penworksThought for today - Digital Addiction.
Are we addicted to social media? Health apps? Work-function assistant apps? Organisation apps? News apps? E-commerce apps? Are we just addicted to life as techno-solutionism in all forms? Are we addicted to using any apps just because it feels like fun, a game, entertainment?
In the social media case, I believe a large amount of 'the addiction attraction' is hyper-personalised consumerisation. The interweaving of narcissism, social acceptance, conformism, life-worth-as-economic-value, life-worth-as-social-media-measurement, added to the intense emotional reward of buying things to reaffirm sense of self and fitting in, make the digital social+product marketplace a very alluring space to occupy. Instagram's whole business case is this.
Remember, the Iron Curtain did not fall due to intellectual debate or ideological challenge. It fell because of Levi jeans and Coca Cola.
Smartphones are really fun. Even old phones before the digital revolution were fun. Kids, mums and anyone who had time and felt sociable would be on the phone for hours. Calling friends when you were a teenager was a mandatory part of growing up. "Get off the phone!" was a common shout from your mother. We even stood in the phone box in the evenings because it felt like fun.
The breakpoint came when people started being born who did not know what life was like before the digital revolution. It's them that are now paying some kind of psychosis price for these addictive toys. But it's not only socmed, it's everything that is digital.
But you know, I love my phones. I love their character, their style, their functionality. They really are part of who I am. Somebody really should make completely customisable shells for phones. They'd make billions.
#socialmedia #socialmediaaddiction #digitalliteracy #datasociety #academia #academicchatter
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Leon Furze
