How do we change such a big system?

When we consider the scale of these harms and the size of the largest companies competing in the attention economy, we can easily feel overwhelmed. All of us have complicated relationships with technology, and most of us don’t have a great way to talk about them. What’s more, we don’t want companies taking advantage of us.

Consider some assumptions we have about social media. We might think that

…we need to be on social media because everyone else is.

...having a large number of friends online is important.

...constant engagement on social media is useful.

In order to build a better system we will have to deeply reconsider these beliefs, and find new ways to connect around what matters to us. We will go deeper into some ways to do this in later units.

Beyond individual change, advocacy is an important way to push for change. When the public raises their voices and puts intense pressure on companies, the companies are forced to spend time and money to address the harms. Their once- profitable business model can become unsustainable.

For instance, once-unstoppable cigarette companies have been forced to pay for the public health costs of their products, and for anti-smoking marketing campaigns. Oil companies are pressured to make clean energy investment as the costs of climate change become clearer to an increasingly activated public. Consumer advocacy has made a difference in industries ranging from meat-packing to pesticides.

Supporting one another is the first step towards understanding how to push back against technology that creates harm: through education, through regulation, and by building new technology built on better assumptions.⁵

Often, politicians and tech workers have conversations about young peoples’ experience on social media without their voices in the room. You will inherit the world that is made by their decisions. When you can clearly articulate your experiences and the change that you want to see, you add a much-needed perspective to the conversation about transforming social media.

This makes you especially powerful advocates for change. As the generation most deeply impacted by these issues, your truth is most potent when it’s voiced by you.

Listen to economist Kate Raworth on the Your Undivided Attention podcast. Kate’s framing can teach us a lot about how to transform the economic model of the technology industry, and help us move from a system that values addicted, narcissistic, polarized humans to one that values healthy, loving and collaborative relationships.