Distraction Economy or Distracted People??

Scene -1
Trinamool Congress, yesterday, had a newly-found speaker on NDTV 24/7 - the urbane, eloquent, well-informed (learned? am not too sure) Mr. Derek-o-Brian. The others in the debate were Mr. Ali from CPI (M) and Mr. Gurcharan Das who were providing substantive arguments backed with information but in a “non TV-viewer-friendly” format (slow, monotonous, heavy worded, non-inciting, had no hard-hitting “10 sec parting statements”). Basically they were making TV viewing boring. On the other hand Derek in his new avatar was way too TV friendly. He was well-prepared, showing off documents in his hand, standing amongst people in the middle of the street in Calcutta, making crisp and pointed remarks.

There is a new crop of camera savvy, slick-talking, flamboyant speakers on the TV screen. My favorite is Mr. Suhel Seth. With an all-influencing TV and especially the news channels, political parties will soon need to recruit these savvy faces to represent them on the silver tube in order to keep-up their political fortunes.

Actually he, (Suhel Seth) is not just a person anymore. He is an archetype of a new phenomenon that is fast hitting the TV screen in particular and the society in general. The focus is dangerously shifting towards the “How is it being said” aspect. “Who is saying it” and/or “What is being said” are increasing losing their significance.

We all are avid consumers of the silver tube (not as much as an average US citizen, but nevertheless). The ferocity of channel swapping is increasing unabated. Therefore, getting eyeballs is a problem of the past, the bigger problem today seems to be to make them STICK.
Right from storylines, to the appearance of characters, to the choice of News Headlines; every aspect of the content is attention-grabbing / “in your face” in nature.

Welcome to Distraction Economy. Loss of attention span is ailing society today. The time invested in evaluation of a message is dropping at an alarming rate. Though, nobody would accept that, as it would question the belief that our evaluation has improved with more information.

Look at how The Times has transformed its presentation style in the last few years. The new mantra is – “How can you make the reader get the most news in the least number of minutes and words?” And there comes the “16 point bold sub headlines filled with striking pictures”. Even the editorial section has been infected by it. Mr. Swaminathan Aiyar or Mr. Gurcharan Das can be great thinkers but if they can’t deliver in 15 seconds, they are NO GOOD… (So, let’s create a small box that highlights the most enticing part of the article).
Sooner than later the efficacy level of the Times would match the emergency exit instruction card in Airlines.

Scene - 2
Couple of days back, I was browsing in my favorite section at Big Bazaar, The Food bazaar. In the vegetables section, I saw some “ready-to-cook”, cut and neatly packed vegetables. Honestly, I really liked the idea and obviously I picked up a few of those packets. However, it got me thinking on how a larger attitudinal shift is taking effect, much beyond the convenience argument as it may seem.


More Scenes

- During my last visit at Crossword, I realized that Books are becoming magazines. Their covers are stark, attention-grabbing attempts at reducing the time-spent in finding the book you think you want to read. And to top that, Mr. Shriram doesn’t think twice before putting a “Nobel-price-winner-look-alike yellow ribbon” on the books (Sriram recommends?? Excuse me??). I am certain that evolved readers, (unlike me) squirm seeing that.

- “Lose weight sitting at home” said one Television Ad.

- “Power yoga” at Mickey Mehta’s gym


The broad attitudinal shift that I am hinting towards is an old, much debated topic.
“Means versus End. Outcome versus Process. Enjoying the process is more important.”
THE Outcome is becoming overwhelmingly powerful in comparison to the process.
Faster Favorable Outcome is the panacea for all. Everybody wants that and wants that at any cost.

I am curious.
Everywhere around me I see products, services, brands trying to reduce the time-spent in the process and promise a fast-forward route to the outcome.
However, if everything around is promising (and, I think, they actually are delivering) super-time-saving options, where is all this “saved-time” going?

Enjoying is surely an individual and definitional issue. Of course it can vary from person to person. (Spending time with your girlfriend, or with your family or at a play-station or a basketball court or at the shopping mall) However, the important question is - Are we getting more time to do the things that we enjoy? I think, NO.

Without being judgmental on the ways of enjoyment, I am just asking why is the time-spent on things we enjoy REDUCING. Especially if everything else, is “saving-time” for us?

I think volume is running ahead of value. The list of things we think we would enjoy has grown more because of the feasibility and the accessibility rather than by the enjoyment derived.