Are You Selling Attention

There was this Bengali movie , Habji Gabji, that released recently , which deals with device addiction in a child and the struggle of the parents.  I have to be honest , I haven’t seen the movie. But I like that Bengali cinema keeps making commercial movies on very pertinent and current problems. 

This is a common complaint I hear from all parents especially since the pandemic lockdown scenario and from adults on their partners.  This is problem I face too …  not just with my son  ( grrrr !!!!)  but even me.  Scrolling and sliding my finger on the touch screen, watching this and that, laughing at some ,  disgusted at some , sharing some …..  it sure killed my time and boredom.

We are in the euphoria of the Digital world.  Everything is being made easy and all businesses are riding on it.  All of us,  yes, all of us are in it .  You wake up to your favorite bhajan.  You get traffic updates as you head out to the car.  You get reminded for your meetings and calls and also to update your documents.  You get reminded to drink water ( and maybe to pee as well) .   You are reminded on the insurance premium date coming up.  You are notified of your child missing an assignment or scoring “A” in one.  You are reminded of birthdays of friends and colleagues , yet you end up calling / messaging them at the end of the day.  You are told how much calories you consumed and burnt …  steps you covered, even if its pacing in your office while dealing with that the ugly call; never mind that you cannot control that urge for another yummy chocolate cake.  Now you are also reminded to turn off lights and go to sleep, in fact , the device changes its light setting too .

But pause here for a moment. 

The Digital business is hinging on your attention , and psychologist, sociologist, behavior analyst, data analyst are working round the clock to track, capture and hold your attention.  The more they hold your attention, more they gain.  They compete with each other to grab your attention … almost like the hawkers on the Gariahat street . Billions of dollars of investment and thousands of brilliant minds creating such enthralling solutions to make your life easier, better, healthier and happier. 

Think about it … hear it from Dr James Williams in the little video here on Attention Economy. 

If we are not mindful of how we want to leverage the technology available to us,  the technology will rule us.  No point blaming the child,  start with yourself.