The Case for Trauma-Informed Media

Our information ecosystem is built to divide us, not just from each other, but from ourselves. Not only are we living in Shelly Turkle’s “Alone Together” , but in an increasingly disembodied reality.

Since the beginning of October, I’ve been reading Attuned by Thomas Hübl. This work of experimental psychology, which bridges conceptions of Soul, polyvagal theory, and collective trauma, is a short & sweet primer on awareness based systems change, from a practitioner’s lens. When approaching complex multi-system issues like climate catastrophe, or unparalleled economic inequality, Hübl is working with subtlety in the Body/Mind, as well as Spirit, or Consciousness.

Attuned is an accessible 150-ish page text on the necessary path ahead for Global Social Healing. One of his fundamental theses, is that we are relational beings, and our wellbeing is contingent on our ability to be present for our relationships: our relationships to ourselves, our family and friends, our more-than-human contexts, and our personal and collective history. He argues that the complex social, political, economic, cultural and historical ills we face are the expression of an un-integrated collective shadow or trauma.

Mediated connections

Hubl makes an acute observation in the last chapter about Trauma Informed Media. Hubl wonders what it might look like to live in a world in which our information ecosystem was not tuned to increasing our consumption loops, but instead, honored the need for access to information, while balancing our sometimes fragile nervous systems. He advocates for a transition to an information ecosystem that acknowledges that we are often apathetic, disembodied, overwhelmed or outraged by the system we have built.

I appreciate the hopefulness of this turn. Only a few days ago, in an On The Media from Friday the 28th of November, Micah and his guest had a similar wish - for the humans of the internet to become humans again, disconnected from the hall of mirrors of our devices in favor of wellbeing and true connection.

The research bears out a truth of our present condition: our information ecosystem is not working to connect us to the information that lives within us - many of the platforms that were built with the promise to connect us with the world have disconnected us from our bodies, from our ability to process information holistically, and instead relied upon our base-est instincts, trapping us in cycles of outrage, burnout or disembodied apathy.

In a study published this year, researchers found, unsurprisingly, that “AI-driven social media algorithms are designed solely to capture our attention for profit without prioritizing ethical concerns... The interplay between altered brain physiology and AI-driven content optimization creates a feedback loop that promotes social media addiction.”

And when we have constant novelty at our fingertips, the more subtle fields of awareness become uninteresting. Human development becomes uninteresting when a flash of outrage inducing media is just a click away. You don’t even have to enter a password, your face functions like a gateway into this hall of mirrors.

Conclusion

Although his work is not entirely novel, it represents a vision for what it is to be on a developmental path that necessarily involves biopsychosocial healing. For anyone that is interested in integrating social change with psychological wellbeing, I would recommend you give it a read.

Writing this piece is less about spreading a gospel that “less-is-more”, although that’s still true when it comes to pulls on our attention, but more so a self-regulating practice for me to integrate that which I’m consuming into that which I am, making sure that I can actually still process information, rather than outsourcing that faculty as well.