- Nikhil Rampal spent three years reducing reliance on digital services and apps
- He stopped using online food delivery, shopping apps, and digital payment tools
- Rampal noticed online ads became irrelevant and disconnected from his interests
In today's convenience economy, where everything is available at the tap of a button, and our minds are overstimulated with reels and targeted ads, a man decided to reclaim his focus by going on a digital detox. In a social media post, Nikhil Rampal, a climate finance analyst, said he had spent the last three years deliberately reducing his reliance on digital services and apps.
Rampal said he had gone 'technologically backwards' over the past three years. He stopped using online food delivery platforms, avoided online shopping even when services like Temu and Alibaba were available.
Even for commuting, Rampal said he limited his cab rides to trips to the airport. He skipped quick commerce apps and abandoned digital payment tools such as Google Pay in favor of a traditional debit card. The changes produced several noticeable effects. Rampal reported that online advertisements no longer felt relevant to him.
"I do not get the correct Ad recommendations. At times I feel there is a large disconnect between the advertisements coming across Google scrolled pages, YouTube, etc., but none of them make any sense to me," said Rampal, adding that he would be shown Google ads for things he had left in the online care, while in India.
"I do not get any loan offers. I haven't used my Indian debit cards in a while (except for the annual recharge). Maybe part of it is Apple blocking scam callers, but no one reaches out the other way to offer me anything financial."
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As for food, Rampal said he did not feel the need to order anything online, as delivery was an expensive endeavour in the European Union. He simply went to the nearby store and picked whatever he needed.
"No influencer is able to come to my social media algorithm to convince me to buy things I do not need. In nutshell I'd say - your data matters to a lot of agencies. A large part of it is under your control. You stop giving it, you no longer end up being the commodity they need," He said.
Rampal highlighted that the digital detox was only possible because markets in Europe are accessible. He added that any shopper doe snot have have to go too far to purchase the goods and the walkable footpaths, made it easier to reach home.
