Setup

Clone this repository into the directory where you have cloned EnergiBridge from Github. The scripts shall only run when this project is run from a workspace that is inside the EnergiBridge project.

1. Clone the repo from Github.

2. Create a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # For linux
   # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies (Python 3.13):

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Run the experiment from inside the energibridge repository. This means, you'd need to explictly mention the relative path of the run_experiment.py file. This file contains back to back experimental run of Tiktok and Youtube Shorts.

   python SSE_P1/run_experiment.py

   Alternatively, to run a single platform manually:

       python chrome_setup.py tiktok &
       python chrome_measure.py

   Or, with energibridge directly:

       ./target/release/energibridge --summary -o SSE_P1/measurements/chrome_tiktok.csv -- python chrome_setup.py tiktok & sleep 2 && python chrome_measure.py

Flowchart of script

Running this script performs the following sequence:

    run_experiments.py
    ├── for each PLATFORM in ["tiktok", "youtube"]:
    │
    ├─── spawns chrome_setup.py (background process)
    │    │
    │    └─── Setup Phase (NOT MEASURED)
    │         ├── Navigate to URL
    │         ├── Enter fullscreen
    │         ├── Close platform-specific popups
    │         │   ├── TikTok: close puzzle, GDPR, cookie banner
    │         │   └── YouTube: close cookie banner
    │         ├── Unmute video
    │         ├── Warmup for WARMUP_TIME seconds
    │         └── Write .measurement_ready flag file
    │             └── Doomscroll loop:
    │                 ├── sleep(SCROLL_INTERVAL)
    │                 ├── Send PAGE_DOWN / Next button click
    │                 └── repeat DURATION // SCROLL_INTERVAL times
    │
    ├─── polls for .measurement_ready file
    │    └── blocks until setup signals ready (timeout: 120s)
    │
    ├─── launches energibridge wrapping chrome_measure.py
    │    │
    │    └─── Measurement Phase (ONLY THIS IS MEASURED BY ENERGIBRIDGE)
    │         ├── Poll for .measurement_ready
    │         ├── Once found, start timer
    │         └── sleep(DURATION) seconds
    │             └── energibridge records all energy metrics during this window
    │
    ├─── energibridge exits
    │    └── CSV results written to measurements/chrome_{platform}.csv
    │
    └─── chrome_setup.py finishes
        ├── Removes .measurement_ready flag
        ├── Closes browser
        └── Process exits

    Output:
    └─── measurements/
        ├── chrome_tiktok.csv
        └── chrome_youtube.csv

Key Points

1. Setup is NOT measured: all the browser setup, popups, unmuting happens outside the energy measurement window.
2. Only the sleep(DURATION) in chrome_measure.py is measured: this is the "doomscrolling" window that energibridge captures.
3. Synchronization: the .measurement_ready flag ensures measurement starts only after browser is fully ready.
4. Cleanup: setup.py continues scrolling during measurement and cleans up after.

This ensures clean, consistent energy measurements for just the doomscrolling behaviour. The setup.py and measure.py can be altered for various social media platforms and browsers.

Analysis

To run analysis:

python analyze_experiment.py

The results will be stored in analysis/.