The Pavlov Poke – A Shocking Way to Cure Facebook Addiction

Well hi there! Great to see you today. How're you keeping? All right? Good! Pour some coffee into your mug and snag a virtual doughnut (completely fat-free!). 

Say...do you spend a lot of time on Facebook? The other day I chanced to be in a local Dollar Store. While I was waiting in line, the cashier was chatting to a customer ahead of me about Facebook. She carried on when she got to me. I am not one who spends much time at all on social media. As I was leaving, she said, "See you on Facebook!"

Frustrated by the amount of time they spent on Facebook during workdays, two MIT doctoral candidates have created the Pavlov Poke, a keyboard palm rest that sends electric shocks whenever the user spends too much time on ”email, social networking, or other online distractions”.

Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff are both Ph.D. candidates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but like millions of other internet users out there, they are also social media addicts. 

After estimating they waste a combined 50 hours a week on Facebook, the two decided to take a new approach to fighting social media addiction by using electroshock therapy to keep users from wasting most of their days on sites like Facebook and Twitter. 

Named after the well-known Russian psychologist who performed behavioral experiments on dogs, the Pavlov Poke is a keyboard accessory programmed to send electrical shocks into users whenever they spend too much time scrolling through their Facebook news feed or browsing on distracting websites. The shocks are strong enough to make you react, but while they are unpleasant they are not dangerous.

Well, I for one don't need a Pavlov Poke. How about you? 

See ya eh!

Bob