Information overload

According to journalist and social commentator Stephen Marche in his article Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?, ‘we are living in an isolation that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors and yet we have never been more accessible’.

Network Effect is an ambitious new project from artists and computational scientists Jonathan Harris and Gregor Hochmuth that examines this paradox and the voyeuristic and addictive nature of social media.

‘The project mirrors the experience of surfing the web – full of tantalising potential, but ultimately empty of life,’ explains Harris. ‘We do not go away happier, more nourished and wiser, but more anxious, distracted and numb.’

The Big Picture: Once infatuated by social media and burnt out by FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out, Millennials are learning to balance their online activity with periods of digital detox. Find out more in JOMO, our Joy of Missing Out microtrend.