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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

AI Is Killing
The Doomscroll

If you’ve been on AI more and Instagram less this year, you’re not imagining it. Here’s the data, why it’s happening and 5 things to build with Claude this weekend instead.

This is one of the biggest shifts in how people use their phones since smartphones launched, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably part of it.

What The Data Shows

01

Social media peaked in 2022

A Financial Times analysis of GWI survey data from 250,000 adults in 50+ countries found time on social media peaked in 2022. In the developed world it has dropped almost 10% since, with the biggest drop among teens and twentysomethings. North America is the exception, where use is still rising. (Summary of the FT analysis)

02

AI went the other way

ChatGPT went from an estimated 100 million monthly users in early 2023 to more than 900 million weekly users by early 2026.

03

AI is topping the download charts

ChatGPT was the most-downloaded app in the world (not counting games) in March 2025, ahead of Instagram and TikTok, and did it again in January 2026.

The 5 Jobs Social Media Did

Strategist Matt Paige wrote a great breakdown of why this is happening. The easiest way I’ve found to explain it is a framework called Jobs to Be Done: every product gets "hired" for a specific job in your life. We scrolled for five:

01

Information

What’s new in my world. AI wins: a two-line question gets you a better summary than 30 minutes of scrolling.

02

Entertainment

Something interesting. AI mostly wins: it won’t replace your favorite creator, but it’s great at "show me something interesting" on any topic you’re curious about.

03

Distraction

Ten minutes of not doing the thing. AI wins, annoyingly: a curious question scratches the same itch, and you usually walk away with something useful.

04

A quick hit of dopamine

A little jolt of novelty. AI wins: you don’t wait for the algorithm to surprise you. You ask, and it surprises you.

05

Feeling connected

Keeping up with people you care about. Social still wins. Seeing your nephew’s first steps still happens on the app where his mom posted it. This is the one job AI hasn’t cracked.

The Pattern

Nobody is "quitting" social media. People are just picking the better tool for 4 out of the 5 reasons they used to open the app.

5 Things To Build This Weekend

Don’t just consume AI. Build with it, so the time you get back from scrolling goes somewhere. Each of these is a prompt you paste into Claude. The scheduled ones need a paid plan.

01

Your personal newsstand

One weekly digest from the sources you actually trust. You pick the sources, and Claude pulls out what matters.

Weekly Digest
Every Sunday morning, make me a short digest of the past week from these sources: [list newsletters, podcasts, websites or people you follow] Give me the 5 most important things in plain English, each with one line on why it matters to me. I work in [your field]. Skip anything I'd only care about for a day. Set this up as a scheduled task.

02

A habit tracker app

Claude builds a small working app right in the chat, and you don’t write any code.

Build My Tracker
Build me a simple habit tracker as an interactive app right here in the chat. My 3 habits: [habit 1], [habit 2], [habit 3] I want to tap a habit to check it off for today, see my streak for each one, and see a simple weekly view. Make it clean and easy to use on my phone. Save my check-ins so they're there when I come back.

03

An idea checker

Paste any business or side-hustle idea and get real research on it before you spend a dollar.

Is This A Real Business
Here's a business idea: [describe it in a few sentences]. Research it on the web and tell me honestly: 1. Who would pay for this, and how much 2. The main competitors and what they charge 3. The biggest reason it could fail 4. The cheapest way to test it this week Don't be nice about it. If it's not a real business, say so.

04

A Sunday week planner

Reads your calendar and goals and tells you what to focus on this week.

Plan My Week
Every Sunday at 6pm, look at my Google Calendar for the coming week and my goals below. Tell me: 1. The one thing that matters most this week 2. Where I'm overbooked 3. When to block time for [my most important project] My goals right now: [your top 3 goals] Set this up as a scheduled task.

05

A learn-anything coach

Swap the scroll for 10 minutes a day on something you actually want to learn.

Daily Lesson
I want to learn [topic] in 10 minutes a day. I'm a total beginner. Every day at [time], teach me one small lesson in plain English with a real example, then give me one quick question to check I got it. Build on what you taught me the day before. Set this up as a scheduled task.

Want more? Here’s how I build my AI agents.