Many of us need to ask ourselves if we are mindlessly spending too much time online and not enough time in the real world.
You May Be Addicted
Some scoff at the idea of social media addiction, thinking of addiction as something afflicting drug or alcohol abusers.But Facebook and other social media sites are designed to addict you. They use, in Newport’s words, “intermittent positive reinforcement and the drive for social approval” as tools to get you to use their products at the expense of better uses of your time.
“How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?“ Parker recalls the company asking itself. The answer, recounted Parker, was features like the ”like“ button, which would give users ”a little dopamine hit” to keep them engaged.
If you aren’t a Facebook user, don’t think you’re immune to digital addiction, Newport says.
“Many people have the experience of visiting a content website for a specific purpose—say, for example, going to a newspaper site to check the weather forecast—and then find themselves thirty minutes later still mindlessly following trails of links, skipping from one headline to another. This behavior can also be sparked by unpredictable feedback: most articles end up duds, but occasionally you’ll land on one that creates a strong emotion, be it righteous anger or laughter.
Another factor reinforcing behavioral addiction is the drive for social approval, Newport says.
“If lots of people click the little heart icon under your latest Instagram post, it feels like the tribe is showing you approval—which we’re adapted to strongly crave,” he writes.
Meanwhile, “a lack of positive feedback creates a sense of distress.”
Toward a Philosophy of Technology Use
If your attention has been hijacked, Newport is convinced you need a philosophy of technology use.This philosophy should be “rooted in your deep values,” he writes. It should provide clarity about what digital tools you should use and how you should use them. Equally important, he writes, is that it “enables you to confidently ignore everything else.”
Are You a Technological Minimalist or a Maximalist?
Most of us, Newport observes, deploy our digital life with an unquestioned maximalist mindset, ready to start using any technology that catches our attention if there is a potential for benefit.The maximalist is like a politician who looks at the benefits of a program without ever considering its costs.
“Techno-maximalism,” Newport writes, “contends more is better when it comes to technology—more connections, more information, more options.”
On the surface, Newport writes, techno-maximalism seems to dovetail with liberal humanism’s aim to offer individuals an ever-expanding sense of personal freedom. This makes it seem “vaguely illiberal to avoid a popular social media platform or decline to follow the latest online chatter.”
On the contrary, Newport says, a techno-maximalism approach may not be leading you to freedom.
“Outsourcing your autonomy to an attention economy conglomerate—as you do when you mindlessly sign up for whatever new hot service emerges from the Silicon Valley venture capitalist class—is the opposite of freedom, and will likely degrade your individuality.”
Newport says these are low-value activities. Rather than provide freedom, they clutter up our time and attention, to our detriment and someone else’s benefit.
If You Want to Change
Awareness of an issue is the foundation for change. The next step is behavioral change. Newport provides many suggestions for behavioral change that may inspire our own. Here are just a few:A Digital Decluttering
Are you cluttering your life with devices, apps, and services? These offer small benefits but can keep us socially isolated. A solution is to be more intentional about technology use.For example, I gave up on Twitter many years ago; it just took too much of my time and attention. Newport observes that when people evaluate the tools and habits of their digital lives, they often overlook the side effects, and focus on the benefits.
“Maintaining an active presence on Twitter, for example, might occasionally open up an interesting new connection or expose you to an idea you hadn’t heard before. How much of your time and attention ... must be sacrificed to earn the small profit of occasional connections and new ideas that is earned by cultivating a significant presence on Twitter?”
Clean Up Your Phone
Take social media apps off your phone. Having removed these apps, you won’t be tempted to browse their feeds as a knee-jerk response to boredom,” says Newport.Have Real-World Conversations
Millennials and others are struggling with face-to-face communications. Newport, building on the work of MIT professor Sherry Turkle, points out that digital interactions are no substitute for face-to-face conversations. Face-to-face, in Turkle’s words, is “where we develop the capacity for empathy. It’s where we experience the joy of being heard, of being understood.”Reclaim Your Leisure
Newport points to a crucial element of lasting change: “[By] cultivating a high-quality leisure life first, it will become easier to minimize low-quality digital diversions later.”In other words, look for better ways to enjoy free time. Otherwise, you will be subject to the ease and allure of digital temptation.
“It’s now easy to fill the gaps between work and caring for your family and sleep by pulling out a smartphone or tablet, and numbing yourself with mindless swiping and tapping,” writes Newport.
His recommendation: “Prioritize demanding activity over passive consumption.”
Newport endorses activities that require structured social interaction in the real world.
The Question Social Media Companies Don’t Want You to Ask
It’s easy to see why we use social media, but the question we rarely ask is how we use it. Newport writes, “Once people start thinking seriously about the [how], they tend to recognize that they’re spending way too much time online.”Consider the fact that Facebook had fewer than a million users ten years ago, Newport says. Now the social media giant has two billion users and is the fifth most valuable company in the United States, with a market capitalization larger than ExxonMobil.
Newport’s book helps us examine how we use technology well, with practical advice about how to be selective and intentional with our digital time and ensure that it yields valuable returns.
