Hijack

I was watching my favorite late-night talk show. This show is filled with a lot of foul language but sometimes the substance that is discussed in this show is extraordinary. Therefore, I consume only the useful content leaving all that is not required. A few weeks back, Tristan Harris who sold his business to Google and worked for Google for a while, talked passionately about emerging “Attention Economy”. Since the invention of internet, the amount of time people spend on internet has considerably increased and the availability of smart phone has enhanced this habit significantly. Tristan formed a new company called “Time Well Spent” to educate people how to use the smart phones well without affecting the quality of life much against the commercial interest of various companies who seek users’ attention.

When I researched more about Tristan and his company and I bumped across his article, “How Technology hijacks people’s minds”. In simple terms, a magician focuses his attention to the vulnerabilities of the audience and perform spell-bound magical shows by tapping on such vulnerabilities. Tristan explained how the leading technology companies hijack the attention of the billions of users when explaining the ethics of “Attention Economy”. First, when the technology companies give multiple choices in a menu asking the user to choose one, the users don’t question what is not available in the menu. Second, when an app is designed to increase maximum use, some companies device it in a fashion to reward the users occasionally or to make a message appear in a drop-down menu to make looking at it addictive. Third, some companies bring the fear of missing something important to enable users to frequently check their smart phones. Fourth, a statement like, “Look how many of your friends are using this app?” type of questions makes one wonder about social approval from the friends. Fifth, reminders such as, “You have not accepted the friendship request of so and so” makes one feel guilty to reciprocate the action taken by another user.

Sixth, when a user plays a video, recommendations appear about other interesting videos or automatically plays a next video making one addictive to use. Seventh, instead of respectfully delivering content, the users are interrupted from something important. Eighth, if the companies knew exactly what users need, put them at the end to make the users go through various other items that the companies want the users to focus on. Ninth, unsubscribing is made harder by calling a phone number instead of just clicking “Unsubscribe” or make the user go through multiple options as alternative in lieu of what users would like to get rid of. Tenth, a click could take the users to many other options taking a lot of time using the concept of “foot in the door”.

After reading this ten hijack strategy, I couldn’t resist wondering how well these companies read the mind. In real life, invariably what we like to pursue is not available in a platter unless one makes a lot of effort to pursue what one likes including spirituality. The menu in front of us consist of things that makes one indulged a lot and addictive. Human mind always seeks instant gratification and hence anything and everything we see in real world that gives instant gratification is pursued vigorously instead of something that gives us a long-lasting happiness and peace. Most pleasurable things are low-hanging fruits available for a short period of time and the fear of missing such an important opportunity makes us feel get involved quickly without analyzing them. Acceptance by the peers sometimes function as social pressure for us to get indulged in something many are opting to do. If someone close to us strongly get us involved in something that we are not inclined to, we end up obliging in order avoid the feeling of guilt.

When we are involved in something that is of great interest to us, our mind is perfectly capable of distracting us to something else that is gratifying. Our mind interrupts us at will anytime without respecting what we are involved in a specific moment. Life’s purpose is always hard to achieve involving difficult efforts. When we are pursuing something that we like, there are so many choices that are offered by life along with it so that we can easily get distracted to many other options.

Ethical practices Tristan recommends for the technology companies need to be enforced by us into our mind even for our personal progress in life. I have mentioned a few in response to Balajee in my earlier snippet and I am reproducing them here.

Watching our breath is one way to regulate the mind. Forming habits that helps us develop personally is another. Having company of good is third. Reading good teachings wherever it is from is fourth. Moderation in sensual pleasures is fifth. Understanding what we don't control and accept things as it happens is sixth. Doing actions skillfully to our satisfaction, lovingly with full devotion to the actions performed and selflessly without the thought that we are the doer with no expectation is seventh. Developing equanimity to be unaffected by pleasure and pain is eighth. Putting a ceiling on desires and attachments is ninth and lastly remaining happy for the opportunity to enjoy the world and contribute more to it than receiving is tenth.

 

Dear Smt. Jayasala:

Thank you for your first response and kind words. Some of these marketing techniques help us to learn our life lessons. Like "Attention Economy" focus on driving the attention of people to what the technology corporation likes us to do, our egocentric mind always directs us to what would gratify us instantly. We need to develop some ethical practices to make our mind focus on things we can to achieve our lives' purpose.

Viswa

 

Dear Syamala:

When Tristan talked about "Attention Economy", he also used the term, "manipulation of the mind" and the host of the show asked whether it was possible. He replied, the design of the apps are made in a fashion to make the users addictive and stay in the site for long without any warning about how long it takes. He suggested every app giving news or videos should mention the time needed as a good business practice.

Sometimes, users are not very tech-savvy and navigate without realizing how much time they spend. The newer generation is very tech-savvy and it is their mind that are captured to addictive habits. For profits businesses rarely worry about social welfare, business ethics when their primary focus is to increase their market share and share price by increasing their profits. Understanding what they are trying to do through these articles help us to control our own time and what we need to focus on.

In real life also, our mind could be distracted on its own, with the influence of friends and family, habits we form, etc. Staying focus on what is important than what is urgent is necessary. Time management skills need to be developed. If someone has the habit of checking emails all the time, they get distracted from the work they need to do skimming through so many junk emails to find one that is important. There has to be time allocated to do everything.

Viswa

 

Dear Smt. Srinivasan:

What you described in shops is exactly the techniques the technology companies are using to drive people to buy something that the companies want them to buy rather than what they actually need. Home shopping has become so easy with plastic money. Attention Economy is playing with the time and money of the consumers. Smart phones are like an appliance that could take us to the world we have never seen before both positively and negatively. The next generation of young adults are already addicted and I am not sure what would happen to their children.

Viswa

 

@SpiritualSoul,

Thank you for your response to this snippet. As long as you are enjoying something you do online in IL, the ethical practices to be used in "Attention Economy" doesn't apply. Even when I write or attach a link, I don't warn the readers how much time it would take to read them. But ILites have the choice to read or not to read. However, I use the title "Hijack" to make ILites read what I have written out of curiosity. I think it is ethical to use a good title to attract attention of ILites. Even if I use a different font, I don't think it would fall under the preview of unethical practice. However, If I post one snippet everyday so that one or more of my posts will always be in the first page, then, it might be unethical.

Viswa