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For all its amazing advantages, connecting with friends old
and new, learning from influencers, participating in the great debates of our
time, I have to go on record saying that I miss some of the offline magic I
used to take for granted. Case in point? The picture above. I stepped away from
my desk at work today to grab coffee and to pop in on a conference call and
came back to a plain old post it note from one of my besties. Just a simple
sentiment inquiring after…well it’s evident from the post-it. And it occurred to
me that with all this technology including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, I
can’t remember the last time I just wrote someone a note. Life is so busy I
often choose text or instant messaging to meeting for coffee or lunch. I hit the like button in favor of stopping by
someone’s desk to congratulate them. I comment on a blog rather than commenting
at the real life water cooler. I am sure we all do this without even thinking
these days.
Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade the fun of social media
for anything. I just have to wonder what real-time connections we’re missing
out on because we don’t take a break now and then to write one of our buddies a
cute little note (This one made my day in case you couldn’t tell). For example,
how much people watching do we miss in a restaurant because we’re so busy
taking photos of our food and checking in with a status update? Are we so busy tweeting from a concert that we
forget to watch the band? Granted I am sprinkling a little dramatic fairy dust
here to make a point, but this little note did something for me today besides
make me smile. It reminded me that I need to walk over to a friend and give
them real, live thumbs up once in a while and revel in the real-time-offline
conversation that we all took for granted once upon a time.
Hi, Patty, I'm fellow classmate in Social Media and PR with Professor Breakenridge. I was never involved much with social media prior to this class, and although I love blogging and am quickly becoming a fan of Twitter, I can understand the point you are making in this post. I was reminded of just how special notes could be a few days ago myself. I was feeling a little gloomy, when my brother slipped a note under my door, telling me how much he loved me. Of course that cheered me up right away! And so the next morning, I wrote a reply and tucked it into his backpack, where he would find it in between classes at college. It was such a lovely exchange, and made both of us feel special and loved.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know what you mean about missing the concert because we're too busy tweeting. I do a lot of photography, and lately I've been shooting the sporting events that my brother covers for his university paper so that he'll have images to accompany his articles. I love "getting the shot" and all that, but still, somehow you miss the drama of a sporting event when you watch it through your camera's viewfinder! Sometimes I just have to put the camera aside and watch without distraction for a few minutes.
It sounds like you are struggling along with many others participating in social media and finding a balance for the human connection we all need.
ReplyDeleteI find that there is benefit in sharing common interests and values with groups of people, especially around products and services or grass roots movements. Social media is a powerful influencer and provides momentum for dialogue that can change the mundane to policies affecting people around the world.
At the same time I feel it is detrimental to our inherent needs as human beings if we start relying on social media as our main connection tool. We will lose the ability to interpret body language and tone of voice, and I fear the shrinking vocabulary of teens only communicating in 140 characters or less. We need the texture of face-to-face interactions. Practicing moderation as with anything in life is key. Like you said sometimes you just have to put down the camera and be present.
I am also intrigued to see the impact social media has made on "socialism" or "anti-socialism" of people. I think people still enjoy human interaction and getting together in person, but I have also noticed on-line activities, though addicting, have taken precedent over in-person gatherings. It's easy to excuse oneself out of a social commitment now, claiming you're tired or don't have time for a gathering. I think too much online communication can make people anti-social. It's also been my observation since the blooming advent of the internet, say mid 1990's, bar culture (especially in larger cities) changed substantially. Less crowds at least on a regular basis, maybe in favor of special events. One challenge to online communication is learning to tailor one's voice as to project emotion. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, as if you express something less than succinctly online, you can be easily misinterpreted. I think like all good things, there needs to be a balance. I look forward to your further observations on this social experiment!
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