As an NFL analyst and podcast host, Mina Kimes consumes a lot of news online, but ask her to spend more than 15 minutes on “any social media platform” and you might have a problem. “It’s like simultaneously pouring molasses into your brain and lighting it on fire,” she says.
These days, a declaration of social media hatred isn’t exactly a hot tech take. But Kimes is full of those too. For one, she thinks FaceTiming anyone outside of your family is “insane behavior.” She also prefers to keep her phone perpetually unlocked and practices inbox zero like it’s a religion. And she loves finding corners of the internet where she can see men encouraging other men.
For our latest User Behavior, Kimes tells WIRED all about her favorite heartwarming subreddits, her “hijacked” Spotify Wrapped, and her folder of memes.
Phone model: iPhone 15
I just got it replaced because I cracked the screen with my car. I was resting it on the roof and it slid down as I was opening the trunk, and it was a real crime scene. When you bring a cracked phone to an Apple store, you know that they’ve seen everything, but you still feel deeply ashamed. Usually I’m pretty good about not cracking it, which is amazing because I have a toddler who likes to drop it and throw it and stuff. I got it replaced, and I didn’t get the new one because I like this model.
Computer model: 2019, 13-inch MacBook Air
It’s dying on me a little bit. The fan, at inappropriate times, starts making noises like an air-conditioning unit circa 1985. It’s like a radiator whistle. And it’s one of those things where you start developing weird habits and superstitions. I’m like, “Maybe if I tilt it this way and don’t plug it in and don’t run too many things, it’ll be fine. It won’t make noises.” But the truth is, I probably should just get it serviced or replaced.
A regular series that quantifies the tech lifestyles of the rich and/or famous.
Average daily screen time: N/A
I actually don’t have it set up to show me, which sounds a little bit like the meme “I pretend I do not see it,” but I would estimate it’s probably around four hours a day. This is going to sound insane, but I have my phone set to where it doesn’t lock because I don’t like seeing a clock at night. So my way of hiding that information was to just have my phone not lock. When I did that, I realized it would register as a very high screen time, but I’m not actually on my phone. I realized the screen-time feature was kind of functionally useless for me.
To be honest, I don’t feel bad about screen time generally, because I use my phone for reading the news, studying, looking at tape, preparing for work, answering emails. None of that stuff bothers me. However, I would feel terrible if I saw how much time I spend on social media. I think those things kind of get conflated a little bit when we think about screen time and phones. At least for me, I think there’s a pretty big distinction.
I feel bad when I spend more than 15 minutes on any social media platform, because it’s like simultaneously pouring molasses into your brain and lighting it on fire. And I have very much noticed a very pronounced and obvious correlation between my happiness and how much time in any given day I spend on social media in particular.
On my phone, I have Instagram, Reddit, and Bluesky. But I’ve taken stuff off. It’s a little bit tricky because when I post clips or promote my podcast or YouTube or the various things I do at ESPN, I often do that on my phone, which makes it hard to eliminate them. But something I’ll do is when I’m done, I’ll just log out immediately: post, log out, walk away.
The best way to digital detox is to have a kid, because when I spend time with him I’m just not on my phone by necessity. I think that’s been the most helpful thing. So there you go, Zoomers. There’s a reason to have children. And honestly, I do notice when I spend a day with him, whether it’s hiking or at the beach, and I’m not on my phone, I’m infinitely happier at the end of the day than any other day in my life.
Music app: Spotify
I primarily use Spotify. The data is completely cooked because of the aforementioned 3-year-old. So when they do Spotify Wrapped, I swear to God, it used to be cool, but now it’s been hijacked by Raffi, Elmo, Ms. Rachel, Mickey Mouse. My son is really into Mickey’s Countdown lately. I feel like 99 percent of my Spotify listening now is just atrocious kids’ music. Raffi’s the GOAT though. I don’t want to lump him in with some of the people that I mentioned. Raffi stands alone.
Number of unread emails: 0
This is probably the thing where you’re going to learn the most about me. Zero unread emails and inbox 10 and under is how I live my life. It’s such an important part of how I work and get stuff done.
The number one thing I should lead with is, for a litany of reasons, I just do not let communication build up, which can be difficult, because I subscribe to a couple newsletters, and I won’t archive them until I’ve either read them or scanned them. But I can’t get to work until I feel like my mind is clear, and my mind isn’t clear if my inbox isn’t clear. I think it’s probably something I inherited from my dad, who was an Air Force major, and from a very young age he taught me the importance of to-do lists, which I also abide by. Sometimes, on a to-do list, I’ll set aside half an hour or whatever to get my inbox back down to sub-10.
Sometimes that means that when I reply to emails, my response is a fraction of the email that was sent to me. And I think people feel social pressure to match an email with a commensurate email. To live the Inbox 10 lifestyle, you cannot abide by that pressure.
Number of unread texts: 0
Same thinking, same principle, same possible OCD.
Last person you FaceTimed: My brother
I FaceTimed with my brother, who’s on vacation with his family in Delaware at the moment. I’m not a big FaceTimer. And candidly, I feel like FaceTiming someone who is outside of your family is insane behavior. But that’s another way in which having a child changed how I use technology, I suppose, because it really is a wonderful way for young children to see distant relatives and communicate with them.
Last thing you googled: “Hip thruster tips”
I recently, and I’m very late to this, started strength training at a gym for the first time in my life. For my entire life, I’ve only gone to the gym to run. And now I’m just learning what all these machines do and how to use them. But I’m like a child. I’m a total neophyte in this world. I have a trainer, but I’ve also found it’s a really encouraging and fun section of the internet.
Last photo you took:
It’s a picture of my son standing next to a tower he built in his room. I feel like at this point, 95 percent of the photos on my phone are of my son. It’s kind of sad; you can see the exact point where we had him because it used to be all pictures of my dog, and then it just completely switches to pictures of my son.
Last screenshot you took: The Adam Levine “Holy fuck, holy fucking fuck, the body of yours is absurd.”
I can’t even remember what I was using it as a meme for, but I clearly needed that screenshot to use as a meme.
Last thing you asked AI: “How to lift a paint stain off of a carpet.”
I don’t really use LLMs. If I do, it’s for either menial household questions or basic search. And I only use it for search because search is now useless due to AI.
I’ve read and listened to a lot of people talk about how it’s revolutionized their workflow, and they’re training agents to make appointments and they’re building these elaborate meal plans. And to me, that doesn’t sound interesting. That just sounds exhausting. We have this phrase in football called “looking for work,” when a player on the field is looking for work—looking for someone to block, for example. And I just think about that whenever I hear those stories. It just sounds like you’re looking for work.
Also, just fucking do it yourself. It’s not that hard to make a fucking restaurant reservation.
Your top three or most recent most used emojis: 
Whether you use vertical cry or laugh cry is a strong divide between different types of people.
Favorite social network: Bluesky
I post everywhere to try and get my work out there and get it seen and read. But I would say the one that I use the most is Bluesky. While it has its flaws, there’s definitely the occasional sports ball person in my mentions. I’ve found the interactions on there are the most like interactions I have with people in the real world, which is a rarity on the social internet these days.
Least favorite social network: Twitter
Everyone says Twitter, right? Which is a bummer because it used to be really fun and essential for news. When breaking news was happening, it was a place you’d go to get on-the-ground impressions. You could meet friends, you could find new writers and comedians, and all of that feels lost just because Elon completely killed the vibe. And I say that because obviously he’s done things far more serious in terms of poisoning the discourse, and the place is a cesspool for racism and misogyny and misinformation, but it’s also just, like, a terrible fucking hang. Everyone either seems miserable or is determined to make other people miserable.
Favorite news source: The New York Times
I am a dedicated Times reader. I know it has its pluses and minuses. I read the Times daily newsletter every day. I find it’s generally a pretty good way to stay informed, and there’s still really good journalism. There’s another newsletter I love for people in Los Angeles called L.A. Material that I’ve really enjoyed, just getting more local news, which seems to be where things are headed newswise.
Favorite subreddit: r/bald
Whenever I’m watching a TV show, I do like to read the subreddits, whether it’s Love Island or Silo. I find that the conversations about the TV shows are best there. I also like some of the popular ones that are general interest, like r/mildlyinteresting or r/food.
Sometimes the algorithm on the main feed surfaces subreddits for me that I’m intrigued by. One thing, this is going to sound so weird, is the reddit for bald people, r/bald. It’s guys, and women, posting pictures of themselves, asking the community if it’s time to “come home,” as they call it: shave their heads. Or people who have done it and are asking what people think. And then it’s thousands of people being like, “You look amazing. Congrats, king.” And I just love that. I love that sort of encouraging corner of the internet.
Favorite tech product: Bose Bluetooth speaker
I got this Bose Bluetooth speaker as a giveaway at some event I did. It has completely made car rides with my kids so much easier, because he holds it and he feels like he has control over the music. I play music out of there instead of my car now, and he loves it. And he’s now so much more willing to take long car rides because of it.
Favorite meme: Anything Simpsons related
I have a folder. It’s a lot of Simpsons stuff just because I’m a Simpsons fanatic. J.R. Smith. I haven’t thought about that one in a while. That’s a good one. Oh, I love the one of Marge Simpson dancing. I don’t even know how to describe that. There’s also the José Mourinho “I prefer not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble.” It’s a sports thing.
Number of burner accounts you have: 0
Anything I want to say, I’ll just say it.
Technology you’re most nostalgic for: Google Reader
Especially when I was a writer and business journalist, but even afterwards, I loved Google Reader as a way to organize news articles and feel like I got through them. It was just a great interface. I use Feedly now, which is pretty good to read news, but doesn’t quite hit like Google Reader used to hit.
Craziest internet rabbit hole you’ve gone down: Chinese dynasties
I have recently gotten into trivia after competing on Celebrity Jeopardy and getting introduced to that world a bit. I started to get more into trivia and studying it and tactics. And something I do now at night is just try to learn as much as I can about random topics and then make flashcards.
So last night I made a bunch of flashcards about the Chinese dynasties: Han dynasty, Tang dynasty, Song dynasty.
A version of this article appears in the November/December issue. Subscribe now.
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