This had to be the most frustrating site to visit! Talk about terrible UI design. In all honesty, I had to YouTube how to get past the initial first 2 pages. because I was going in circles! It was very interesting being aware of and observing my reaction to the pop-ups and notifications during this activity, and how they drew my attention away from the task of filling out the online form.
This emphasis on attention, and our new found attention economy where the main form of currency is an end users attention span, had me reflecting on my own and what competes for it. To get a sense of what I ‘spend’ my attention on, I created a 12 hour record of an average work day, keeping track of things that required… or rather demanded, my attention. I decided to break my attention record down into hour intervals and grouped my activities under 4 main headings; Texting, Work, Miscellaneous (eating, going to the bathroom etc.) and Social Media. Below is my record!
What this attentional record captures is a high level of multitasking, as well as highlights the frequency in which I am on my phone either messaging or using social media. Every hour, without fail, I was on my phone! Messaging friends and family, as well as checking my social media apps. To me, this is a great example of what Harris (2017) describes as scheduling blocks of time in our day to engage with, or more aptly, get sucked into social media. This highlights how much control these persuasive technologies and their algorithmic counterparts have on keeping our attention in their race to the bottom of our brainstems (Harris, 2017). It is increasingly important, now more than ever, to be cognizant of our attentional habits and hygiene. As Harris (2017) also identifies, we need to maintain our boundaries of human capacity, remain engaged in real life, with one another, and stay focused on the bigger issues of the world, such as our current climate crisis.
References
Harris, T. (2017). How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_the_manipulative_tricks_tech_companies_use_to_capture_your_attention?language=en