Academic researchers are also beginning to analyze the benefits of disconnecting from major internet platforms, with mixed results. In a recent study conducted by Stanford University, 2,844 Facebook users deactivated their accounts for four weeks, and researchers found that while there were clear benefits to being off Facebook, there were also benefits the social network provides that were lost.
While Facebook deactivation reduced online activity across social media, it led to increased TV watching among study subjects — but also resulted in more socializing with family and friends. Although being off Facebook led to less political polarization, it also reduced factual news knowledge retained by subjects. However, subjects in the study did experience an increased subjective well-being and, once off Facebook, were less likely to return to it.
Huffington, who is an executive producer on the new ’90s tech-sector docudrama “Valley of the Boom,” said the consumer relationship with technology is one of the most important issues of the modern era, and it is time to reevaluate the seeds that were planted back in the ’90s during that first internet boom.
“To reclaim our relationship with technology, we need to see where we’ve been,” Huffington said. “To take control of our tech habits, we need to understand how and why the tech world that drives those habits was built.”
The tech world is responding to consumer demand and augmenting people’s lives in many ways, but she still believes the worst aspect of evolving technology is a hyperconnected, always-on world.
“Even for those of us old enough to remember the first boom and to have lived through it, it’s sometimes hard to remember that there was a time before we were all hyperconnected and glued to our screens. And seeing the decisions that were made that led to our current moment makes us realize we can also make decisions about how we use this technology.”
from Viral News Updates http://bit.ly/2RQGx3Q
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