You probably have experienced
something like this. You're on the internet reading an article or
watching a video about a weighty subject or something that is dear to
you. Part-way through you're interrupted by an advertisement for
something utterly unrelated or absurdly contrasting. One instance stands out to me. A
few years ago, I went to CNN to see a news report on a school shooting
and just before the video played, an upbeat advertisement for some
product like toothpaste played (I don't remember the exact product). It made me want to actively avoid that product for a time. A similar effect can be achieved by scrolling through a social media feed.
I got to thinking about this as, recently, I was pointed to a video of a beautiful song, All Glory Be to Christ. It uses Auld Lang Syne as the tune so I suppose the various recordings of it are having a surge in views on YouTube now. As I was watching, I looked on the right side of the browser to see what other videos were recommended. The first was another cover of the same song. The second was the movie Spaceballs by Mel Brooks (to watch free with ads).
There's a time and a place for humor, but that wasn't it. It was mentally jarring to have some of the crude humor from that movie pop into my head from memory while trying to listen to a song intended for the worship and praise of God. It made me regret seeing that movie previously, considering the contrast in subject matter. I would rather have been ignorant than have those clashing thoughts in my mind.
We could talk about how the algorithms (that is the data and logic used by computers to make decisions) that recommend more content to us are still fairly dumb. We could talk about the ad supported nature of the internet. We could talk about my attention span that wandered over to the other recommended videos. We could talk about how this mix of content with ads reflects postmodernist thinking - to see no problem with putting an ad for shampoo next to a news report on a tragic earthquake. For the moment, I want to consider why these things are jarring.
I think it is because each of us has a sense that some subjects are different, set apart in a way. We may describe that content or subject as weighty, serious, or heavy. These may be great tragedies with great harm or loss of life, or even a personal loss of a loved one. That kind of content may also be what we call profound or sacred. It may be some deep and abiding truth. We might use the word holy.
For me, one such thing is my faith in God and all that goes with it. In Christian worship, we don't interrupt a worship service for ads or with recommendations for crude entertainment. It would be jarring if someone came in to our church dressed as a clown and walked around the sanctuary juggling bowling pins and advertising fast food while the congregation is reciting the Apostle's Creed. In the physical space of a church building, we can generally prevent this. However, when we consider our experience online, our technologies don't support the separation of these things. They don't actively help us separate those weighty, sober, holy things from the neutral or crass and crude. YouTube's algorithm doesn't recognize that difference, as seen in my recent case, nor did CNN's ad services recognize it.
But, we need this separation. We are far too good at distracting ourselves with our digital toys. One more video, one more round, one more post, one more etc. We always have been good at distraction, but we're getting attention addiction down to a science. It is also much easier to passively watch some entertainment than engage yourself with beautiful and hard truths like God, sin, death, beauty, love, justice, and mercy. But we must. Our lives are short and we will be judged before God. We experience pain, death of loved ones, and the balm of kindness. We need these in our lives and to understand them.
I have little hope that the major tech companies like Google will see this as a need and attempt to tune their algorithms around separating the crass, the ordinary, and the sober or sacred. Nor do I expect we will get an option to limit our digital content to the sacred/profound when we wish. (I don't see how that would make them more money.) Thus, we are on our own. Be thoughtful about this. Don't fall into thinking it is normal for a beautiful truth or a profound tragedy to be put next to an ad for aftershave. Use our digital tools wisely, knowing they won't help you here. Curate your feed of content. And perhaps let your digital experience go for a time if needed.
And if you happen to work for YouTube/Google/Amazon/etc., please take this as a feature request.
Image source: https://pixabay.com/vectors/anatomy-biology-brain-thought-mind-1751201/
