The supposed side-effects of new technology on our national culture are frequently bemoaned. Smartphones are said to destroy conversation. Social media undermines actual human contact. Online transactions encourage fraud. Trolls, bullies and zealots spread their poison and paranoia, governments and corporations spy on their citizens and customers. Whatever its economic advantages, the extraordinary and ongoing information revolution of the past two decades is often depicted as having chiefly negative consequences.
It is time to redress that balance. Three hours’ social media per teenager per day may be too much, as we report today, but evidence is also emerging that, far from eroding the social structures and traditions we hold dear, new technology may be helping to restore them.
Take the humble television pause button, and its interface — to employ the approved jargon — with catch-up viewing services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix. A survey by Waitrose into changing British dining habits reveals that the prevalence of this amenity has resulted in the wholly welcome decline of the TV dinner. Given a choice of when to watch their favourite show, families tend to opt to eat — and, presumably, talk — together at a conventional, convenient, convivial table rather than off a tray while staring at the box.
The proper full-house familial mealtime, a custom long threatened by the late 20th century low-tech ready-meal, has thus been revived by early 21st century high-tech ingenuity. No distractions from food or family at dinner time, no distractions from Strictly or Bake Off at television time. No awkward balancing, spilled drinks or crumbs down the sofa, either. All the adverts, credits and boring bits zapped on fast-forward. Best of all, able better to concentrate on our plates, we eat less when not watching the TV. What’s not to like?