Anyone who’s lived through the entire life of the public internet of the last 30 years will probably remember when Google arrived on the scene. Launched in 1998, Google made searching the internet fast and efficient. It was also clean and uncluttered, presenting us with a blank white screen, a search box and the Google logo – nothing else.
In 2000, the company developed an advertising model and things started to change. By understanding what individual users were searching for, Google could target specific ads to specific users. They could offer a far more efficient mode of advertising than the traditional ‘broadcast’ model of television ads, newspaper ads and billboards.
Over the first quarter of this century, the advertising models and the algorithms that drive them have become more and more sophisticated. Meanwhile, the parallel evolutions of social media and smartphones have led to a saturation of targeted ads that is very difficult to escape.
In my case, for instance, even though I avoid clicking on promoted content as much as possible, the ‘bots’ have worked out I am ‘of a certain age’. As a result, I am peppered with ads for exercise programs that claim to reduce weight and/or increase fitness with (literally) unbelievable speed.
I am definitely aware of what these ads are doing and how they are playing on the widespread vulnerability of people who are willing to believe what they see. I also know they are pushing a ‘quick fix’ that probably isn’t (even though I maybe wish it was). I understand that many of the people behind the ads have enrolled in programs that convince them that they can definitely make money out something these advertisements can offer.
I also know that if I click on one of the ads, I’ll both become part of their scheme and be even more targeted with similar content in future.
Despite all that, it is definitely difficult for me to not click on some of them – and I have been tempted! I can also imagine how I could do so if they catch me at a particularly vulnerable moment.
In the context of our world and the concepts of emotional health and the Enneagram, these ads are playing on a basic fear that each of us holds as part of our personality. We share these basic fears in our book Working with Emotional Health and the Enneagram.
As an example, I am going to let you know what my basic fear is and what happens when I am I not ‘above the line’ and making choices that will keep me that way.
As an Enneagram type 7, my basic fear is of being trapped in emotional pain. My coping strategy is to look for options and opportunities that will take me ‘far away’ from feeling any of that pain. (If you have our book, see page 98 for a full explanation.)
At average or low levels of emotional health – in other words, when we are below the line – we are primed to ‘jump into action’ whenever we perceive that our basic fear is about to be realised. So when I see an advertisement that promises greater levels of fitness, or that by simply walking in a different way I will look 20 years younger, there is a part of me that is excited that all of that may be possible!
When we are below the line, we are more likely to see these things as panaceas, as ways of avoiding the realisation of our fears. We are vulnerable to ‘falling for’ the offers and claims being made, so more likely to click on a link without conscious thought.
In contrast, when we are operating above the line, we are better equipped to be discerning about these interruptions. We are more likely to see them for what they are and to swipe straight past them.
The challenge we all have is how to identify those times when we are vulnerable … which is particularly difficult to do at the time precisely because we are vulnerable. Even those with generally high levels of emotional health can fall into these situations.
Being tired, being physically or emotionally unwell, being overwhelmed by the news, being triggered in some way (which is a whole other topic, because triggers vary with Enneagram type). Even just being distracted or not fully present – mindlessly scrolling your Instagram or Facebook feed, for instance. Any of these can make us more likely to click on something we wouldn’t otherwise – which of course is exactly what the designers of these services are aiming for.
Each of us needs to identify our own ways of noticing these times and choosing how to deal with them. Perhaps it is giving yourself some screen-free time, or at least news-free time. Or going for a walk (preferably without your earphones). Reading a paper book or listening to a favourite piece of music.
It’s by staying above the line and understanding what it takes to stay there that we can best prepare ourselves to make healthy choices when online. At the same time, we need to acknowledge that once in a while, no matter how ‘strong’ we think we are, we might click on something we hadn’t planned on.
Gayle