Why you should turn off Facebook and Twitter after 9pm
As they turned into our main source of information, Facebook and Twitter have become the TV we used to hate: junk news, tabloid stuff, nonsense debates, real tv, etc.
Thanks to their algorithmic timelines, people are trapped into a self-reinforced feed of the same news, the same people, the same pictures and the same videos. We all hate it when the same ad for a travelling website pops up everywhere because someone visited it once, three months ago. Why would we like getting the same stupid youtube video in your timeline because it’s being shared again and again by your friends? You get more news, more friends and more easily. But, you get less cognitive diversity and you can feel stuck like a social network zombi, watching your timeline over and over until it’s 2am.
Let’s call it… the Timeline Trap.
The so-called « architecture of participation » was supposed to help us develop some sort of cognitive surplus. But design is control, behavioral psychology is everywhere and technology hijacks people’s minds.
Still, the solution is easy.
Like with TV, you can actually turn it off. Just close your facebook or your twitter. Just don’t look at your social network apps on your phone.
I don’t mean that you should completely stop to use them. Some people do, but you don’t have to turn Amish to get back in control of technology. and just like “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” can be fun and popular, social networks can be cool and informative. Also, it’s really hard not to be on Facebook. But what’s important is to get out from the timeline trap and restore your cognitive diversity.
That’s why I try to implement a personal policy of not using social networks after 9pm. No Facebook, no Twitter, no nothing. I even restrain from using my emails. It’s better for me, for my family and for my friends. As I am not a social network zombi anymore, I become more available to them, but also more available to myself as I do other stuff like cooking, reading books, playing videogames, or even going out for a jog.
Try it for yourself.
Don’t take your phone or your tablet in bed. Don’t use it when you’re with your family. You will feel calmer, more centered and peaceful. I think it’s important to see it as a rule, and to set up an example. Social Networks are addictive and you’ll need a little bit of will to keep to it and convince others that some sort of low information diet is a good thing for everybody.
On a sidenote, some people may remember the TV-B-GONE device developped by Mitch Altman in 2004. It allowed you to walk into any place, push a button on the remote, and turn off any TV in the room to the total surprise of other participants. I’d love to see something similar for turning off social networks from a remote controller.
And if you need to know what books to read, you can get this list proposed by Bill Gates, or you can have a look at what I am reading on GoodReads. Last but not least, another good read on how less technology can be good to you is the famous papers by Kevin Kelly on Amish hackers.
