Focus On Distraction [infusion 31st october 2014]

dopamine squirt
digital overload
unchecked infomania
continuous partial attention

Friday, 31st October 2014
INFUSION
f o c u s o n d i s t r a c t i o n
Andrea Bianchi
Creative Director
Tw: @andbia

Q
C r e a t i n g D i g i t a l E x p e r i e n c e s

INFUSION
Why are we so easily distracted?

INFUSION
( )
dopamine squirt
/ˈdɒpəmɪn skwûrt/
Your brain is rewarded not for staying on task
but for jumping to the next thing.

INFUSION
check-me-check-me
When you check your information, when you get a buzz in your pocket,
when you get a ring, you get what they call a “dopamine squirt”.
You get a little rush of adrenaline.
Guess what happens in its absence? You feel bored.
You're conditioned by a neurological response.
It’s all about the dose
and being always connected doesn’t encourage restraint.
source: www.theglobeandmail.com

INFUSION
check-me-check-me-check-me
Managing a stack of e-mails has been found to raise heartbeats and blood pressure.
Facebook, when visited obsessively,
has been linked to depression and eating disorders in teenage girls.
According to a study conducted at Stanford University,
heavy multimedia users have trouble filtering out irrelevant information
and trouble focusing on tasks.

INFUSION
How this affects social behaviour?

INFUSION
Continuous Partial Attention
Ms. Stone, a former Microsoft and Apple employee, coined this term to describe how
being inundated with tasks and interrupted by technology chronically
splinters our focus.
Being “always on” may look good in a society that glorifies busyness,
but it’s a killer intellectually.
In fact, researchers at King’s College Institute of Psychiatry in London reported
the constant use of e-mail and other social media, what they called
“unchecked infomania” led to a temporary 10-point drop in the IQ
of the study’s participants. That was twice as much as pot smokers.

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“Consumers
don’t want to disconnect
from their tech superpowers.
They just want balance.”
(trendwatching.com - Hyperconnectivity trend)

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In such a behavioral reframe
how information
and the content industry
are changing?

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Rethinking journalism
About 30 percent of adults in the United States get their news on Facebook.
The fortunes of a news site, in short, can rise or fall
depending on how it performs in Facebook’s News Feed.
Most readers now come to news through social media and search engines
driven by an algorithm that predicts what users might want to read.
The shift raises questions about the ability of computers to curate news,
a role traditionally played by editors.
It also has broader implications for the way people consume information,
and thus how they see the world
source: www.nytimes.com

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“One of the reasons it feels like there’s so much is that smart content
creators have realized certain topics will perform well on SEO
or on socials, which they need for traffic and revenue.
So instead of one person writing the definitive article on a topic,
everyone will write about the same thing.”
Stephen Abbott
Head of digital projects at the UK Parliament
source: www.prote.in

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Tailor Made Information
Ms. Haik, the Washington Post digital editor, is leading a team that aims
to deliver different versions of The Post’s journalism to different people,
based on information about how they have come to an article.
“We’re asking if there’s a different kind of storytelling, not just an ideal presentation.
People reading The Post on a mobile phone during the day
will probably want a different kind of reading experience
than those who are on a Wi-Fi connection at home in the evening.”

INFUSION
Some publications have found a niche
in taking the opposite approach.
The Browser is edited by Robert
Cottrell, a former journalist at The
Financial Times and The Economist.
Mr. Cottrell skims about 1,000
articles a day, and then publishes
five or six that he finds interesting for
about 7,000 subscribers
who pay $20 a year.
1.000 articles > 6
The Browser

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Even The Guardian launched a supplement
last year called The Long Good Read,
which provided readers with a selection of
stories from its website.
“We’d have a story for the commute to
work and a story for the commute home.
It was limited and effective.
At one point we even ran a physical paper
based on our algorithms.”
“Articles
hand picked daily
from the Guardian”
source: www.prote.in
The Long Good Read

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Paper Later
allows users to collect
cuttings from the
internet and print them
in their own one-off
newspaper, which is
delivered to their home
a few days later.
“When you find yourself on
something you’d prefer to
read in print, just press the
‘Save for PaperLater’ button
in your browser, and we’ll do
the rest.”
Paper Later

5 Every Day
INFUSION
Five interesting things to do
in Los Angeles, every day.
Selected by a brain trust of
local artists, musicians and
designers, 5 Every Day is a
daily calendar for urban
exploration.
“Without a future or a past, it
encourages you to check out
something new, not tomorrow,
not next week, but today.”
Every day
five interesting
things to do

INFUSION Offline Magazine serves Offline
a steady diet of culture,
humor, and opinion for a
tribe of people hungry for
discovering new ideas.
Each month it features
five articles with audio
from subject matter
experts and storytellers.
It's one hour of content to
feel good about consuming.
“Escape the noise of your
newsfeed and subscribe.”
One hour
of selected content
each month

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vimeo.com/62204353
Unroll.Me
One email.
Once a day.
All your
subscriptions.

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Google Inbox
youtu.be/bzNTjpUMOp4
It pulls
important information
from emails
into a easy-to-read feed

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Liveguide
youtube.com/watch?v=SxC67Mf9IZU
A platform
where you could always
find the best live content
Started as a school project
by Hyper Island students,
Liveguide is a window into
the livestreaming world that
is as simple to use as your
regular TV-guide.

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But it’s not just about software.
The digital overload is also faced
by a multitude of tools
aimed to assist people
in their daily struggle for focus.

INFUSION
NeuroOn is the world’s first
brainwave-monitoring
sleep mask that allows you
to switch from monophasic
to polyphasic sleep.
That means you can sleep
less and more efficiently.
NeuroOn
Kickstarter link

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Olive
Indiegogo link
Tracks physical
indicators of stress
Analyzes habits that
contribute to stress
Talks with your
smartphone to
understand your lifestyle

INFUSION
Reduce stress,
Sleep better
Be present
in the midst
of it all
Buddhify
Buddhify allows you
to develop mindfulness
wherever you are &
whatever you're doing
youtube.com/watch?v=0gzrYQKoHfI

INFUSION
youtu.be/Xbz6CKW2RVc Mind controlled
video
&
movie platform
MyndPlay
“MyndPlay trains your mind to meditate and focus through stimulus/response training and provides you
with detailed brainwave feedback and the tools to develop greater mental awareness and emotional control
making it the ultimate brain entertainment, live experience and training platform.”

INFUSION
Now, it’s time to test your focus!
With this definitive
concentration-test machine
youtu.be/pPu17q4RxWE

INFUSION
Connection
is inevitable.
Distraction
is a choice.
(Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, The Distraction Addiction)

Q
ohmmm
INFUSION is the weekly report released by Alquimia WRG.
Every Friday morning we have breakfast exploring insights on the edge of creativity, strategic thinking and technology.
If you'd like to get infused, feel free to contact us at infusion@alquimiawrg.com

Focus On Distraction [infusion 31st october 2014]

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Focus On Distraction [infusion 31st october 2014]