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Are You Addicted to Social Media? A New Interactive Documentary Aims to Find Out

It’s common knowledge that these days were are fairly dependent on social media and our phones. If you watched the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, then you’d also be well aware of the way big companies are hellbent on leveraging your attention and ensuring that you can’t peel yourself way from that pesky screen. 

Now, a new, interactive documentary commssioned by SBS, will act as a national experiment — enlightening viewers about their relationship with technology and how concerned they should be about it.

Are You Addicted to Technology? is a world first and aims to provide a personalised investigation into the user’s own tech dependency through an interactive questionnaire built into the program. 

Hosted by child psychiatrist Dr. Kim Le — who has himself experienced gaming addiction — this first of its kind experiment is exclusive to SBS On Demand and will guide users through the matrix of technology addiction, revealing the tricks used by Big Tech that draw us to their products to help us understand how we got here, and what we should do next.

The documentary will combine cutting edge visual effects and the built-in questionnaire — which will allow audiences to answer Dr. Kim Le’s questions in real time — hopefully  serving as a call-to-action for anyone who has fallen prey to the lucrative attention economy.

Are You Addicted to Technology? will also explore the impact of technology on the next generation and the worrying trends within the classroom. In a nutshell, it is relevant to basically everyone — especially in the wake of the widespead isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic which has seen more people than ever flocking to online platforms, desperate to feel a connection. 

Host and child psychiatrist Dr. Kim Le, said, “As a psychiatrist working on the front line, I see the psychological effects of technology addiction on the brain every day. As someone who has experienced gaming addiction, I am fascinated by the Internet gaming world. It was a privilege to be part of this project because my aim is to help others enjoy gaming and technology in a healthy way.”

Are You Addicted to Technology? will be streaming, only on SBS On Demand from Wednesday April 21 and is available only on iOS, TVOS and iPad. 

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