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Tasks: "How to stay sane on the internet" by Matt Haig

Understanding the text:

  1. Do a quick Google search and find out what a Luddite abstainer is. Where does the word come from, and how would you translate it into Norwegian?
  2. Zadie Smith states that our smartphone habits "have to be thought through. We can’t just let the tech companies decide for us." In what way do tech companies decide for us?
  3. According to various people working for the tech companies, there are several reasons why we should be careful with new technology. Could you mention some of these reasons?
  4. What was the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018?
  5. In what way did Twitter help Donald Trump become president in 2016?
  6. Roger McNamee compares addiction to technology and the internet with addiction to cigarettes. However, he also points out one important difference between the two addictions. Explain what the difference is.
  7. According to studies, smartphones and technology can contribute to a state of ‘continual partial attention’ and reduced ‘cognitive capacity’. What does this mean?

Watch and reflect:

In this TED Talk, Adam Alter talks about how too much screen time alters our lives and makes us less happy. Watch the TED Talk before you move on to the reflection tasks below:

  1. In the video, Adam Alter shows us how much time we use on average for sleep, work (school), survival activities, and personal activities. How large is your "personal space" and what do you fill it with?

    Make a list of things you usually do after school and approximately how much time you spend on each activity. How much of that time is behind a screen? Compare with the rest of the class.

  2. Adam Alter states that we spend too much time on apps that don't make us happy.

    What kind of apps are stressful for you? What kind of apps make you relax?

    If some apps are more stressful than others and affect our mood in a negative way, why do we keep going back to them?

  3. What is a stopping cue? Why are stopping cues important? What does the lack of stopping cues do to our mental health? How can you create your own stopping cues?

    Make a list in class of possible stopping cues that could get you to put down your phone or your computer altogether.

Class activity:

Clear the room a bit so that you have some place to move. One end of the classroom is the 'No, never'-zone. The other end of the classroom is the 'Yes, I do that all the time'-zone.

Your teacher will read the ten statements below. Place yourself in the classroom according to where you feel you belong. If your answer is somewhere in the middle, you should place yourself accordingly.

After you have finished: What do the answers tell you? Are you surprised? Are you too dependent on your phone? Should you change your phone habits?

Statements:
  1. You reflexively grab your phone at the first hint of boredom.
  2. You check your phone more than once every hour.
  3. You spend more time interacting with friends on social media than in person.
  4. You often feel that you lose track of time and feel surprised when you realise the time you spend surfing the web.
  5. You have tried to spend less time on the internet.

  6. You use your phone after you have gone to bed and/or you wake up in the middle of the night and check your phone.

  7. You have someone in your personal life who expresses concerns about the amount of time you spend on the internet.
  8. You have used your phone in situations where it was less appropriate (during class, during meetings, at the theatre or cinema, in formal gatherings (weddings, funerals, your grandmother’s 80th birthday …).
  9. You feel frustrated when people are disturbing you while you’re on your phone.

  10. You sometimes worry that you are too dependent on your phone.

Research:

What was it like to grow up without smartphones and social media?

  1. Using Matt Haig's text and Adam Alter's video as inspiration, write down eight to ten questions related to smart phones, social media, the internet and screen time.
  2. Find someone who has experienced the time before smartphones and social media, and ask them for an interview.
  3. Carry out the interview and write down the answers in English.

  4. Transform the interview into an article. For a good article, you would add some meat on the bone: include an introduction of the person you talk to and the topic the interview focuses on; add a a few personal reflections; include short descriptions and adjectives, vary your language by using direct and indirect questions.

Write:

Pick one of the tasks and write a longer text.

  1. Write a personal text where you describe two situations: one where you experienced FOMO and another where you felt the wonderful vibes of JOMO.
  2. Matt Haig presents a list of commandments that he tries to follow to keep his sanity on the internet. Using his list as inspiration and a starting point, write a personal text where you explain how you stay sane on the internet.
  3. Is there a difference between generations when it comes to how well we cope with the pressure of the internet and smart technology? Are you less likely to be negatively affected by technology if you are younger? Find relevant source material and discuss these questions.

  4. Using the quotation below as a starting point, write a text where you discuss the advantages of growing up without smartphone technology.

    I miss stopping cues. In some ways I feel lucky that I experienced the world before these screens appeared. I remember dialing on a rotary dial phone. I remember having to call your parents from a pay phone in an emergency. I remember watching an episode of my favorite TV show and then having an entire week to savor it while I waited for the next episode. I remember watching Dan Rather on the evening news for 30 minutes and then being done with the news until tomorrow. (Eric Abell)
Source

Abell, E (2017). Stopping Cues. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@eric_abell/stopping-queues-1fc75588d32e


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