The Social Dilemma
The science of gratitude journalling shows us that if you write a list every day of things that you're grateful for, what happens is your brain gets trained to look for the patterns during the day, making a mental note for when you next come to sit down and write it in the journal. This is sometimes called the 'Tetris Effect' - named after when you stop playing Tetris but see every brick and picture frame on your wall in the shapes from the game. I've definitely noticed a 'Tetris effect' with these emails - that I'm training my brain to see positive ideas and lessons in whatever else I'm doing, and it's getting easier to think of what to say each week. So, thank you for being here. It means I keep showing up too.
This week's wasn't so easy, though. Like seemingly most of the rest of the population, I watched 'The Social Dilemma' on Netflix. I wasn't going to watch it - I've interviewed Cal Newport talking about ditching social media for productivity reasons and I don't use much social media myself. I haven't been on Facebook for years, I've basically left Twitter although we still share the podcast and stuff there... Oh yeah. Instagram. I spend far too much time on Instagram. Shit. Not so smug now, Mr Ninja! I'm also a fan of Jaron Lanier's work, such as his books "Who Owns the Future?" and the catchily titled "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts, Right Now". They're both well worth checking out.
But honestly, despite having heard much of it before, something about this documentary, The Social Dilemma, left me feeling compelled to write about it in this email, but utterly bereft of any positivity whatsoever. It's like the algorithms of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have destroyed that little Tetris-effect positivity algorithm I'd been building up in my brain.
And this is the point, right? These systems are so powerful, that 'healthy social media use' is a bit like 'healthy smoking' or 'healthy bleach drinking' (which coincidentally, YouTube will tell you how to do if you go down certain rabbit holes). These companies are the absolute enemy of productivity, because their entire mission is nothing to do with their faux-visionary slogans like "connecting all the people in the world together" or "connecting all the information and making it shiny for you". Their entire business model is to take as much of your attention as possible. And not even to entertain you, but just to sell you stuff you didn't think you needed.
It's often said of the likes of Facebook and Google that "if you don't pay for the product, then you are the product. Jaron Lanier, being interviewed for this documentary says that's too simplistic:
"It's the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behaviour and perception that is the product" - Jaron Lanier
Let's think about that for a moment. The quiet manipulation for no other reason but profit. And what that looks like in the wrong hands: corrupt politicians and regimes denigrating the very idea of truth, anti-vaxxers and conspiracy nuts with the tools to convince people... I finished the documentary thinking civil wars are going to make a comeback, maybe as soon as this winter in the USA.
So what can we do? Well, actually there are a few things. If you stick around as the credits roll on The Social Dilemma, some of the people who made these apps give you their own tips and tricks: turn off all notifications, don't watch news, never accept the video that YouTube recommends you (always choose your own), delete the worst apps from your phone, don't give smartphones to your kids until they're older, fact-check the credibility of news sources before you share, keep devices out of the bedroom and so on.
I use a phone blocker app called Quality Time (for Android). There are similar ones like Offtime and Freedom if you're more of an Apple kinda person. When I turn on Quality Time, I'm blocked from accessing Instagram, DuckDuckGo (my non-Google browser), Twitter and even email. The nice thing is I can still have access to the apps I choose, or on my terms. So I never block Google Maps (after having been caught out trying to navigate when the blocker was on!), The Trainline app, and things like that. Whatsapp is set to not show me ANY kind of notifications when QualityTime is on, but I can still access it to message other people. I find this subtle change has a massive effect on me.
Willpower alone, when you're pitted against some of the finest brains in the world, is just not enough. So QualityTime allows me to treat myself like an absolute child, and impose this stricter world on myself, for the sake of my morning productivity. QualityTime is timed to run its session until early afternoon, giving me the rest of the day to freely use Instagram if I want to. I'd highly recommend protecting the core hours of your best attention in this way - and in turn I've found this simple thing helps me to be more mindful about how I'm using it the rest of the time.
The other thing that changed a few years ago is that I deliberately ignored all talk-based radio, news bulletins and newspapers. Sure, I'll have a quick browse on the BBC site or the Guardian news once in a while if I'm bored, but I've got to say that just ignoring all that negativity has done wonders for my mental health. You'll be amazed at how rarely you feel 'out of touch' or like you've missed something. The important news always finds a way to get to you. Try it.
And as for the bigger picture - Jaron Lanier has it right when he says bigger resistance starts from smaller resistance. If we're not careful, we are about to cross over from the age of information to the age of disinformation. It's time we started having conversations that reject the idea that a handful of tech companies can just be allowed to control the entire world. So start some conversations. Face to face ones. With real people. With your local MP. With your colleagues.
When you look down at your phone screen, know that the future is in your hands. Make it one you're happy to stare at.