Reflections 5 September

On my Mind this week.

Being on the hook. As we fully get into the September back to work routines and Westminster reconvenes, I've found myself thinking about the broader nature of social distancing.

I think we've been getting increasingly socially distanced for a while, well before face masks and 2 metre icons. Whilst it seems paradoxical given the many technologies we have for connection, the quality of contact has been eroding and the bandwidth of relationships narrowing. A quick look at responses from email to Snapchat and everything in between demonstrates similar features - short, curt, transactional and frequently combative exchanges. Fights for supremacy. We have become more distant from each other when it comes to what matters.

Which is perhaps not surprising, as conflict sells. Social media algorithms are designed first and foremost to draw attention to advertising. One of the best ways is to create echo chambers and feed them with content that will provoke not debate or dialog…