digitally numb

Checking out (of) location-based social networking

After reading some glowing reviews, a group of friends walk into a new restaurant. Prior to being seated, the first thing they do is pull out their Smartphones and “check-in” their location. 5 minutes later, they’re seated and the menus arrive. Not a word is exchanged but the Smartphones are in action again (checking recommendations on what’s good on the menu). I’m not even going to bother getting into all the updates and photo taking that follows during the meal. I hope you get the picture. Do you see anything wrong with it? Depending on whether you’re a social media bee that’s perpetually buzzing (and loves the addition of geo-location, check-ins and mayorships to the mix) or whether you’re not so eager to broadcast your daily whereabouts, your answer may range from “nothing” to “everything”. I personally am intrigued by the location-based social networking trend, but not impressed enough. In fact, I’ve thought long and hard about the present and future data capabilities of location-based social networks, as well as the privacy implications and potential benefits of social media in general. I do understand why people use and love these services, but I just see no value in it for me yet.

I’m obviously no Luddite. I work for an Internet company, I blog, use Twitter, Facebook, etc. and I love my iPhone (probably a little too much). But I’m also very conscious of the big role these services and devices like the iPhone are beginning to play in my daily life. It’s getting to the point where it sometimes feels like my iPhone is a portable life support system that’s there to feed my insatiable need for real-time information. The more apps I use, the more active I get on social networks, the more irresistible is the urge to pull out my iPhone and check in on my digital life and the ever-expanding ocean of information on the Internet (while checking out of my real world surroundings). Currently, the only saving grace is I can still choose where to draw the line between my daily life and my online participation — I can disconnect or “slow down”. The problem with location-based social networking is that disconnecting is not really a viable option when the very purpose of these services is to ~~blur~~ erase the lines between our offline and online lives.

Another problem with location-based social networking is that all the apparent benefits of a data-driven life could easily turn into a burden, where instead of ever living in the moment, we’re constantly attempting to construct the perfect moment or busy “planning serendipity”. As Aldus Huxley put it so well “Even the best cookery book is no substitute for a bad dinner”. Now Huxley was obviously not talking about location-based social networks and their impact on our perception, but he was right about the fact that we tend to put too much weight on symbols, information and knowledge to the point where we start to believe they are somehow more real than what they stand for. Huxley wasn’t the only one who was concerned about the problem of being overtly influenced by words, knowledge and concepts already established. Jiddu Krishnamurti (a close friend of Huxley) said “Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness of our daily existence and activity”. Krishnamurti’s core philosophy was all about liberating the mind from the burdens of memory and allowing it to appreciate spontaneously of the present moment. We’re quickly moving further away from this concept of freedom because not only do we have complete access to our own memories via the Internet and geo-location based services, but we can also tap into the collective memory and knowledge of our friends and social networks. This is obviously a double-edged sword, because the more you know about the everyone’s thoughts, experiences and whereabouts, the more you are influenced to act based on the information rather than follow your instincts.

This is not only about location-based social networks. Unfortunately, we’re marching towards a world where absolute dependence on data will be commonplace and eventually, we will come to accept that there won’t be a clear separation between the “real” world and the virtual universe of information. The price we will pay is having to manage the impact of knowledge becoming an unnecessary weight on our experiences.

It’s probably a futile effort, but I’d rather stick with spontaneity, live in every moment, experience real coincidences and actually discover new things. A discounted latte is somehow not a compelling enough incentive for me to give that up just yet.

Your Brain on Computers

Interesting series of articles in the New York Times about the price of being attached to technology:

If you want to try life without your cellphone, your online social networks or e-mail, the New York Times is also starting a video project asking readers to see what happens when they give up technology (Unplugged: Take the Challenge).

Rediscovering the grid (while trying to escape it)

I spent the last 10 days looking for adventure in an exotic land. This was no resort vacation and daily comforts that I tend to take for granted were few and far between. The places I visited had unusual food, bad plumbing, limited electricity and ancient customs that hold true till today. It was exciting, disorienting, and strangely liberating at the same time.

Getting away from it all not only helped me get a renewed perspective on the over-connectedness and tedium of modern life, but also how modem media and communications technologies were transforming lives in remote corners of the world. It helped me develop a renewed appreciation of the promise that new technology offers. It also made me realize that the technophiles folly lies in not being satisfied by how we can be enriched by technology and instead letting ourselves get consumed by it.

My attempts to disconnect from modern life and modern technology were fairly successful, but as I traveled deeper through valleys and mountains, sand dunes and ancient castles, I realized how modern technology was ironically playing a key role in this whole journey. I wouldn’t have found my adventure tour operator if it wasn’t for the Internet and most of the coordination that was making my challenging trip possible was being done over cell phones.

