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My parents wanted me to watch a documentary about how terrible social media is.

The main point of the documentary was that search engines, and social media sites have algorithms with the goal of keeping people on their phones. The concern was that in the pursuit of profit these big tech companies are hacking into our basic psychology to keep us engaged, without thinking of our welfare.

Now, my personal view is that all documentaries should be treated with caution. I feel this way because a documentary is much more fun and engaging if it is arguing for something. The issue is that if a documentary is arguing for something, that means it is unlikely to present the other side of the argument very well. Even so, I do like watching docos that are well put together.

It is a scary thought to think that people are being sucked away from the real world through systems deliberately designed to distract them. I think this is somewhat related to a term that��s gained widespread use on Chinese websites, ��Revenge Bedtime Procrastination�� (����԰�ҹ). This occurs when people who don��t have much control over their life take revenge by staying up late and doing things they do have control over. A lot of the references I found to this term seemed to involve going on the internet, playing video games, and social media.

I have stopped and thought about my own phone usage. I spend an average of an hour and a half on my phone each day. I know that��s time I could spend on other things, but I��m okay with that amount. A lot of that time is pretty necessary, using messaging to organise things. I do waste a lot of time on other things though. That��s the thing, I think the issue is broader than smartphones.

I think the issue is that it��s really hard to do boring, productive things when there are fun, low-stress things to do as an alternative. Hasn��t that always been true though? Many times the thing taking up time (that could be better spent) isn��t the internet. Sometimes it��s parties, movies, books, alcohol, shopping, the news, video games, or even documentaries. All of those things have been designed to get our attention.

The pressure of distraction can take new forms now because the digital age has opened up new possibilities. Even so, it��s always been hard to say no to fun when you should work. It��s also hard to know what activities to direct your life towards, and how to balance them. I was able to talk these thoughts over with my parents which was nice. I think I may have even convinced them that we do not live in as dark a digital age as they feared. It was interesting to hear their perspective on just how much communication has changed. It is so crazy to think about how instantaneous access to communication and information used to be science fiction. In a world like this, I think the thing that really has the biggest potential to make me stupid is me.