HOW TO: BUILD A FORT...

& give your eyes an internet sabbatical

(featuring Ikea)

“Raise your hand if you’ve personally been victimised by your Apple weekly screen time report recently? ”

With the majority of our lives currently being lived vicariously through a screen (while a pandemic rages on outside), it is no wonder that everyone’s looking at their devices a lot more.

At the very beginning of the crisis The Washington Post wrote about everyone’s disbelief in their screen time stats. Eric K. Singhi, a Houston-based doctor, tweeted his report, showing his screen time had increased 185 percent to an average of 8 hours and 32 minutes a day stating that, “the rise in our collective screen time is natural in a time that finds ‘people still wanting to remain connected despite the recommendation to maintain a physical distance’.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/24/screen-time-iphone-coronavirus-quarantine-covid/

“…

screen time had increased 185 percent…”

to an average of 8 hours and 32 minutes a day

But as we reach the third or fourth month of social distancing, it’s now becoming all a little too much. We have been socialised to accept information constantly and consistently through many online platforms. Pretty overwhelming! And, although it is essential to stay informed about current affairs, we also believe it’s equally important to log off for a while.

Enter Ikea’s ad campaign aimed for the bored-in-the-house-in-the-house-bored individual (yes this is a TikTok reference, guilty!). This campaign includes a series of Ikea instructions on how to make tents and forts indoors to create a sense of adventure while cooped up at home as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

So. Build a fort! Six-ways. Build it for your kids or build it for you. Everyone desperately needs to connect with their inner child right now and what better way to hide from the world than in-between billowing sheets and dining chairs. https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/ikeas-quarantine-campaign-offers-6-ways-to-make-furniture-forts/

And if you’re still being personally victimised by your weekly screen report, here’s a WIRED article on how to set yourself free: https://www.wired.com/story/turn-off-screen-time/

Out here we’re still doing our best to make digital work for you so, from the safety of your blanket fort, get in touch with us.

Please email Digital Republic at hello@digitalrepublic.co.za or give us a call on +27 66 463 6895.