While hiking through a dusty valley in the scorching heat, we ran into a tribal boy on a donkey. He offered to make us tea and we obviously welcomed the break. As we watched him pick sage and blend it into a fragrant brew, he explained how he lived in a tent in the valley with no electricity or modern comforts…then his cell phone rang. My fellow hikers and I raised our eyebrows and chuckled; as the tribal boy went on to explain (and our guide translated) how his cell phone played a crucial role in his life. It allowed him to stay connected to his tribesmen across the valley (and I suspect, also find out if there were any weary hikers heading in his direction). The next day, I spent hours riding a camel through the desert. In the middle of the journey, my tour guide started quizzing me about the merits of the iPhone vs the Blackberry. He explained how cell phones had changed the tour business in his country, from tour operators to the camel handlers, who were now able to take last minute bookings and be available to do business any time the need arose. During a lunch break in the middle of the desert, I showed him my iPhone and described various features that he had only heard of but never actually seen. I watched as he excitingly played around with it and discussed how great it would be to not only make phone calls, but also access email while he was on the road.

On the last day of my trip, we trekked across sandy mountains and didn’t see another human for miles. My guide suffered an unfortunate tumble on the steep rocks. His cell phone slipped out of his hand and shattered on the jagged sandstone. Luckily, he escaped with only minor bruises. I watched him stare dejectedly at his broken phone and asked him how he would make it through the day without it (since so much of his business depended on it). He laughed and replied “I’m still here and unhurt — and so are you. The phone was just a phone. Maybe that was the mountains way of reminding me what really matters”.

I smiled, thanked the mountain and held on tight to my iPhone.

Transcending the digital vortex: why slowing down is important in a high-speed age

“We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us”. Wise words from the book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan (published in 1964). According to McLuhan, all technologies or mediums are extensions of our capabilities and our senses and are means of enhancing human functions. For example, language is an extension of thought and memory, writing is an extension of speech, a knife may be an extension of the hand and a car may be the extension of our feet. Extensions add efficiency to our lives and according to a recent survey, may also be a confidence booster. However, extensions come with drawbacks and what McLuhan also pointed out was that every new extension via technology also has the effect of amputating or modifying some other extension. We see very clear examples of this today – laptops and smart phones are an extension of our voices, thoughts and memories, but it amputates face-to-face conversations (and some would say our offline social skills in general).

According to McLuhan, the mediums of communication are much more significant than the actual content of the media. We tend to get swept up by the effects of new mediums that change us in ways that we can rarely foresee. McLuhan drew inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Descent into the Maelstrom”, in which a fisherman recounts how he survived an enormous whirlpool caused by a hurricane at sea. Much like the fisherman in Poe’s story, McLuhan found that we can escape the turmoil of the technology whirlpool by observing and unraveling the clear patterns caused by new media extensions.

We are now surrounded by what McLuhan would call the final phase of the extensions of man — where digital technology and high-speed connectivity is simulating and replacing our entire consciousness in various ways. We know we are over-connected and distracted, but what do we do about it? How do we escape the vortex of information overload in the digital age? There are different ways to tackle this issue and all are equally important. It starts with the technology itself and the importance of designing technology that reflects and supports human values. But, most of us can’t control that. What we can control is how we use these technologies and how we choose to consume media.

A new movement may be gaining momentum – The Slow Media Movement. I first heard about it a few months ago when American Public Media did a story on it. Basically, it stems from the overall Slow Movement, which encourages us to slow down the overall pace of life. For example, the Slow Food Movement focuses on cooking food with detail and attention, using traditional recipes and local produce. Slow Food has emerged into a global movement, with thousands of members around numerous countries. The Slow Media Movement borrows from the core idea of slowing down and applies it to the world of digital media. As Jennifer Rauch puts it, “it is a movement that encourages people to re-value offline media and get disconnected more” or as the Slow Media Movement’s Facebook page describes it, “It (Slow Media) simply means that sometimes media is best enjoyed without dividing your attention between it and other activities”. If you’re interested in learning more, I encourage you to read the Slow Media Manifesto (English Translation) that was recently published.

The way I look at it, the Slow Media Movement is just a simple reminder for the digital age – a reminder to find a middle way. Hopefully it can help us realize that being connected or informed using modern technology has its place, but its not a substitute for listening and having meaningful interactions with and in the presence of other humans. It’s about being conscious of our media diet and its individual benefits when weighed against what meaningful extensions it amputates from our lives.

We thirst for information and connectivity and the rules of Digital Etiquette may be changing according to some, but it should not come at the cost of the things that add the most value to our lives. Start with a small step – the next time you’re in the company of others, try giving your precious iPhone (and the email, social networking, text messaging and other digital distractions that come with it) a break. Who knows, you may momentarily transcend the digital vortex and discover the joy of a REAL connection.

For more information on slowing down in general, I highly recommend The GOOD (and ReadyMade) Guide to Slowing Down & the Carl Honore’s book, In Praise of Slowness: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed.