Addictech: Devices Designed for You

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Amongst the many tirades against the vastly steepening decline of any semblance of healthy culture in America, one particular thing stands out to me as a beacon of my own obnoxious rhetoric.

Addictech.

It’s a phrase that, as far as I am aware of, I coined about two years ago, to describe a number of wonderful devices and their accompanying software, that are designed with addiction in mind.

Not treating addiction, mind you. No, these devices and their accompanying software are designed to make you their slave.

It is the dopamine flood that can never be shut, because it grabs your attention span, chops it into tiny pieces, and then feeds you just enough of what you want to see to keep you horrified, captivated, and clicking.

And why, you might ask, would someone do such a thing? Well, it’s for one of a few reasons. Firstly, to make you more easily manipulated, for reasons either capitalistic or political (oddly enough, I can’t think of a religious organization with a social app or Addictech device, though I could very well be wrong).

Secondly, to sell you something, in the form of advertising. This is the most obvious ploy used by platforms and device manufacturers, and boy oh boy, are they good at it.

Thirdly, selling YOU, in the form of data, browsing history, website clicks, etc.

And the disturbing news is, these companies KNOW the product is bad for you. They have publicly acknowledged that users of these products have mental health issues at a higher rate, in addition to suffering other cognitive effects.

I gave up a lot of my technology use about two years ago. It was easily one of the best decisions I ever made, and it’s a reason you don’t see any links to social accounts on this website. They simply don’t exist anymore.

I want you to be able to focus on what you are reading. To enjoy the content, or move on to something else. You deserve to have an advertisement and distraction free reading experience. It’s good for you, and your mind.

So I recommend getting rid of social media. Or going back to a browser based social experience at the very least, where notifications and doomscrolling are a bit harder. Better yet than that is to get rid of all of it completely. Your mind will thank you.