I recently came across this post (note: it features a few choice words that don’t appear on Echo Hub) and I found its subject thought-provoking:
“a Stanford research report [which suggests] that spending considerable amounts of time on multimedia/technology can make us unhappy.”
The author of the post explores the effects that a glut of information and always-on technology can have on us. How does this information infestation change the way we think and feel? How does it change the way we see ourselves and others? How does it change the way we communicate?
These are important questions with — if we’re honest — telling answers.
The author of the post has chosen to go on something of a digital diet. He isn’t completely abstaining from digital content, but he is cutting back on his intake. He’s unplugging at regular intervals. He’s consuming high quality content rather than digital cotton candy. He’s looking to pursuits other than “hanging out online” as sources of happiness.
As it turns out, things like exercise and cooking and gardening and reading and writing are still good for us — just as vegetables are still good for us — in a world where every object has a screen and every intersection has a fast food joint.
As I find myself barreling toward middle age (and pudginess), I’m thinking a lot more about the quality and quantity of what I eat. I’ve even started to make a few changes. Thanks to this new study, I’m going to think a lot more about the quality and quantity of my interactions with digital media. Soon I might even make some changes.
You can read more about the Stanford report here (devoid of choice words, I think).
Scott McClellan is the Editor of Echo Hub and the Director of Echo Conference. You can follow him on Twitter: @scottmcclellan.