What’s Your Bubble Ratio?
We all know some ratios — coffee to creamer or work to quality family time — but a new, deeply important ratio is evolving: the ratio of time spent online observing issues, failures of society, or the latest tweets — to the time spent doing something about it. Perhaps this is a good reflection point at the end of each week whether that’s at yoga, happy hour, walking the dog, cooking, or Netflixing: what’s my “bubble” ratio?
We’ve written about bubbles — wherein we see posts, read articles, or hold opinions only from like-minded friends and media sources. Today, we ask: what would it look like if we shifted just 1 hour a week to taking action in our community?
Turns out, it may look a lot like 2014.
2014: A Screen Odyssey
We love our screens. You’re reading this on your phone or computer (which is fantastic). You’ll check your email in a few minutes. You’ll send, hopefully, a funny gif to a friend who needs a laugh this week. All good.
But did you know we’re spending almost an entire work day more per week on our screens than we did in 2014? According to the Nielsen Total Audience Report, we’ve increased time on screens by an hour each day.
We also spend an average of 50 minutes a day on Facebook. That’s more time than we spend reading, participating in sports, or social events combined, as reported by the New York Times. This may not be inherently bad, of course. However, we also know that a growing number of Americans get their news from social media, nearly 60 percent according Pew Research. Without checks on echo-chambers, like volunteering or giving back, we may see continued polarization.
Other screens comes into play, as well. Take television, the most popular medium.
In a previous era, TV was a unifying, if discriminating, force. With only a handful of stations presenting news, entertainment, and perspectives, Americans had a set of established common queues. Today, content is democratized. Thankfully, it is increasingly difficult to exclude content based on ideology, race, sexual orientation or even funding.
Yet, when we do consume content, it is increasingly driven by our geographic location which is closely linked to income, race, and politics (Just look at the Income Ladders Map, or The Best Map Ever Made of America’s Racial Segregation).
As information becomes more diverse, we run the risk of more polarization. According to analysis by the New York Times, our geographies are defining our culture — or vice versa. Are we a “versus” America: Duck Dynasty versus Modern Family? One hour of helping others and problem solving may be what we need.
Mi Casa es Su Casa
Interestingly, there’s one shining light of common interest. The show with the most consistent ratings across geographies was (did you actually guess it?)….America’s Funniest Home Videos.
We spend more time on devices, more time on social media that can promote echo chambers, and more time watching TV influencing pop cultural queues all over the map. What’s going on here?
One perspective could be that America’s Funniest Home Videos is like a window into everyday occurrences everyone can relate to. It’s light hearted and helps us escape the stresses and injustices all around us, albeit through the safety of watching someone else’s misfortune. It’s real, reality TV. No polished production, just birthday cake mishaps, weird pets, and slap stick humor.
At Information for Action, we believe shifting behavior from individually passive to socially active is one way to put reality back in our lives. Given the current digital behavior situation and the state of TV media, maybe it’s a matter of ratios.
So, what if we shifted just 1 hour a week to taking action in our community, a return to 2014 levels of device use? What if we:
- Staffed a farmers’ market featuring women-owned business or offered our professional skills like graphic design to support low income food entrepreneurs? La Cocina in San Francisco can get you started.
- Helped youth in your community to design solutions to poverty, health, the environment and more? Check out Youth Service America, their global competition is coming up.
- Mentored high schoolers during summer leadership and service learning programs? Leaders like the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association would love to have your support.
If we were to take our phones with us, we might capture amazing human moments of commonality, post them to social media, and start to break through echo chambers. Perhaps a few of those moments will record an unintended, hilarious mishap. Maybe it will be just good enough to send to a TV program that unites us.
We’re always looking for *more important topics. We want to support and promote inclusive and diverse voices. What should we be talking about next and how? Follow us or get in touch at www.informationforaction.org
