Every day we spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling through apps and posts on the web. How much of the content we consume do we internalize and remember? From sending tweets, to browsing Facebook, to reading news, there is something to discover all the time, and content only seconds old is pushed aside as we move on to the next new thing. But what do we take from these experiences? Are we mindful of how we spend our time online?
Here’s an experiment. Take a moment and think back to everything you remember from the last few days. Try to name two articles you read online. If you are struggling for a headlines, how about the topic?
If we cannot remember what we do online, what are we gaining from the experience? The apps we cannot live without are built to keep us in the moment and websites rely on posting new content at a break-neck pace. Snapchat saves content for the day, but then its gone and we cannot even remember the experience because we were too busy looking through a screen. We are distracted by the endless amount of information for us to consume that we simply cannot remember everything we see, yet we keep looking.
One more challenge. Next time you go online to read the news or browse Facebook, be mindful of the content you are consuming. Reflect on articles before quickly liking it and moving onto the next thing. Slow down and consider the value added to your day from each new post you see. Maybe even look up from your phone every once in a while.
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