Living through your screen
These days, more often than not when I go out with friends I’ll find myself in a situation where at least one person will whip out their smart phone and deliberately use it as a distraction.
Possibly because being in my presence is so boring that any sort of distraction is welcome, but I’d like to think not. However I have noticed this behavior in other social groups as well which leads me to believe that it’s not just my bad jokes turning people off.
When did it become socially acceptable to disengage from your friends and live in your virtual world? When did it stop becoming rude and become acceptable? People don’t seem to have any hesitation to pull out their iPhone, check their Facebook, make a Tweet, play some Farmville, waste away on Youtube or even worse… check in on Foursquare. Do people really need to know where you are all the time? Or is it a matter of feeling close to your friends without exerting as much effort as it only takes to type their name?
It seems to me that we are more content at living our lives through our screens rather than taking the time and effort to make a human connection. Myself included, I’d rather do all my interactions behind a digital safety blanket, because thats what it is. Theres no emotion found on my Facebook pages, which makes dealing with my ‘friends’ a heck of a lot easier and safe. Hassle-free friendships.
The future for us as designers and developers (from all trades, but I speak from my web experience) is not how to make the hottest gradient, or how to make a perfect Apple-like wet floor effect, but rather break these invisible strings that attach us to our electronic devices. Although these devices achieve their original goals of sharing free information to the masses and keeping people in contact, it seems that the rise of digital entertainment is costing us our human interaction skill set.
There are one billion views on Youtube per day! Isn’t this alarming? Will there be a point when this digital entertainment outshadow everything? How much time do you spend on Youtube a day? I’m going to guess probably too much. What if instead of spending your time on Youtube you went to learn something new? Probably something amazing. Do you care? Probably not, and you’ll go back to watching Youtube regardless, I know I would. Its hard to avoid these pitfalls because the internet and our devices are tailored to encourage these distractions. Of course there is a time and place for such sites so it is on us to monitor ourselves.
We need to create a crossroads because if we keep going down the same path then we will be a society of attention deficit, unimpressed, demanding people. And as designers and developers we need to consider how our digital life improves, or degrades our real world well being. Otherwise whats the point? Do you really want to look back in 20 years time and be horrified by how much time you spent mindlessly surfing the internet as life passes you by? We need to build our virtual environments in a way that improve our physical well being.
Although my article doesn’t provide any answers, because really I have no idea how to approach this situation, I think this important food for thought.
With our current knowledge and intellect we should develop our virtual environments that enrich our lives, and not move our lives into the digital realm and in turn live through it.
Found your site through Design Bombs, what an impressive firm you guys are.
Also, its REALLY awesome to see these thoughts coming from a fellow designer. We have yet to even purchase a Smartphone and I have to admit that its the experience you describe that really deters us from doing so.
We feel the mobile movement is one that is growing quickly but is going to naturally bottom out once the lack of substance starts to become more apparent. We also truly don’t know the health effects of such continued use of the devices, alongside the social-health effects.
We don’t have the answers either, but part of our answer is to not engage in it all. Set a new standard, be an example…be the change you want to see.
I guess it makes you think; technology is supposed to improve our lives and there is no doubt it’s making it easier to keep in touch with friends. Are these relationships we maintain online nearly as valuable as the ones we maintain by spending time with? I think not, but with our lives becoming more and more busy it’s difficult to keep friends without Facebook who I might not normally see.
I wish mother nature would hurry up and give us twice as much time in the day
In total congruency with your article and the lack of physical life improvement with digital communication advancement being a part of our daily lives more and more. The digital invasion of what should be “real-time” physical interaction has joined forces with the desire for instant gratification. Instantly connected to people and knowledge but causing an exponential separation to what is human. No emotion, touch and live presence. The main complain is that we live busy lives, so being able to tweet, facebook and blog among many other digital communication methods is a way to keep connected when we don’t have the time. So the answer: when we are consuming volumes of information on a daily basis, trying to keep up with the newest mode of communication and allowing digital forces to seep into what should be humanness…stop chasing and consuming. Live holistically. As designers and developers we need to create and call out standards that will assist society in enforcing the etiquette and behaviors that enable more positive physical living. Easy said, I know. But then this might help on a societal level to make clear acceptable forms of behavior. The next time you are at a table and your friend pulls out his/her phone to tweet that little bit of unnecessary nonsense to the world, ah hem I mean communicate, let them know that its not right. But I know unfortunately there are times when they just won’t listen.