Communication Futures Part 2 (DJ41005)

rosieglenwright
Dec 20, 2019
3 min read

Updated: May 3, 2020

The module aims to allow students to study, in depth, an aspect of the past, present or future of the field of communication and importantly relate this to their design discipline. Students will conduct this study either through the format of an extended essay, a report (documenting an experiment/intervention) or a piece of journalism (e.g. a collection of articles, a magazine or online blog).

After Communication Futures Part 1 I found the report the most engaging, I liked the aspect of conducting your own research to get a more in-depth understanding on a topic I was interested in. An important part of deciding what I wanted to do for my dissertation was to research something I was passionate about.

Over the past couple of months I have become more aware of how much I depend on my smartphone and overuse social media. I started to become aware of my digital habits and how little control I had over my addictive behavioural patterns. Speaking to my grandparents and even parents; I noticed the way in which we socially interact as humans has radically changed over the past decade.

The first step towards change is acknowledging the problem, once I had noticed I was overusing technology I began to see how often it negatively impacted me. I became aware of the hours I spent on social media, mindlessly scrolling to pass time or avoid social situations. I became aware of how obsessed I was with my smartphone, picking it up every time I had an unoccupied second or even allowing it to interrupt face-to-face interactions I was having with people. I began to notice how much I was abusing the use of my smartphone, it was no longer just a communication tool, I was allowing it to consume my life and take control of my subconscious.

I also started to realise the connection between the amount of time I spent on social media and how it affected my mood. I was almost in denial that sites that I thought I loved and enjoyed spending time on such as Instagram, could be responsible for my lack of self-esteem. The nature of these sites promote the idea of posting the best version of yourself, the access to digital resources allows people to cut/edit/retake and repost as much as they desire. People have the ability to create their idealistic lifestyle and cut out and alter whatever they please. People are fixating on these idealistic expectations of the digital world and ultimately allowing social media to diminish the satisfaction they have for their real life.

Despite all of this, social media does provide a level of instant communication that we as humans have never experienced before. Social interaction is an evolutionary part of human design and these unprecedented communication tools should be used to our advantage and not abused.

Technology should be used with caution, it is important to strike the balance of a healthy digital diet. People need to be aware of the effects of all this time spent online and be able to rebalance and become in control of the relationship they have with technology.

Aim

The report was aimed to explore whether a “digital detox” (in which participants gave up their smartphones and social media for a week) could be beneficial in preventing some of the negative side effects caused by digital pollution and help rebalance the co-dependent relationship people have with technology.

Objectives

Review relevant literature discussing the negative impact of excessive smartphone use and the effect that social media has on mental health
Identify the main problem areas and provide potential solutions that could be incorporated into the detox
Visualise data gathered and compare pre and post detox results to measure behavioural changes
Identify the advantages and disadvantages of taking part in a digital detox and provide recommendations for further study