Technology

Tuesday Buzz: The Rise of “Digital Wellness”

Tech giants are helping people break their smartphone addiction with digital wellness tools. Also: the diminishing power of leaders.

Do you spend too much time looking at your smartphone? Apple suspects you do, which is why it’s introducing new tools that help you unplug from your device.

On Monday, Apple unveiled new screen management tools at its Worldwide Developer Conference. “In the upcoming version of the iOS 12 software for iPhone and iPad, Apple will include a series of features focused on digital wellness, starting with an upgraded Do Not Disturb feature that will help people who tend to look at their iPhone at night, and then find themselves distracted by the excessive notifications,” Sarah Perez wrote in a new TechCrunch post.

“Digital wellness” seems to be a buzzword du jour, as other tech giants are also introducing their own tools. A variety of Android developers have built tools “like Siempo, which offers a distraction-free home screen; and Luna, which redesigns the interface with kids in mind,” according to a recent Wired article.

Even Instagram is trying to get users to spend a little less time on the platform. Recently, it added a feature that tells users when they’re caught up on new posts.

Power Decline

While the authority of a boss stays steady, the power and influence of the position may be waning.

“Almost all organization leaders today wield positional power—the power of a boss to make decisions that affect others—and this is unlikely to change soon,” meeting designer and facilitator Adrian Segar wrote. “But the growth of the network era, where leaders and workers need to connect outside the workplace in order to stay up to date professionally and to be open to new and innovative ideas, is creating a shift away from traditional hierarchical power models.”

Other Links of Note

Are you ready for gen Z? CMSWire shares advice on building a workplace culture they’ll like.

Don’t lose donors on your donation page. Here are tips that will promote conversion from Future Fundraising Now.

Infographic of the day. MarketingProfs shares helpful advice for creating better meeting agendas.

Craig Federighi, shown highlighting Apple's screen time tools at WWDC on Monday. (via TechCrunch)

Raegan Johnson

By Raegan Johnson

Raegan Johnson is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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