229) Be Here Now

The continued proliferation of social media has been getting some flak lately. The argument is that we are so into updating Twitter and Facebook, checking in on Foursquare, and texting people that we miss out on real life itself. Exhibit A is Window Phone 7 launch campaign, which positions itself as a phone that will save us from our phones. Its mosaic layout design and processing speed allows you to quickly check out what's happening in social media so you can get back to life. The spot ends with the line, "Be here now."

The problem is that today "here" could very well mean being active on social media. This backlash reflects the thinking that our real life social life and our online social life are two separate entities. But (and I know I've said this in past posts) our offline and online social lives are one in the same. An element of our social lives exists online. It's not a matter of being online or offline - it's about interactions with others. Where those interactions occur is irrelevant.

Let me couch this by saying that there are different weights and values to face to face interactions versus tweets and texts. Real life interactions are no less important, and certain social mores still apply (example - the guy at the end of the Windows Phone commercial. Yes, it it extremely inappropriate to be on your cell, ignoring your date. But it's equally rude to be talking to someone at another table, ignoring your date). And even as we acknowledge the intertwined nature of our on and offline social lives, no one likes the idea of being constantly plugged in, a zombie constantly staring at your mobile.

Relevant over-dramatization.


(Mini aside - Have been working crazy hard this week, and all of a sudden I'm an hour and a half away from turning 25. For no good reason, 24 is my lucky number, so it's with a little extra reluctance that I move on to the next. Twenty-four brought a lot of good things, a lot of traveling, and a lot of changes. All I can say is BRING IT 25.)