A Black Mirror Reality? Top tips to utilising technology in a beneficial manner
Written by Hari Middleton
Modern-day reality has seen our lives become interwoven with the significant use of technology, both at home and within the workplace. In businesses, this use is often associated with the term ‘surveillance’, yet perhaps unsurprisingly many customers have expressed concern regarding such applications!
With it even being suggested that this use of technology is sending society on a destructive path towards a Black Mirror type reality, a really scary thought! In case you weren’t previously aware Black Mirror is a show which depicts a dystopian reality that has emerged as a consequence of technology usage and a preview of the programme can be found here.
Therefore, I think it’s clear to see just how challenging it can be to get the most out of technology, so this blog will aim to provide some useful tips to do just that in both your personal life and within your business!
In your personal life …
In spite of the fact that we spend a reported average of 3 hours each day using various forms of technology, often our time online proves unproductive and wasteful so it is essential to manage your time effectively.
I’m sure that just like myself at times you find yourself aimlessly scrolling through social media, so try to ensure that the digital world fits into your schedule there are a variety of applications you can try out and here are a few of my favourites:
Headspace: This apps focus on meditation and mental health is a great example of how modern technology can be utilised to improve our day to day life. Despite it only taking up a few minutes of your day, the guided mediation routines are proven to significantly reduce stress levels and to improve sleep patterns. Additionally, having recently implemented new features during the Covid-19 pandemic, including a Weathering the Storm collection, the Headspace application is an incredibly useful tool to help protect your mental health and promote mindfulness.
Screen-time: This is an application that allows you to restrict yourself to a certain amount of hours on your devices. Whether this is to limit your time on social media or in simply removing any distractions allowing you to have a productive day, this is an app that can help you stay focused and force you to priorities tasks.
There are also a variety of other options you can try out for yourselves, these include setting yourself rules such as not using technology 1 hour before you go to bed or setting certain detox hours. By taking such actions you can ensure that you’re not a slave to technology and instead it is working for you.
In your business …
The evolution of technology has enabled businesses to access and store a wide variety of information on their customers, typically encompassed within big data. Companies seek to use this data to help better understand their target market, one such approach is called journey mapping which creates a story of the customer’s interactions with your business (if you’re interested in this then do click here to find out Sephora form profiles).
Yet, the times are changing, we have seen public outrage over just how much information businesses can compile on their customers, with it even being suggested that it has taken the form of surveillance. Such scrutiny has driven certain companies into taking an alternative approach altogether, one such example of this has been Ecosia. Who unlike many of their competitors don’t actually store customer data, in spite of the fact that this may limit the potential revenue streams since they are unable to provide targeted advertisements. Nevertheless, by adopting such a ‘privacy-friendly’ approach, Ecosia has won many plaudits for taking privacy so seriously. As a result, this shows the potential benefits of adopting such an approach in how it can even serve as a USP in differentiating your business from the competition.
Ultimately, while there has been increased scrutiny regarding customer freedom in recent times, both options remain viable it just depends on how valuable customer metrics are to your business.
Conclusion
Given how important as an aspect of our lives technology have become, I hope this blog provides some you with some tangible advice.
On a final note, if you have enjoyed reading this blog and wish to learn even more then about how technology is changing our lives then don’t worry as we have you covered! Our co-founders Luke and Varun have recently recorded two episodes with the author of the Digital Inferno Paul Levy which can be found here and here.
