I assume us students are all familiar with that terrible feeling of procrastination, intervening with our attempt to study or to be productive. I regularly find myself drowning in meaningless videos and content on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Algorithms showing us what we want to see, such that we end up in an infinite loophole of recommended videos, to run away from our responsibilities. It is tiring, emotionally exhausting and most importantly, it is luring away my focus on work that needs to be done.
Unfortunately, I think most of us also have difficulties in taking self-control, especially in the hyperconnected world we live in, and where digital devices have almost become a primary necessity of life. One technique that has emerged is the ‘persuasive design technology‘, which is one of the techniques many tech companies use to get us “hooked” on our devices. It namely changes our behavior by using triggers that keep us motivated to stay on our devices and engaged to the content they provide. Ultimately, design strategies like these will make it harder for us to take back control, sometimes without even being aware of it being a problem.
In response to this, a new market has emerged that should help us in achieving (better) digital well-being. Nowadays, applications such as Offtime and Breakfree exist to help users “unplug”, by setting daily limits to certain apps and letting users monitor their usage. The Apple iPhone also introduced the feature of ScreenTime, so that users can track what they are actually doing on their phone, and for how long.
The question remains whether and to what extent these applications will assist the user to really take back control, disconnect, and focus on what really matters. Namely, because these apps are often not sufficient in effectively changing our behavior. Deleting an app sometimes even seems to be the only way to breakthrough. Also, will companies like Facebook and Google take responsibility for the possible negative consequences imposed on the users of their services? Will they make user well-being one of their top priorities? With their current design strategies, I do not believe that this will happen anytime soon.
I would like to say thank you for the article because the subject you touched is really important, a little bit ignored by the majority tough. For me personally, my smartphone and social media are also taking my attention from what is really important. For that reason, it’s more difficult to stay focused and to work in an efficient way. I need to say, that I’ve never tried those time-tracking apps, but maybe I should give them a try.
I would like to recommend all of you the Netflix documentary: “The Social Dilemma” that explains why social media are so addictive and why it really affects society. For example, Facebook promotes conspiracy theories more than valuable content, just because the theories are more “clickable”.