<
https://theconversation.com/the-anxiety-economy-is-booming-but-should-companies-be-profiting-from-our-fears-264586>
"When the newly appointed chief executive of tracking app Life360 recently
described the company as part of the “anxiety economy”, it sounded like a
throwaway phrase. But it was also surprisingly candid.
The app, which allows families to track their children’s (or parent’s)
whereabouts in real time, is on one in ten phones in the US, according to some
reports. What began as a niche product has become part of everyday life for
many households.
Life360, along with Snapchat’s Snap Map and Apple’s Find My Friends (or Stalk
My Friends as it is called in my family) is promoted as a tool for safety and
peace of mind.
But the fact its chief executive was comfortable to explicitly link the app to
anxiety and its commercial exploitation highlights a much larger cultural
phenomenon: we increasingly exist in a world where our unease, vigilance, and
even our guilt is being used for profit."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
