The Scope Of Big Tech Influence

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As folks searched for ways to chill out during the pandemic, Mashable reports YouTube video views for guided meditation videos have gone up 40 percent.

Wikipedia describes Guided Meditation as " a process by which one or more participants meditate in response to the guidance provided by a trained practitioner or teacher, either in person or via a written text, sound recording or video comprised of music or verbal instruction or both."

The video here is a guided mediation from the top of the world, the Himalayan Mountains.

Mashable says some the YouTube classics such as  "LET GO of Fear, Overthinking & Worries" and "Guided Meditation - Blissful Deep Relaxation." have 26 million and 18.5 million views, respectively.  

So where is good place to get started managing anxiety and stress?  Mashable suggests an app called Omvana.  "Omvana is aimed at helping you learn not only how to calm your mind, but also move through higher levels of meditation. Plus, its expansive library of meditation tracks covers key topics such as better sleep, productivity, focus, happiness, and more....voted one of Healthline's Best Meditation Apps of 2019, and has received 4.8 out of 5 stars on the Google Play Store."

Back to the conversation about scale and impact of big tech - When people weren't chilling to images of Mt Everest there were also more than one billion views on YouTube for Do-It-Yourself face mask tutorials.

Clearly people turn to YouTube as a source of help and relaxation as social distancing, lockdowns, and work-from-home routines reshape our lives. But don't forget the words of President Gerald Ford in 1974 talking about scope of power.   Ford said  "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."  Has Google, YouTube and the other Social Media companies reached that scope in the world of information?  They control what you see, hear and read and just as importantly, what you don't.