Care for God’s Creation: Understanding healthy use of technology and recognizing signs of technology addiction
Dignity and Rights of Workers: Understanding how companies may use information collected about employees or consumers
Do you remember the first time you noticed online ads that were targeted just for you, and how the ads seemed to appear wherever you went online? Have you noticed how if you try to take a break from an app, you suddenly start receiving more notifications than usual? Do you recognize how getting likes and comments on your posts, or not, makes you feel?
Catholic Social Teaching compels us to understand how technology companies use algorithms and other means, such as cookies and notifications, to keep us coming back over and over again. Many of the apps that we enjoy using are free, and so the companies make their money by selling ads. Therefore, the more we use their apps, the more ads we see, and the more money they make. Algorithms feed us content, and notifications grab our attention, to try make us open the app repeatedly throughout our days.
Our faith calls us to be mindful of why we use the apps we enjoy, and how much time we spend on them, so that we can achieve a healthy balance in our lives. We have control over how we interact with the apps by limiting or eliminating notifications, setting time and location limits on our use, turning off auto-play on streaming services, and perhaps even stopping usage of harmful apps all together. We have to be intentional in making choices that are healthy for our families, and helping our children to form healthy habits as well. When we choose to use technology in healthy ways, we are caring for ourselves and all of God's creation.
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