The Future is in Our Hands

I always thought that we were at the whim of these social media companies. They were too big, too powerful, and held too much control. I still think that in a way but reading Johann Hari’s book: Stolen Focus has inspired me to take more of a direct stance against the harmful effects of social media. This week, we were tasked to read Chapters 8 + 9 of the book, which primarily spoke about whether it is truly possible to make significant changes to what our society has become and brings about possible solutions to solve this pandemic.

Although many digital ethicists disagree and agree on various things, the general consensus is that the current “form” of social media is bad for us. There are various methods that Johann learns about by interviewing people such as Nir Eyal, an Israeli American tech designer, and Tristan Harris, a former Google engineer. The book brings to light the vastly different ways these two ethicists see the digital distraction crisis being solved. Nir believe that solving the crisis is simple. If you want to solve it, the tools are all out there for you already. Tools such as screen time limits, phone screen distance readers, and the ability to turn off notifications give any person with a smartphone as much control over it as they want. Tristan on the other hand, believes there’s more to this story by explaining the issue with surveillance capitalism and the hunger that these companies have built within their policies to gain our attention. This issue has been studied extensively due to the importance it has on our society, but has produced various Point of VIews and that is still being discussed today!

Personally, I believe there is a middle-ground approach. There are certainly steps that we can take individually, but the underlying issue remains. Our digital landscape is not built for us, it’s built to steal from us. Johann finishes the chapter by providing possible solutions to this issue. One is to rebuild the digital media company business model from the ground up, banning surveillance capitalism, and reforming these tools to help us instead of harm us. The 2nd method Tristan mentioned is to have a government-based policy or involve the government in some way so there is some democratic control instead of these tools being held by the few large companies. These are all great thoughts that may solve this issue, but if we, the general public, don’t act and advocate to our government officials and social media companies. Nothing will ever change. 

It is up to us to advocate for what we want to gain for these powerful tools. We shouldn’t aim to succumb to their grasp, rather we should strive to make these apps work for us and inform us about information that we really care about. I’m fed up with the amount of time these apps consume throughout my day. I’m exhausted from the grasp they have on me and the physical withdrawal I feel if I’m without them for just one day. The time is now to make a significant change and advocate for digital freedom.