The Influence of Media on Time Perspectives

So I tend to define media as the things people think with. If a ‘thing’ is not in use, it is not a medium. For example, a book is only a book until I notice, open and/or use it to think. Until then, it is just an object in my environment.

There is an important implication to this: Thoughts need media.

Without media, I can’t think. Maybe that’s why people go insane when placed in sensory deprivation? With no media, cognitive function malfunctions.

If you change (or remove) my media, you change my thoughts. Hence, governments who want to control people, by means other than physical force, control the media. Harold Innes, in Empire and Communication, likewise argues that revolutions in communication media are followed by revolutions in culture and society.

I bring all this up because I think this presentation by psychologist Philip Zimbarto is highly interesting to anyone in media communications or development.



Zimbarto argues that our individual perspectives on time shape our lives. They influence every decision we make. Even our personal destinies.

Here’s a good summation of each time perspective (TP):

(Hank Hill in King of The Hill is a great example of a past-minded person. Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly is future-minded. Johnny Depp in Public Enemies is present-minded.)

But you should know we are not locked into our perspectives. Time perspectives are malleable. When we were children, Zimbarto says, we were present-minded. Some of us just learned to be future- or past-minded.

That said, I’d argue that most of the traditional mass media we’ve lived with has inclined us to act as future-minded individuals. For example: Until recently, TV and radio operated on schedules. If I wanted to watch MacGyver Monday’s at 8:00pm on ABC, I planned my day to ensure I’d be in front of a TV at 8pm. Sending letters in the mail required planning as well - around pickup and travel times. Phones, pre-messaging systems, caused us to plan parts of our days around when a person might call or be available for our call – for a date, job interview, repairman visit, etc (a.k.a. probability thinking).

But with the wide adoption of new media form such as IM, Twitter, iPods, websites, SMS, Kindle/ebooks, etc our minds are oriented more towards the present than the future. These technologies are about socializing (high affiliators), exploring information/links (Explore novelty), instantaneous communication, increased interactivity (improvisation) and constant activity (energy).

So if Zimbarto’s time research is accurate and Innes’ change via-communication theory is durable, we may expect a significant shift in our culture’s time perspective, and therefore value and behavior, in the coming years: from future-minded to present-minded.

Some quick example that comes to mind:

1. The perspectives of young employees. In the past, people planted roots at a single company and worked almost their entire adult lives there Today, more young people treat jobs as a “thing to do now” and have short tenures with each company. 
   
2. The desire to experiment more – in both the remix/cut-n-paste culture as well as entrepreneurial fields. (I bet drug use will go up in the coming decade, as well.)
   
3. Excessive and Rising credit card debt. 
   
4. Boom of social networks and need to always be connected.
   
5. Rise in poker popularity and online gambling.