Exploring the frameworks that enable users to achieve social media minimalism
A future with social media apps as an obligatory open-source platform
Today, most of our digital life is dominated by social media usage. These platforms monitor our behavior and allow advertisers to track us across multiple devices; they track how we continue to interact with a given website even after leaving the platform; this ultimately helps companies offer ad and marketing content tailored to our behavioral pattern. That is how our engagement with social media is a never-ending loop because it is carefully designed to keep us hooked in endless scrolling.
The overconsumption of digital substance offered through social media has become a habit or an addiction for many. The current form of social media can influence a user’s moods. Its excessive use leads to anxiety, depression, lower self-esteem, fear of missing out, and less self-control, especially in the young generation. Excessive engagement with social media has also disengaged us from the real world and our real human connections. Social media content has been affecting the socio-political dynamics around the world.
This project aims to explore the frameworks that enable users to achieve social media minimalism which in turn helps them live a healthy digital life.
Approach:
Although we are aware of digital devices’ influence in our lives, our excessive engagement with social media, and its consequences, it is not easy to get rid of them with a single click because we have come to depend on them for various reasons. An immediate or complete cut off from our digital life will end up being a quick fix which might work only for the short term; rather, taking a transit route with small steps at a time, keep reflecting on them will help minimize our engagement and transform our digital life to the maximum extent in the long term. With these thoughts in mind, the HMW question was framed as:
“How might we create opportunities that help people make conscious choices about their interactions and engagement with social media and how these opportunities can further help improve their digital life”
Concept:
Loop is a concept that works in the speculative context where authorities, with the help of frameworks like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will create an ecosystem in the public’s best interest. Within this ecosystem, social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., will be obligated to offer a part of their apps with open-source functionality. Users themselves or using third-party tools could modify social media apps as per their preferences and requirements.
The experience with Loop is similar to that with a family doctor. The doctor talks to us, listen to our symptoms and concerns. If our problems are not resolved with basic remedies, he/she does an extensive examination of the health to solve our health issues. It helps remove clutter from the body, detoxify and disengage it from the health problem. Also, the doctor can not always help us without us reflecting on real progress.
Similar way, users can create a dialogue with Loop. Over the two-way engagement, it helps them 1) Declutter, 2) Detoxify, and 3) Disengage from the digital health problems. With Loop, users make conscious choices by reflecting on how they feel and what they value the most. This informed engagement eventually brings users a cleaner, minimal, and healthy digital life.
