Device Curbs Facebook Overuse with Shock to Wrist

Let's face it. We spend waaay too much time on social media, especially Facebook. Sometimes it's like "shame eating" when we're all alone. You're not alone. We all do it. But how do we shake the habit? With tough love and electrical shock!

MIT PhD students Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff have invented a device called Pavlov Poke that actually shocks the user's wrist when he or she spends too much time on Facebook. Yup. Zap!

The name "Pavlov Poke" references Ivan Pavlov's famous conditioning experiments with dogs and Facebook's infamous "poke" feature. Clever name, indeed. McDuff says the shock is "unpleasant, but it's not dangerous." Whew, glad to know it won't kill us.

The inventors admit their technology is meant to be humorous, but there's no denying that Facebook can be a real time suck, overloading us with useless posts from friends and sometimes negatively affecting our self-esteem.

Morris and McDuff even filmed an infomercial explaining the device.

But if electric shock isn't for you, the inventors created an alternative system: verbal abuse. Seriously. Someone will call and berate you — for a small fee, of course. It's called Pavlov Poke (Phone Edition).

Obviously, the whole concept behind Pavlov Poke is meant in jest, but it does raise awareness about our overindulgence in social media. There's a whole big world out there that we're missing when we're busy tweeting and posting!

Speaking of that, do you think you'd benefit from this device? Hit us up on our Facebook page and our Twitter, @YahooTrending, and let us know. Don't worry, we won't shock you or yell at you. Or will we? :)