As I listened to Tristan Harris’s Ted Talk, How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day, I was reminded of an assignment that I give to my middle school students. I require them to read articles covering both sides of an argument in order to help them answer the question “Is technology helping or hurting us?” I agree with Harris’s point that tech companies are manipulating us towards things that are not necessarily the best for us, but that this same power could be used to encourage us in more healthy and positive pursuits. One of the articles that I require my students to read is, Is Technology Killing Our Friendships? by Lauren Tarshis. Tarshis’ article suggests that technology is “killing” the friendships of teens by giving them the illusion that they have true friendships just because they have 500 friends on Facebook. The reality is that they actually never reach a deep level of friendship with any of their “friends” outside of liking the persona that each person has created online. Yet, they have been convinced that “friended” equals friendship. Harris suggests that social media could be used to “..empower us to live out the timeline that we want.” He suggests that if we were given the opportunity to instead of posting a controversial question online, we could use that same platform to plan a dinner party where the conversations can be had in person, building those relationships in person while furthering the same controversial discussion, we would be creating a much more healthy timeline. Tarshis’s article makes the same point. Human contact is key to our continued social growth.
Harris explains that these tech companies have divisions of people who’s only focus is to manipulate our actions online. They have created the ability to “… precisely target a lie only to those people who would be more susceptible to it.” To me, this is terrifying. I agree with Harris when he suggests that “The only form of ethical persuasion exists when the goals of the persuader are aligned with the goals of the persuedee.” This sounds wonderful and very idealistic. As much as this would be what is best for the masses, what is the likelihood of these corporations giving up their power over us? As I look at my students faced with the choice “Is technology helping or hurting?” and I am surprised. There is always a significant number of students when confronted with the data, who actually argue that technology is hurting us. This gives me hope for our future around Harris’s position on ethics. I don’t believe that the internet and social media are inherently evil. They are benign on their own, but it makes me wonder what it would take to convince these tech companies to use their “power” for our good?