Join the Attention Resistance // Digital Minimalism 08

“Extracting eyeball minutes, the key resource for companies like Google and Facebook, has become significantly more lucrative than extracting oil.” -Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism

Facebook researchers David Ginsberg and Moira Burke set out to answer an important question: “Is Spending Time on Social Media Bad for Us?” Their answer sounds obvious, “According to the research, it really comes down to how you use the technology.” In fact, this answer is counter to the vague value proposition of social media. It points to an empowering approach to your digital tools.

In this article, I’ll explain why critical thinking about technology use will give you command of your life and 5 practices for regaining your autonomy, based on Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.

Your Time Equals Their Money

The attention economy started out small. A newspaper would sell its periodical for cheap, then sell the attention of a large readership to advertisers. Now, the attention economy is made up of the biggest businesses in the world. Facebook hosts users for free, then sells their attention to advertisers at a premium.

The new goal of the attention economy is to dominate your mind and then sell it. The smart phone is the preferred vehicle.

When you carry an interactive billboard in your pocket, there is no moment free from attention hijacking. For example, this morning I sat near an Academy Award-winning actress in a coffee shop in Los Angeles. It was a rare moment of peace in public for her. Everyone in the shop recognized her, but respected her time with her small child and a cup of coffee. No selfie requests. Actually, everyone respected her time except the Silicon Valley companies that are in her phone. She couldn’t put it down, even while feeding and bouncing her baby.

It is no accident that the average Facebook user spends fifty minutes per day on Facebook products. These products are designed for compulsive use. The value proposition is so vague that people just tap the icon hoping to find something interesting. This reinforces the addictive pattern.

There is no good reason for most social media use, but it is still praised, as Cal Newport explains in a humorous footnote from Digital Minimalism

“The most common arguments I used to hear from people about why I should sign up for Facebook is that there might be some benefit I didn’t even know about that I might be missing. ‘You never know, maybe you’ll find this to be useful’ has got to be one of the worst product pitches ever devised.”

Entering into a social media platform with these vague intentions makes users more susceptible to attention traps.

Freedom lies in the earlier quote from Ginsberg and Burke, “It really comes down to how you use the technology.” If users follow this warning, they could turn the tables on the attention economy giants. There is a growing movement of people who are pushing back against the assumption that you should use social media like everybody else. This rebellion is called the attention resistance.

To approach new technologies like a guerrilla fighter on a quick mission, try these practices from Digital Minimalism.

PRACTICES

1. Delete Social Media from Your Phone

If you must use social media, recognize that your phone is the Trojan horse meant to get you hooked. Companies like Facebook make the bulk of their money on mobile. Instagram’s genius was being optimized for mobile and the built-in camera.

When you use a desktop social media interface, you avoid the most powerful tactics for catching your attention, such as refreshing by a slot-machine-pull swiping motion.

Deleting social media from your phone also reduces your opportunity to get sucked in. You wouldn’t pull out your laptop in the bathroom, but you might check your phone.

“The only good reason to be accessing these services on your phone is to ensure companies like Facebook continue to enjoy steady quarterly growth.” -Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism

2. Turn Your Devices Into Single-Purpose Computers

The value of your multi-purpose device is that it can do many different things. However, it is not helping you to be doing many different things at the same time.

Multi-tasking is a productivity myth. Learn to single-task and reap the benefits. This is why I turn off Wi-Fi when I write.

If you need help with single-tasking, try an internet blocker, such as Freedom. Freedom’s internal research reveals that its users gain, on average, 2.5 hours of productive time per day.

3. Use Social Media Like a Professional

Professional doesn’t mean that you’re popular on social media, it means that you use it with purpose. Try using tools that allow you to batch your posts, then release them on a schedule, rather than being a compulsive user.

In Digital Minimalism Cal Newport profiles a social media professional who separates her personal accounts from her professional accounts and keeps her contacts below the Dunbar Number of 150. She even uses a sophisticated desktop tool called TweetDeck that separates the most significant posts through a search function called thresholding. Here’s how she explains it:

“I can search for a certain topic, say Black Lives Matter, and then set a threshold in TweetDeck that allows me to listen to this topic, but only see tweets with 50 likes or retweets. I can then refine this and say just show me the verified accounts.”

When you need to find information on social media, tools like TweetDeck can spare you the endless surfing that traps many users.

4. Embrace Slow Media

“Das Slow Media Manifest” translated as “The Slow Media Manifesto” proposes an approach to media similar to the European Slow Food movement. Readers are encouraged to find high quality media that demands their full attention. In minimalist style, one item of well-crafted slow media is prioritized over the constant chatter of low quality social media.

As slow food can elevate your experience of cuisine, slow media can elevate your experience of a favorite topic, especially in the news. Instead of being bogged down in the latest Twitter war, you can read thoughtful articles by your favorite journalists on both sides of a topic.

I’ve used Tim Ferriss’s “low information diet” approach to media for 3 years and found it liberating. The difference is that the Slow Media approach is more about embracing good media than eliminating the bad.

5. Dumb Down Your Smartphone

A few months ago, I caved and got my first smartphone. It seemed that I had no other option.

Now, I’m thrilled to read that there are still people who embrace the dumb phone. It is especially popular among hedge fund managers who need to keep a clear mind for high stakes financial decision making. Watch the television show Billions and you’ll see the occasional dumb phone around the hedge fund offices.

There is also a third way, the tethered dumb phone. Products such as Light Phone, allow you to forward calls from your smart phone to a simple piece of plastic that can only make and receive calls. Going out for dinner with your spouse? Forward calls to your tethered dumb phone and you can concentrate on your date while knowing that the babysitter can reach you if need be.

For more about The Attention Resistance, read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.