The unintended consequences of tech companies who are competing for our “attention,” is a discussion that is thriving in tech today. It has been said that “what began as a race to monetize our attention is now eroding the pillars of our society.” Tech giants are profiting from persuasively steering us towards more screen time, so why would they stop?
“I’ve got nothing to hide, so I don’t care,” is a common reaction in response to global surveillance, and it appears that our response to this movement towards a ‘smartphone dystopia,’ follows the same line of uninformed thinking. Yes, tech companies have found a way to deliver the most fascinating content we could imagine, and this may be helping us to develop more informed opinions. However, it keeps us hooked to screens and doesn’t acknowledge the choices we want to make, such as when to sleep. It could be said that it is inhibiting our ability to create the lives we desire to live.
We encourage you to dive into this topic, learn more and help to re-define our relationship with technology for humanity’s best interests.
Here are a few places to get started:
TED Talk – How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day, Tristan Harris
Humane Tech – An organisation dedicated to reversing the digital attention crisis and realigning technology with humanity’s best interests.
Common Sense – An organisation dedicated to helping kids thrive in a rapidly changing world.
“Our minds can be hijacked’: The tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia.
Former Facebook exec says social media is ripping apart society
