18 05:48:42 +00:00
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---
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title: "Pull vs push: intentional notifications"
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date: 2023-03-16T17:20:32-04:00
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draft: true
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2023-03-19 22:52:54 +00:00
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toc: true
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2023-03-18 05:48:42 +00:00
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---
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2023-03-19 22:52:54 +00:00
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Some kind of intro here
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## Pushed-based
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2023-03-18 05:48:42 +00:00
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Modern internet services heavily rely on push-based systems. YouTubers used to
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say "smash like and subscribe!" at the end of videos because they wanted you to
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get a _push_ notification when they publish a new video. When YouTube stopped
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sending notifications for subscriptions and added the bell, YouTubers started
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saying "smash like, subscribe, and hit that bell!" instead. Free Android games
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often ask for permission to send notifications because they want to periodically
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remind you that "hey!! you downloaded me! don't forget about me! come play me,
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run out of energy, get annoyed, then buy some extra energy with your hard-earned
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money! also, pay a bit more and remove the ads while you're at it! 😃"
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E-commerce platforms often ask you to subscribe to their newsletter in exchange
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for a small discount on your next purchase because they want to _push_ their
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marketing to your inbox. Some news websites serve massive popups asking you to
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subscribe to their newsletters so they can, again, _push_ their new content in
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front of your face. In some cases, this tactic may be perfectly benign; there
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are some individuals and companies with newsletters that might be genuinely
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interesting and they just want to let you know that the newsletter exists in
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case you want to subscribe. But they still result in content being _pushed_ in
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front of their subscriber's faces.
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Similarly, instant messaging is all about push notifications. It's in the name:
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_instant_. When someone sends you a message, you usually want to know
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immediately; maybe it's a family emergency, maybe your food delivery person just
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arrived, maybe the sky is falling, etc. Those are all situations where you
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genuinely do want notifications pushed in front of your face. But think about
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while you're at work. Do you really need to know that there's no more coffee in
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the lounge when you're waist-deep in a big code refactor and having to mentally
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juggle variables and signatures and business logic and overarching structu— look
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at this funny meme!
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Ah shit. Where was `x` set again? _Does_ this function duplicate the logic of
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that other function 83 lines above? You've lost your train of thought and it's
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going to take you about 30 minutes to get it back.[^1]
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Maybe you're spending time with your family but that new hire keeps asking for
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help with this snippet of code they can't figure out. You genuinely want to help
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them, but time with family is incredibly valuable. It can wait until tomorrow.
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There's a time and place for push notifications. Intentionally setting
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boundaries and being thoughtful with your time is important.
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2023-03-19 22:52:54 +00:00
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## Pull-based
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2023-03-18 05:48:42 +00:00
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## Some suggestions
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Make heavy and extensive use of Do Not Disturb rules on as many platforms as
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possible; on mobile devices, it's often possible to automatically enable DND
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during calendar events as well as enable it while you sleep. Mark yourself as
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unavailable in Slack (or Teams or XMPP or \_\_\_\_) outside of work hours.
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Disable push notifications for YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Maybe consider
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using alternative clients for those services that are more user-respecting in
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general.
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2023-03-19 22:52:54 +00:00
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Religiously unsubscribe from everything that clutters up your inbox. If you
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don't actively want to see it, unsubscribe from it or write a rule that marks it
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as reads and immediately shoves it in your archive. Inboxes are for pertinent,
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important information; the latest shoe sale at your preferred big-box store is
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neither.
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2023-03-18 05:48:42 +00:00
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Get an [RSS reader!][rssr] Please!
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[rssr]: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator
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They allow you to subscribe to multiple sources of information — like news
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websites, YouTube channels, blogs, etc. — and aggregate that content into one
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place. You can read what you want when you want without having anything thrust
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in your face by The Algorithm™. Depending on the reader, you can sort sources
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into categories or folders that allow you to focus on one thing at a time rather
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than being treated to a firehose of the internet.
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If you're looking for a service, check out [Feedbin,][fb] [NewsBlur,][nb]
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[Feeder,][feeder] [Feedly,][fdly] and [Inoreader.][ino] Be thoughtful about
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enabling notifications though.
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[fb]: https://feedbin.com
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[nb]: https://newsblur.com
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[feeder]: https://feeder.co
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[fdly]: https://feedly.com
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[ino]: https://www.inoreader.com
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2023-03-19 22:52:54 +00:00
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If you're into self-hosting, I highly recommend [yarr.][yarr] At the time of
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writing, I've been using yarr for 6 months and don't see myself switching any
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2023-03-18 05:48:42 +00:00
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time soon. I only wish it had a maximum content width so reading was more
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pleasant on wide screens and that [the theme would switch based on your system
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theme.][yarr-theme]
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[yarr]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/
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[yarr-theme]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/issues/46#issuecomment-798896310
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2023-03-19 22:52:54 +00:00
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If you do adopt RSS, I strongly recommend migrating your _important_ newsletter
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subscriptions to [_Kill the Newsletter!_][ktn] It generates an email, you
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subscribe to the newsletter with that email address, and it appends each email
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to a unique RSS feed generated just for you. At the time of writing, I receive 7
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newsletters as RSS feeds and it's a pleasant experience.
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[ktn]: https://kill-the-newsletter.com
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2023-03-18 05:48:42 +00:00
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[^1]:
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I've seen and heard 30 minutes cited many times from sources I remember
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trusting, but I can't remember exactly which sources they were. After a
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quick search, The Muse says [_It Takes Nearly 30 Minutes to Refocus After
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You Get
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Distracted._](https://www.themuse.com/advice/this-is-nuts-it-takes-nearly-30-minutes-to-refocus-after-you-get-distracted)
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