Protecting our attention

I was rather confused when sociologist Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation, came out earlier this year, which examines the harmful effects of phone and social media use among children and teenagers. Haidt posits that mindless screen time is perhaps not-great for us, and we should take the issue more seriously.

It wasn’t Haidt’s thesis that confused me, but the defensive response from many of my peers, who alleged that he was fearmongering – much as critics once wrung their hands about books, television, video games, or any other form of new media.

This was cognitive dissonance for me. While there are many benefits to social media – I owe my career, many close friendships, and even my marriage to Twitter – doomscrolling is obviously bad. Nobody feels good after scrolling on their phones for hours, and this simple observation alone seems to reasonably justify a deeper examination of social media’s effects on our psychology. So, why were so many people in tech either reluctant to engage with Haidt’s thesis, or actively deriding it in public?

We need to look beyond the words being said, and instead understand the motivations – and scars – that make it difficult for many people in tech to acknowledge a thing that everyone else seems to find plainly obvious. It feels like saying the quiet part out loud, but I think it’s important. Tech has so much power and influence to wield here, if only we can bring ourselves to look a very difficult truth in the eye.

I’ve increasingly come to feel that the destruction of our attention – thanks, in large part, to the combination of smartphones and social media – is one of the biggest threats we face as a civilization, as it compromises our ability to make sustained progress on anything worthwhile. Most people are so immersed in it that they can’t see how bad it is; you can’t ask someone to think clearly when their core operating system is compromised.

So, I wrote a piece for the newly-launched Arena¹ magazine about why tech is so avoidant of the social media debate, from a historical and psychological lens, which is also available as an audio episode (Spotify) that I narrated myself. (It’s kind of a fun production thing, complete with sound clips and spooky music.)

Examining the effects of social media has become the domain of regulators and staunch critics, and joining the fray risks being painted as an anti-tech Luddite. But I care about this topic because I love tech and all that it hopes to promise the world: a better future for everyone. I want us to be awesome, and we can’t do that when we’re trapped in a loop of perpetual distraction. Running on a hamster wheel is not the same as running a marathon.

Despite being 20ish years into social media, I think this conversation is still so early. (We’re apparently still debating whether it’s even an problem!) There’s room yet for tech to demonstrate leadership and show people how to live peaceably with powerful technology at their fingertips. If we choose to take it seriously.

1. Arena is a new effort from Max Meyer and Ginevra Davis: a print and online magazine about technology, capitalism, and the USA. You should subscribe!