“Motiv” is a symbolic project that shows a new outlook to consider how human beings could deal with social media consciously. It is based on a motivation-driven intervention that guides people to clarify and reinforce specific motives before social media engagement. It attempts to build transparency about how people’s minds work to prevent them from being easily triggered and influenced.

Social media is a significant source of connection, entertainment and information, while it also exposes individual vulnerabilities in a world manipulated by science and technology. It is driven by powerful algorithms, triggering intense competition within the attention economy. Dual-system theories unveil the inconsistency between implicit intentions and actual behaviours towards social media. Two conflicting cognitive systems process simultaneously; one is automatic and impulsive, and the other is conscious and rational. The automatic one is always effortless and more robust than the conscious one, primarily driving unplanned and excessive social media engagement.

This project explores a novel perspective to consider our relationship with social media, encouraging individuals to be active participants and underlining the ownership of users’ limited attention when engaging in persuasive technologies instead of being manipulated easily.