Are you in control of your use of technology, or is it controlling you? Sunny Fitzgerald has some tips in case you’re discovering the tail is wagging the dog:
I’m aware that late-night screen time impedes restful sleep and mindless morning scrolling can start the day on a negative note. I’d already implemented numerous mental health and sleep strategies: turned off notifications, removed most social media apps from my phone, tried various meditation practices, limited caffeine to early morning hours and more. Yet, since the early days of the pandemic, I’ve frequently caught myself bingeing on bad news. …
Additionally, according to Presnall, content is increasingly designed to “trigger hyperarousal by playing on our more primitive emotions — fear and outrage” which activates the survival centers of our brain. So, we continue looking for answers by clicking on recommended content rather than searching separately for every piece of information. And in doing so, we “reinforce the [artificial intelligence or algorithm behind the platform] to think that this is the type of news we want” — unintentionally attracting more of the same.
Rather than relay Fitzgerald’s tips – you can go to their article for that – I’d like to note how this resonates with my readings on manipulative communications strategies. As Fitzgerald notes from one of her experts, most web sites are deliberately designed to be sticky, sticky to your brain. They want your attention, because then they can pound on you with ads.
All without your realizing it.
Similarly, as Garvey notes in The Persuaders, the goal of commercial ad creators and political messaging operations is to manipulate your behavior, without your knowledge, to do what they want – spend money, vote their way, think their way.
I’m not saying they’re always wrong, even if they are, but, far more importantly, be aware. Regardless of whether you trust the source or not, try to always split off part of your mind to monitor how information is being communicated to you, whether information you know should be present is omitted, and the stylistic signals that someone is being less than fully honest. It’s a process to learn, the signs you can both learn about and learn on your own, and forming the habit can take a lot of effort.
But it lets you be you, and not someone’s thumb puppet.
