Slow Technology Movement

What Does Slow Technology Movement Mean?

The slow technology movement is a movement intended to curb some of the damaging effects of excessive technologies in human life, primarily through promoting slower or less extreme interactions with certain technologies. The slow technology movement is part of a greater cultural agenda called the slow movement, which generally promotes a slower pace of life in all areas. In general, the slow technology movement seeks to alter how humans interact with technologies including mobile devices, social media, email and other relatively recent innovations that tend to be highly addictive, or at least consume a lot of time.

Techopedia Explains Slow Technology Movement

One of the best-known elements of the slow movement is the slow food movement, which promotes a more reflective and deliberate acquisition, preparation and consumption of food. Much like food can be consumed mindlessly and in unhealthful quantity, addictive technologies can have a negative impact on health when not used in moderation. These technologies often share many characteristics: they typically promote continual use at all hours of the day, facilitate immediate access to large amounts of information, and seek to promote a kind of conformity of the human user to the technology through customized settings, detailed profile pages and much more.

The slow technology movement is focused on a very specific and precise interaction with these technologies. Some describe it as "aimed at reflection and moments of mental rest rather than efficiency in performance." This description focuses on how slow technology aims to change the priority from optimized use to moderated use of technology.

Part of the theory around the slow technology movement is that as technology becomes more capable and efficient, it can actually damage natural human tendencies if interaction is not limited. Progress in design is obviously a key priority for technology makers, but this might not always benefit technology users as a whole. Those who are interested in the slow technology movement ultimately seek to evaluate how technology users can recognize their own best interests in a highly digitized world.