Project Reboot: Have you ever felt like you’re spending too much time looking at your phone?

By Charles Dahm, Blue Valley District Chair for Father’s Club

Have you ever felt like you’re spending too much time looking at your phone? Who hasn’t?! Consider spending just 11.5 more minutes doing just that by watching the TED Talks video below – it may dramatically change the way you view social media and the actual cost of your favorite accounts. You might say, “Well, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are all FREE.” But are they?

Dino Ambrosi, a digital wellness speaker and founder of Project Reboot delivered his short TED Talk in 2023 to encourage young people to consider what their time is worth and to visualize the impact of the opportunity costs of daily social media consumption. He provides graphics to illustrate these points that are compelling — if not MIND BLOWING.

Ambrosi believes young people will reconsider their screen habits when they understand the value of their time and rethink the business models that keep social media “free”.  He says you pay for social media with your TIME. Social media accounts monetize time and carefully curate content to maximize the amount of content consumed by users.

Further, he illustrates that screen time is not an investment in happiness and fulfillment – rather it retrains our brains to encourage rapid switching of our attention while deleteriously modifying how we see ourselves and the world.

HAVE A WATCH PARTY!  I’ve shared this short video with friends and family – each time there are silent gasps when the presenter reveals the staggering number of MONTHS young people are projected to spend looking at their phones. Brad Holdhusen says that when he shared this video with kids and adults, “It really opens their eyes to the time drain caused by social media and leads to some great conversations about what really matters in life – real people and real connections.”

Check it out and share it – ironic I know, but maybe even on social media.

The Battle for Your Time: Exposing the Costs of Social Media | Dino Ambrosi | TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool