One of the most insidious features of the social media + smartphone combo is how it dominates the median of your everyday experience.
One extreme is when you have something like an urgent deadline or emergency. Everything that otherwise consumes your attention falls to the wayside as you pour all your energy into meeting that deadline or responding to the situation.
The other extreme is when you’re completely relaxed or in a flow state during an activity. You don’t even think to scroll on your phone to pass the time because you’re so positively engaged and unaware of time passing in the first place.
The social media + smartphone lurks in all the moments in between those extremes. In the past, I would guess a lot of serendipitous encounters and activities occurred in this “middle band” of experience. With nothing better to do, the mind wanders, digests information, and generates new ideas.
But the smartphone sucks all the oxygen out of that space and leaves nothing for the mind to breathe. Instead, the algorithm leashes your thoughts and attention and yanks them around. It snuffs out any chance of having better thoughts and ideas.