As we live in the digital age, we by very definition, are producing and consuming more content than ever before. We crave the fast-pace nature of social media and reverse chronological timelines. Always wanting and needing more; more information, more gossip, more details, more news. In the realm of quick access to media and communication, we are given access to everything we need thanks to a small rectangle, perfectly constructed to fit our palms. We’ve never had easier access to social media because our phones are on us 24/7. Even when we’re sleeping, they’re never further than an arm’s length away. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have basically become digital tabloids that disseminate news and information quickly and are in turn consumed by people with short attention spans.
One of social media’s primary goals in accelerating the circulation of information are targeted ads. In “Join the Attention Resistance. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World,” Cal Newport references a diagram that reads, “Your 🕘 = their 💰.” The diagram, he explains, appears at the beginning of the The Slow Media Manifesto. Similar to “slow food,” which was created to counter the negative effects of fast-food culture, Sabria David, Jörg Blumtritt and Benedikt Köhler proposed Slow Media as an addition to the slow life movement.
Slow media works to remove the quickness that comes from breaking news, information and politics found and spread on social media. By taking part in this movement, one is able to not only prevent our focus from being fragmented by the likes of click bait, but encourages us to only focus on the highest quality content. Newport argues that breaking news is naturally of lower quality because journalists and reporters have not had the time to fully and deeply process all the information that’s out there.
“The key to embracing Slow Media is the general commitment to maximizing the quality of what you consume and the conditions under which you consume it.”
– Cal Newport in Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
By taking part in slow media, users are not distracted with any hidden agendas that may come from news platforms or sources. He argues it’s another way to organize your media, and reflect on the news you do absorb. “The key to embracing Slow Media is the general commitment to maximizing the quality of what you consume and the conditions under which you consume it,” he says.
Those of us on social media will often follow those with voices and opinions that match our own. Newport, however, says that another pro to slow news consumption is seeking out the best arguments against your preferred position because you’ll be exposed to potential arguments and therefore be a better debater. I personally only follow news sites and reporters that align with my views because I don’t want to see anything that’ll upset me or put me in a bad mood, but I can see where Newport is coming from. By seeing what the other side thinks, it’ll give me the opportunity to learn more and retort my conservative uncles and cousins should we ever go back to normal and Thanksgiving dinner and our yearly debates are a thing again.
In working as a digital content producer/breaking news reporter for a CBS News affiliate for nearly two years, I know firsthand how analytics come into play for advertisers. Every time a reader visits a site from social media or even a search platform, their visit– doesn’t matter how short or long– is logged, and will then be shared with advertisers, who will then be asked to spend money to showcase their product. So clicks bring in revenue. How does one get clicks nowadays? Modern trends like clickbait headlines, hot takes, the ever-popular listicles and big news stories in an effort to bring in every bit of traffic possible. And it’s exactly this that Newport warns readers to stay away from by taking part in slow media.
Readers need to continue to take responsibility for the news they read online. There’s an ever-growing percentage of U.S. adults who are trusting the news media less and less. We can’t allow that to continue being the case, though. News is vital for our lives and our first amendment rights. We need to start trusting the media again. But they need to do their part too and deliver the news we deserve, which is fair, honest and free of clickbait.
References:
Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. New York: Grand Central.
Newport, C. (2020). Chapter 7: Join the Attention Resistance . In Digital minimalism: choosing a focused life in a noisy world (pp. 213–248). essay, Penguin Business.