Reflective Media?
A distinctive comparison between TikTok in China and the U.S likened the experiences to opium and spinach by a social media analyst. Despite being under the ownership of the same company, TikTok in China provides a child-friendly version that includes educational content and a time limit, a feature not present in the U.S. In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” a tech expert highlighted the differences between the U.S. version of TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media platform, and its Chinese counterpart.
In the Chinese iteration of TikTok, known as Douyin and owned by ByteDance, a unique version of the social media app is exclusively available within China, particularly designed for children. Tristan Harris, an advocate for social media ethics and a former Google employee, characterized China’s approach to TikTok, stating, “It’s almost like they recognize that technology is influencing kids’ development, and they make their domestic version a spinach version of TikTok, while they ship the opium version to the rest of the world.” According to Harris, children in China are exposed to science experiments, museum exhibits, patriotism videos, and educational content, with a daily usage limit of only 40 minutes on the app. Notably, Harris pointed out a survey comparing the career aspirations of pre-teens in the U.S. and China, revealing that in the U.S., the most desired career was a social media influencer, while in China, the top choice was an astronaut. Harris suggested that these societal preferences would continue to unfold over generations and would significantly shape the future world.
Recently, In various fields, researchers have began introducing alternative approaches infused with compassion, such as humanistic, transpersonal, and integral psychologies, as well as holistic and alternative medicine.. These insights aim to revolutionize the world by fostering peaceful planetary coexistence. However, societal changes are perceived as slow, especially in areas like mental health treatment, insurance coverage, and acknowledging the economic value of the natural world. While compassionate, holistic ideals are on the horizon, many desire a faster pace of change.
The media has played a pivotal role in spreading consciousness movements, evolving into new forms like the internet. Scholars have scrutinized the internet’s impact on different aspects of life, emphasizing its role in shaping society. There is a plea to incorporate consciousness-raising content into media and ensure fairness in accessibility and production. For example, Evolutionary guidance media (EGM), a theoretical framework designed to advance planetary consciousness is seen as a conscious-expanding psycho-social stimulant, aiming to facilitate the creation of media for guiding societal emergence toward transpersonal consciousness. Key components include a purposeful data bank with diverse human activities and “transception,” which infuses cyberception with moral values. The methodology used in designing EGM involves spaces for exploration, design solutions, organized knowledge, evaluation/experimentation, and envisioning future systems. The dimensions of EGM include social action, economic justice, moral strength, wellness, design, scientific manifestation, technological guidance, aesthetic pursuit, and political promotion.
Psychological interventions can enhance reflective functioning and cultural reflexivity by using models and frameworks such as EGM to serve as a foundation for creating reflective, socially responsible, and transformative media. Higher income countries can also merge with these initiatives with the Pay It Forward Model, by psycho-educating or partnering with other collaborators and organizations to help with preexisting US adaptations of media that carry universal humanistic messages can be reliably utilized for lower and middle income countries.
