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Inspiration
The self-destructive habit of scrolling through upsetting & depressing content, past a healthy point, and simply because it is upsetting & depressing. (example: spending hours reading about Covid-19 death tolls when you should be sleeping - but you can’t stop!) Bingeing on bad news is not new but has greatly increased during the pandemic & recent movements. It is the cause of extreme mental health issues (including anxiety & depression), and even physical health issues!
WHY DO WE DO IT?
Instinct: We are biologically motivated to give attention to negative news since it can affect our survival. Habit: The “infinite scroll” exploits the psychological phenomenon automaticity. Algorithm: As you interact with bad news, algorithms recommend it more & more. Addiction: It can trigger outrage & make occasional positive posts feel better; Both feel like a reward to your brain. Tech is designed to use that to become addictive!
Healthcare, tech, & addiction experts recommend...
● Take a conscious, active role in consumption. ● Use external cues to bring yourself out of automatic states. ● Always break a cycle with positivity - switch to healthier content instead of avoiding content all-together. ● Retrain algorithms by clicking on content uplifting content you enjoy. ● Use meditation, workout, or learning apps in downtime instead of social media apps. ● Practice gratitude! (the anti-doom-scroll)
What it does
We worked on an application which monitors user behavior, analyzes it for signs of doom-scrolling, and notifies the user in order to stop their negative automatic behavior. Notifications lead to a dashboard, “Moodboard”, meant to keep track of and improve the user’s emotional health. The Moodboard asks for user input in the form of emotions (using the emotion color wheel) and uses that information to curate and generate mood-boosting content for them! ( The Moodboard is also colored based on the user’s mood! )
MOODBOARD FEATURES Generated Art: AI-generated visualization to show your mood over time & AI-generated art to improve mood using color psychology. Music: Personalized Spotify playlist to compliment user mood. Community: Creates a globe animation that shows average emotion of users in that location. Shows people who have same emotion user inputted for that day. Journaling: Journaling section to record & reflect on mood over time. Quote: Pulls quote from set list that compliments mood. Research & Reccs: Psychology research & more related to emotions.
How we built it
We created this application using HTML, CSS, JS, Json, jQuery, and Bootstrap. We used a Spotify API to pull playlists to the HTML doc and compiled a list of other APIs that we would have leveraged if we had more time.
Challenges we ran into
We didn't have enough time to finish! We didn't get to implement the APIs that we intended to (they are in the resources portion of our presentation). We also designed a front-end that we didn't have time to input into the document.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We came up with a fantastic idea then changed it into an even better one as we went along. Our solution helps to solve a big problem we are all passionate about. We also all learned new languages and skills in order to complete what we did. Since some of us had never even made so much as an HTML doc before this, that is awesome!
What we learned
We learned SO much. Some of our members learned HTML and CSS for the first time. Every single one of us learned a new skill. All but 1 of us attended a hackathon for the first time this weekend so we learned how it all works and can be excited for the next one! We also learned a lot about what doesn't work. We probably learned most about that.
What's next for Moodify
We are going to finish Moodify ASAP!
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