Introducing Calio & ‘The Social Paradox’
By Latif Baluch, Co-founder of Calio — November 17th 2017
Most of us check our phones within minutes of waking up, and it is often the last thing we look at before we sleep. We understand the potentially harmful effects of constantly using our phones and we get irritated when the attention of the people around us is diverted to a screen — yet we continue. Addiction is understood as engaging in pleasurable activities that can become compulsive and can interfere with our ordinary responsibilities such as work, relationships, or health. Which leads us to ask, as a society, are we addicted to technology and social media?
Technology and social media platforms are built to make our lives easier, to help us communicate, however it has become clear there are also negative outcomes. The selfie surge for example, has brought smiles and laughter to families worldwide, but take the time to talk to a young person and you’ll quickly discover the detrimental effect it can have on their self-image. Social media can keep us connected at all times, yet the feeling of loneliness is ever apparent in first world countries. Instant messaging may have increased the words we can send to a loved one each day, but I wonder how many arguments were started from an easily misconstrued message.
Social problems are usually a longer-term result of subsequent generations living in very different environments. We live in an increasingly complicated world, with technology advancing too quickly for us to truly understand the social, cultural and mental health implications.
The technology built to bring us closer, can actually take us further away… we call this ‘The Social Paradox’.
The inspiration for Calio came to mind when Ramy, my co-founder, and I were both working and living in Dubai. Despite being best friends, we often struggled to actually see each other. Working in quite intense sectors we quickly learnt the importance of a well-organised work schedule yet unfortunately this didn’t translate to our personal lives. Arranging drinks with friends, seeing family or even a simple dinner became a battle despite the huge amount of time we spent on social media, “connecting” with our friends. Our common frustration with social media became the fundamental drive for the years to come. It wasn’t necessarily the social media platforms themselves that irritated us, but the way we used them.
Calio was created to try and help us all find a balance. In our view this (somewhat ironically) meant creating a piece of technology ourselves, a personal calendar that allows us to make the most of our time. Making it easier to organise events and see the people that matter. The company will focus time and effort organising events to get people together so that they can discuss and express their own views on ‘The Social Paradox’.
So if you have any thoughts we’d love to hear them, preferably in person, and arranged through Calio!
Original from the Calio blog >> https://www.calio.co.uk/single-post/Introducing-The-Social-Paradox
My Linkedin >> https://www.linkedin.com/in/latifbaluch/
