Here’s an honest question: How much attention do you give your phone on a daily basis?
You don’t have to be exact in terms of time. Just consider it in general. Is it a lot, a little, intermittently, or does it depend on the day? Don’t be afraid to be honest. We all probably have given more attention to our phones than we would like to admit.
Like I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to be exact, but for the sake of today’s blog post I will be exact.
Above is a picture of my current weekly screen time. My iPhone has reported the exact amount of time in which I have utilized my phone as of March 18th, 2022. Another factor to keep in mind as you view these charts is that I have been on spring break for the past 7 days, so this definitely reflects how much time and what apps I have chosen to use during this break time.
The top seven apps that I used most as of recently, in order from most-used to least-used, include TikTok, Instagram, Safari, Pinterest, Messages, Snapchat, and Google Docs. Based on the top seven apps that I used most I can tell that I have used a lot of my social media apps for entertainment and communication with friends. My Safari and Google Docs app also made it to the list since I have dedicated some time towards getting some school assignments done ahead of time.
No matter how long you spend on your phone, it can be easily recognized why we would either knowing or unknowingly dedicate so much time to our screen. Many of us use our phones for communication, entertainment, work, photography, payments, etc. There is a lot that these phones of ours allow us to do. And it admittedly helps that our phones are always us at nearly all times. I think it’s safe to say that most of us don’t leave our homes without making sure that our phones are with us.
But there was a time when smartphones weren’t signature items that the majority of people had. Before smartphones there were landlines and flip phones, which were basically supposed to serve the one main goal of communicating with others (Although admittedly flip phones had a few more tools). Needless to say, previous phones were limited in ability compared to current phone models, but we still sustained ourselves just fine with only communicating in the past.
So how did we get here? How have we suddenly found ourselves in a world of vast digital possibilities, and how have we become so immersed in it?
According to James Williams in his book Stand Out of Our Light, it isn’t entirely our fault that we have become so drawn to our phones. In fact, whether they know it or not, the technological and media manufacturers that contribute to your phone have made it to where they are playing on your willingness to give your attention over to them. As if the shiny, glowing box wasn’t enough to entice you, now you have apps with algorithms that cater to your interests so that you are more likely to look at them. Multiple outlets are throwing more and more distractions at you, competing for your attention.
That is exactly what Williams consistently focuses on in his book: our attention. Attention seems to be the most desired and crucial resource that media personnel want from users. They want you to constantly interact with their content so that you can contribute to their data that reveals what works and what doesn’t work. But Williams also argues that attention is a resource that has been rapidly dwindling out over the years. And this is highly in part to the high-tech devices that we have available to us.
Williams brings up a point made by economist Herbert Simon. He argues that back in a world that lacked a vast amount of technology, we didn’t have as much of a means to access abundant information. We were limited to what we have available to us, thus, giving us the means to decide what we want to delicate our time and attention to. But now in a time where information is abundant due to technology, there is so much information that seeks attention, but there simply isn't enough attention.
In short: Abundance of information = A scarcity of attention.
By now you might be agreeing that your phone gain much of your attention for a variety of reasons. But you might also simultaneously think that despite this fact, we as beings have grown accustomed to life with smartphones. To live without them almost feels like we’d be deprived of a pivotal tool that we use every day.
And Williams agrees with you! He agrees that technology can help you complete tasks and achieve goals. But as of right now, it is apparent that our technology has its own goal: to gain your attention. “There’s a deep misalignment between the goals we have for ourselves and the goals our technologies have for us,” wrote Williams. This is something that he suggests we need to adjust in order to fix. It’s time to aim for the goal of bringing the technologies of our attention onto our side.
In order to do this we need to address that we will be an active part in this change. According to Williams, we can’t simply ask for technologies to “rewire” our brains, focus on the damage that the attention economy has done, or place all blame on the designers of technologies themselves. After all, no one goes into that job position with the intent of making lives harder. This has simply been an effect from our situation that we now have to learn how to navigate together.
Williams suggests that in order to move towards this goal, we should measure a number of factors that can help us to consider how we can readjust how we utilize technology. You might be thinking that our phones already measure a number of aspects about their users already, and you’re correct. I mean, you saw how my phone noted by average screen time over the course of a number of days. And the apps on my phones use cookies to track what I search and what specific content I interact with. Williams instead suggests that we consider “What information about the user are we not measuring, that we have a moral obligation to measure?”
Some of the suggested factors that he believes we should measure include:
Potential vulnerabilities
Williams describes this as us considering the vulnerability that we harbor within us. Think of it as your inner child that still resides in you as an adult. We see it appropriate to regulate material and advertisements when it comes to children, so we should also continue to regulate what the “child within us” sees.
Understanding of user intent
Williams explains this as being the consideration of users goals (both higher and lower). By taking into account short-term and long-term goals that a user may have, they can consider what they should consider in their design decisions in order to help them towards their goals.
Negative effects that technology can have on a user
This one is a bit more straightforward. This is all about considering how users are affected in a more concerning light. Whether that be mental health, health issues, distraction rates, etc.
Broader effects of advertising
Williams suggests that instead of companies solely focusing on the persuasive goals of their advertisements, they also take into account other factors that occur based on their advertising efforts.
These are just a few suggestions made by Williams. He believes that although this shift towards a new dynamic between people and technologies seems extreme, that it is possible. But in order for us to make this shift, adjustments need to be made. We must reevaluate how we incorporate technologies into our lives if it is that we wish to align technology with ourselves and our lives.
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