'DIGITAL MINIMALISM' - A STUDY TO FIND OUT WAYS TO MAKE THE BEST USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND MINIMISE ITS ILL-EFFECTS

Digitalisation can be understood as the usage of digital technologies by governments, businesses and in social processes with the objective of improving them. The story of digitalisation begins with the invention of Internet, which at first was an academic research project (1969), turning into a global commercial network in the 1990s. After the invention of Internet, many advanced digital technologies have been developed and many more are continually being developed. Now we have smartphones, smartwatches, advanced computers, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IOT) and many more advanced digital technologies. Today, almost every sector has adopted digital technologies, be it media, healthcare, defence, entertainment, commerce and industry, education, or anything else. Such is the penetration of digital technologies in our daily life that the present age is called 'Digital Age'. At present whole world is witnessing digital transformation. COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed the digitalisation of the world. Digitalisation has eased our life a lot. Now we can book our travel tickets online, we can consult doctors online; e-shopping, online education and many more things can be done digitally. But together with opportunities, digitalisation has brought with itself innumerable risks which are also to be minimised. Melvin kranzberg considers technology to be neither good, nor bad, but also not neutral. There has been a dramatic increase in the use of internet, computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices over recent decades, and this has brought with itself not only benefits but also harms. Excessive digital use leads to health issues (both physical and mental), cyberbullying, privacy issues, cyberfrauds, cyberhacking etc. This research paper thus explores the concept of 'Digital Minimalism', a philosophy of using digital technologies for meaningful purposes rather than for mere entertainment or idle time. The paper also tries to find out ways to minimise the ill-effects of excessive and improper usage of digital technologies. Digitalisation is not only bringing benefits to our societies but also harms, thus through this paper the researcher aims to make the users of digital technologies use them wisely so that it does not harm their daily lives rather it benefits them. For this the researcher reviewed several books, research papers, articles, news, reports, and other related literature. He also utilised survey methods to get an idea about how people use digital technologies. He shared a Google form and got 103 responses. The data and charts generated in the form were used for data analysis. At the end of this paper the researcher found that it is very easy to practice 'Digital Minimalism' and make the best use of digital technologies.