Some common tech and social media apps that I use include my smartphone and Snapchat and Instagram. Both of these social media apps are installed on my smartphone and in order to access them, I have to be actively using my device.
The use of all three of these tech items has a problem with the ledger of harms. Phone addiction affects attention, losing the ability to focus for a certain period of time without being distracted. Social media including Snapchat and Instagram, which is on an iPhone, affects the mental health of the user. Constantly seeing entertaining content or being in contact with people who are not physically there can make you jealous and leave you feeling left out. This can affect physical and personal relationships that can be seen with everyone from children to adults, losing empathy and creating miscommunication through messaging on your iPhone. Social media apps such as Snapchat provide daily news feeds that can create a bias by not providing both sides of the full story. The goal of this news feed is to get as many views as possible. Snapchat is willing to hinder or exaggerate a story to do whatever is necessary to get as much publicity as possible.
When looking at the Humane Tech Design guide, I see a relationship between these three common tech and social media apps and the guide. I can see phone addiction affecting people emotionally, their attention spans, and social reasoning. One way these tools could be redesigned to help humans rather than hurt them is to take away the dopamine effect that these apps provide. By taking away likes and other things that make you feel good, you are limiting the connection the person might create with their tech, giving them the ability to connect with who is around them, rather than what’s on their phones.
When looking at Haris’s set of natural antidepressants I can agree with all of them, including the addition at the end. Community plays a big role in finding meaning and feeling like you have a purpose. Making human connections and building relationships creates meaningful values. Finding a job you enjoy or finding enjoyment in a job, will make your days much more enjoyable too. Connecting with nature and interacting with the natural world helps keep us grounded and humane. Having respect for yourself and forgiving your past history will give you more confidence and drive. Being able to create a goal for the future will give you a sense of purpose and meaning. Finally, engaging your body in physical activity helps your body debrief and lose the bad toxins to make you feel good about yourself. The technology is not the problem, it is how we use the technology that is. We as a society have become too engaged with ourselves, and not with those who surround us.
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