Technology and Our Time

There's this thought- and conversation-provoking article on one of my psychology/social sciences RSS feeds about Technology and Mental States. The major argument about having left behind social media and cell phones for a particula amount of time, results in a clearer understanding of the time and attention black hole that embarking in those activities can be. Here is a quote:

These electronic toys are skilled at making you believe you are achieving things - working or interacting with those strange things I think are called other people. They give you the illusion of occupation and purpose. But it is false. You do nothing. You fritter and buzz and beep and shout “I’m in Swindon!”, all the way to the grave.

I wanted to share the link to the blog post, which I did above, as well as the text of a long-ish comment I posted in response:

I wonder whether twittering, blogging, and facebooking, instead of being a creative outlet, are truly naught but a way to keep oneself overly busy...but busy doing nothing constructive/productive, like the article states. Just as many other timepass activities, if one sees a loss of value from occupying one's time in a particular activity, they usually drop it and acquire a new hobby. The current preoccupation and constant questioning of people's choice to timepass via technology and social media are a little troubling. Seems to come from an assumption they are unable to evaluate on their own, how valuable or productive their activities are or can be. We can't always force people to do or not do according to our own perspective, it would be risking an authoritarian state, no?

Although it's quite evident that the value, if any, from social aspects of technology and social media use are coming under fire daily lately, if one manages to leverage technology for learning or financial returns on investment the criticism subsides somewhat. It may be a capitalist perspective shared by many in regards to what is and is not appropriate use of one's time.

To be perfectly fair, I must disclose that I am a strong opponent to authoritarian states, and I am uneasy at the amount of articles and other subject matter expert quotes nay-saying social media and technology use. The most perplexing matter of all, I find, is that most of these comments, articles, and postings by supposed psychologists, social scientists, and other subject matter experts, have been disseminated online (!) through channels such as Twitter and blog postings or e-newsletters--the purported time-sappers they themselves accuse. I find the channel of dissemination counterintuitive seeing where their arguments always lead.

What do you think? Are social media channels addictive and culprits of time and attention black holes?


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