.png)
Sign in to your XDA account
Summary
- Scream to Unlock Chrome extension requires users to yell "I'm a loser" loudly into their microphone for social media access.
- The creator, madinmo, designed the extension as a drastic measure to combat their own addictive social media habits.
- Users who scream louder can unlock more time for social media use, making it an extreme yet effective anti-distraction tool.
When breaking an addiction like social media use, different people respond to different stimuli. Some people will only break the habit if there's some kind of reward at the end of it, while others just need to be reminded about what they're doing so that they can stop. And some will keep using social media through hell or high water and require something a little more extreme to break the habit.
Such is the case for Scream to Unlock, a Chrome extension that, well, forces you to scream to unlock your social media websites. It has to be loud, it has to be into your microphone, and you have to specifically say the phrase "I'm a loser" to gain access. And the worst part is, you're actually rewarded the louder you scream it.
Related
This extension is the idea of madinmo, who posted their extension as a Show HN piece on Hacker News. They had an issue where regular social media dissuasion tactics weren't working on them, so they had to resort to drastic measures:
I kept wasting time on social media, even though I’d promised myself I’d stay focused. Regular site blockers didn’t help.
I needed something that felt annoying enough to break the habit. That’s how the idea came up: make the blocker ask me to say something embarrassing out loud before it lets me back in. If I actually have to yell “I’m a loser” into my mic.
The most sinister part about the extension is that you don't just have to yell "I'm a loser." You have to yell it as loud as you can. The extension will only grant you access if it finds your efforts sufficient, and it will even give you bonus time for yelling extra loud. So, get your lungs ready if you want a lengthy session debating people on X.
If this sounds like just the thing you need to get back on track, head over to the Scream to Unlock Chrome extension page and give it a spin. And because you should never, ever trust a random stranger to not record you screaming "I'm a loser" for their own nefarious purposes, you can check out what's going on under the hood on the project's GitHub page.
English (US) ·