dopamine squirt

digital overload

unchecked infomania

continuous partial attention

INFUSIONf o c u s o n d i s t r a c t i o n

Andrea Bianchi Creative Director

Tw: @andbia

Friday, 31st October 2014

C r e a t i n g D i g i t a l E x p e r i e n c e s

Q

INFUSION

Why are we so easily distracted?

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dopamine squirt/ˈdɒpəmɪn skwûrt/

( )

Your brain is rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing.

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When you check your information, when you get a buzz in your pocket, when you get a ring, you get what they call a “dopamine squirt”.

You get a little rush of adrenaline.

Guess what happens in its absence? You feel bored. You're conditioned by a neurological response.

It’s all about the dose and being always connected doesn’t encourage restraint.

check-me-check-me

source: www.theglobeandmail.com

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Managing a stack of e-mails has been found to raise heartbeats and blood pressure.

Facebook, when visited obsessively, has been linked to depression and eating disorders in teenage girls.

According to a study conducted at Stanford University, heavy multimedia users have trouble filtering out irrelevant information

and trouble focusing on tasks.

check-me-check-me-check-me

source: www.theglobeandmail.com

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How this affects social behaviour?

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Ms. Stone, a former Microsoft and Apple employee, coined this term to describe how

being inundated with tasks and interrupted by technology chronically splinters our focus.

Being “always on” may look good in a society that glorifies busyness, but it’s a killer intellectually.

In fact, researchers at King’s College Institute of Psychiatry in London reported

the constant use of e-mail and other social media, what they called

“unchecked infomania” led to a temporary 10-point drop in the IQ of the study’s participants. That was twice as much as pot smokers.

Continuous Partial Attention

source: www.theglobeandmail.com

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“Consumersdon’t want to disconnect

from their tech superpowers. They just want balance.”

(trendwatching.com - Hyperconnectivity trend)

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In such a behavioral reframe how information

and the content industry are changing?

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About 30 percent of adults in the United States get their news on Facebook.The fortunes of a news site, in short, can rise or fall

depending on how it performs in Facebook’s News Feed.

Most readers now come to news through social media and search enginesdriven by an algorithm that predicts what users might want to read.

The shift raises questions about the ability of computers to curate news, a role traditionally played by editors.

It also has broader implications for the way people consume information,

and thus how they see the world

Rethinking journalism

source: www.nytimes.com

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“One of the reasons it feels like there’s so much is that smart content

creators have realized certain topics will perform well on SEO

or on socials, which they need for traffic and revenue. So instead of one person writing the definitive article on a topic,

everyone will write about the same thing.”

Stephen Abbott

Head of digital projects at the UK Parliament

source: www.prote.in

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Ms. Haik, the Washington Post digital editor, is leading a team that aims to deliver different versions of The Post’s journalism to different people,

based on information about how they have come to an article.

“We’re asking if there’s a different kind of storytelling, not just an ideal presentation.

People reading The Post on a mobile phone during the daywill probably want a different kind of reading experience

than those who are on a Wi-Fi connection at home in the evening.”

Tailor Made Information

source: www.nytimes.com

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Some publications have found a niche

in taking the opposite approach. The Browser is edited by Robert

Cottrell, a former journalist at The

Financial Times and The Economist. Mr. Cottrell skims about 1,000

articles a day, and then publishes

five or six that he finds interesting for

about 7,000 subscribers

who pay $20 a year.

1.000 articles > 6 source: www.nytimes.com

The Browser

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Even The Guardian launched a supplement last year called The Long Good Read, which provided readers with a selection of

stories from its website. “We’d have a story for the commute to

work and a story for the commute home. It was limited and effective. At one point we even ran a physical paper

based on our algorithms.”

“Articles hand picked daily from the Guardian”

source: www.prote.in

The Long Good Read

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Paper Later allows users to collect

cuttings from the

internet and print them

in their own one-off

newspaper, which is

delivered to their home

a few days later.

“When you find yourself on something you’d prefer to read in print, just press the ‘Save for PaperLater’ button in your browser, and we’ll do the rest.”

Paper Later

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Five interesting things to do

in Los Angeles, every day.

Selected by a brain trust of

local artists, musicians and

designers, 5 Every Day is a

daily calendar for urban

exploration. “Without a future or a past, it

encourages you to check out something new, not tomorrow, not next week, but today.”

Every day five interesting things to do

5 Every Day

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Offline Offline Magazine serves

a steady diet of culture,

humor, and opinion for a

tribe of people hungry for

discovering new ideas.

Each month it features

five articles with audio

from subject matter

experts and storytellers.

It's one hour of content to

feel good about consuming.“Escape the noise of your newsfeed and subscribe.”

One hour of selected content each month

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vimeo.com/62204353

Unroll.Me

One email. Once a day. All your subscriptions.

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youtu.be/bzNTjpUMOp4

Google Inbox

It pulls important information from emails into a easy-to-read feed

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youtube.com/watch?v=SxC67Mf9IZU

Liveguide

A platform where you could always find the best live content

Started as a school project

by Hyper Island students,

Liveguide is a window into

the livestreaming world that

is as simple to use as your

regular TV-guide.

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But it’s not just about software. The digital overload is also faced

by a multitude of tools aimed to assist people

in their daily struggle for focus.

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NeuroOn is the world’s first

brainwave-monitoring sleep mask that allows you to switch from monophasic to polyphasic sleep.

That means you can sleep

less and more efficiently.

NeuroOn

Kickstarter link

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Olive

Indiegogo link

Tracks physical indicators of stress Analyzes habits that contribute to stress Talks with your smartphone to understand your lifestyle

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youtube.com/watch?v=0gzrYQKoHfI

Reduce stress, Sleep better Be present in the midst of it all

Buddhify

Buddhify allows you

to develop mindfulness

wherever you are &

whatever you're doing

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youtu.be/Xbz6CKW2RVc Mind controlled video & movie platform

MyndPlay

“MyndPlay trains your mind to meditate and focus through stimulus/response training and provides you with detailed brainwave feedback and the tools to develop greater mental awareness and emotional control

making it the ultimate brain entertainment, live experience and training platform.”

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youtu.be/pPu17q4RxWE

With this definitive concentration-test machine

Now, it’s time to test your focus!

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Connection is inevitable. Distraction is a choice.

(Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, The Distraction Addiction)

INFUSION is the weekly report released by Alquimia WRG.

Every Friday morning we have breakfast exploring insights on the edge of creativity, strategic thinking and technology.

If you'd like to get infused, feel free to contact us at infusion@alquimiawrg.com

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