In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes how social media “even harms adolescents who do not use it.” Like second-hand smoke, but more prevalent: Haidt makes the point that at the peak of teen smoking, two-thirds of teens did not smoke; today, virtually all teens smoke smartphones, with a high potency of social media.
When the public became aware of the dangers of smoking, and mobilized against its use in public places, No Smoking signs went up to communicate where that behavior was not permissible. Today, in the US, we don’t rely as much on No Smoking signs. Norms are now well established. It would be a bizarre social faux pas to light up inside a public place.
We need to establish new norms of smartphone use in our shared spaces (especially the spaces teens live in every day). I look forward to the day when it will be a bizarre social faux pas to pull your phone out and thumb caress it in a public place, like a classroom, or the family dinner table, or a restaurant, or a church. In the meantime, we need signs, in places, that communicate what phone behavior is socially permissible, to everyone sharing that space.
The reason for Analog Attention Beacons is as much a design decision related to behavioral psychology as it is a technical decision.
An Attention Beacon signifies, through its visible presence (dimensions, light, sound, etc.) – and as a shared reference point for everyone in that space – a reminder of and an enforcement of digital norms.