From 2nd to 8th May 2022, it's time to unplug for the annual Screen Free Week celebration. All around the world, people are encouraged to limit their screen time and turn their devices off in favour of other activities. Do You Really Know is rerunning a series of episodes dedicated to the digital world and its impact on our lives.

What is captology?

Getting internet users’ attention and influencing their online behaviour is a massive priority for Big Tech companies in this day and age. Behind their practices is captology, a term invented in 1996 by American researcher BJ Fogg. It might make you think of the word “capture” at first, but it actually comes from the initials of “Computers As Persuasive Technologies”. The idea was to study the link between digital tool design and the resulting impact on individuals’ behaviour.

Captology has often been cited as a source of inspiration for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. To such an extent that its definition has evolved to describe all kinds of techniques used by internet giants to grab users’ attention, and make them addicted. 

Coronavirus lockdowns haven’t helped and the stats are there to back it up. A global study by analytics company App Annie found the average daily time spent using a smartphone in 2020 was 4 hours and 10 minutes. 

That’s crazy! So what are the secrets behind captology then? Is captology dangerous then? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:

What is the Streisand effect?

What is antibiotic-free meat?

What is a migraine?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

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