Doing Nothing Becomes Internet Sensation

LONDON, January 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- A website That Invites Users to log on and do Nothing has Become a Web Phenomenon

The site - donothingfor2minutes.com - has received more than 2 million visitors since launching 10 days ago, according to its creators, entrepreneur Alex Tew and developer Ben Dowling.

Users arriving at the site are presented with a sunset view and the sound of ocean waves, together with a countdown that resets to 2 minutes if the mouse or keyboard are touched.

Not everyone is up to the challenge though, explains Tew, "only 38% of visitors are managing to take a step back and do a full 2 minutes of nothing, which I think highlights the point of the site."

Tew, 26, previously found internet fame in 2005 after making $1m with his 'Million Dollar Homepage', set-up to fund his university education. He now hopes his new site will provide an antidote to information overload.

"The idea is to use technology to give back what it has taken away: calm," explains Tew, "I read somewhere that our brains are being re-wired by the internet, because we get a little dopamine kick every time we check our e-mail or Twitter or Facebook and there's a new update. So we're all developing a bit of ADD, which can't be good."

According to Tew, the site - which has received more than 250,000 "likes" on Facebook - is not a business venture but simply "a fun side-project" and a "meditation on how technology is changing the way we think and behave."

    
    Contact:

    Alex Tew
    +44(0)7842-104052
    http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com
    donothingfor2minutes@gmail.com

    Photos of Alex Tew are available at Getty Images and at
    http://bit.ly/alextew