“Through the looking glass: envisioning new library technologies” spending time well – helping patrons take control of their technology
| Date | 02 July 2018 |
| Published date | 02 July 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-03-2018-0018 |
| Pages | 10-13 |
| Author | Peter Fernandez |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Library & information services |
“Through the looking glass: envisioning new
library technologies” spending time well – helping
patrons take control of their technology
Peter Fernandez
Social networking and mobile devices
are now fully integrated into the fabric
of society. Even people who do not
directly use these applications are
impacted by those who do. These
technologies structure information,
media companies, education, political
policies and much more. At their best,
these are technologies that can provide
entertainment, increase productivity
and improve the lives of their users.
This column will explore concerns
about how technology uses unconscious
biases to influence its users’
engagement. It will offer tools and
techniques for those interested in
exerting more control over their use of
technology, and to understand how the
underlying ecosystem has created this
situation.
The issue
Recently, The Verge noted that the
debate about how to design technology
to serve user interests –specifically, how
it influences how users spend their
time – is “shaping up to be tech’s next
big debate” (Newton, 2018b). It
highlighted the work of Tristan Harris,
who had previously worked at Google
as a design ethicist but left to found an
organization called Time Well Spent as
one of the key leaders. But it goes far
beyond him: other prominent examples
include Twitter cofounder Ev Williams
who stated that “the internet is broken”
(Streitfeld, 2017) and Tony Fadell, who
helped create the iPhone and has
criticized technology for being
addictive, stating “Apple Watches,
Google Phones, Facebook, Twitter –
they’ve gotten so good at getting us to
go for another click, another dopamine
hit” (Valinsky, 2018). He has gone on to
call for those same companies to help
build tools to address the issue. Even
major investors on Wall Street have
issued similar calls for companies to
study the issue (Gelles, 2018). These
concerns are widespread throughout the
technology world and appear to be
growing.
Thinking through screentime
To better understand where this
criticism comes from, it is useful to look
at a slightly older manifestation of a
similar concern: the debate among
many parents about how much
“screentime” they should allow their
children to have. Framed one way, it’s
an almost perplexing concern. Why
should parents be concerned about their
children becoming familiar with the
technology that permeates society? Yet,
their worries are numerous, ranging
from issues about how exposure could
affect development, mental health and
even social relationships (Smiley,
2018). Nevertheless, above all, the
threat that unites them can best be
summarized by Facebook cofounder
Sean Parker who stated “God knows
what it’s doing to our children’s brains”
(Allen, 2017). Importantly, no single
concern drives this debate; rather, it is
the cumulative uncertainty about what
effect these technologies might have on
the lives of children. This uncertainty is
exacerbated considerably by the lack of
conclusive research or guidelines
(Kamenetz, 2018).
Screentime is a useful angle for
thinking about these implications
because it centers the uncertainty of the
debate next to its implications for the
future. As Douglas Adams wrote:
anything that is in the world when
you’re born is normal and ordinary
and is just a natural part of the way
the world works;
anything that’s invented between
when you’re 15 and 35 is new and
exciting and revolutionary and you
can probably get a career in it; and
anything invented after you’re 35
is against the natural order of
things (Adams, 2003).
It is easy to be overly fearful of change
that makes us uncomfortable. Yet, it is
also almost impossible for people who
come of age after that change to see
those changes as anything but the
natural order. This dynamic makes it
difficult to know when and how to
respond.
It is this aspect, this sense of loss of
control, alongside an unknown future,
that this column highlights. Few parents
are concerned about their children’s use
of technology leading to happy and
successful lives. The problem arises
when they fear the technology will not
only be a tool their child uses, but also
impact their life negatively in ways that
they do not have the means to
anticipate. It is a debate about who
exactly is in control of this technology,
and it is one that is easier to have about
children than adults. Yet, in a recent
survey, users of all ages indicated that
the majority of applications that they
spent the most time using were also the
ones they later regretted using (Center
for Humane Technology, 2018). In
other words, many of the same
dynamics may apply to all of us, even if
the conversation is more difficult to
initiate.
The tools
For libraries and other stakeholders
who are looking for ways to exert more
control over how they use technology,
there are already a number of tools and
techniques available. This list is not
10 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 5 2018, pp. 10-13, V
CEmerald Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/LHTN-03-2018-0018
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