“the reality of our engagement with society is less interesting than the story we will tell about it later.” - Renny Gleeson
I have just listened to a 3 minute talk by Renny Gleeson on mobile-phone usage which i found highly enjoyable. The best things about the talks on ted.com is how efficient the communicators are at being concise. If Jacob Zuma battles to say anything significant given an hour on stage, I am sure he would not manage to say absolutely anything at all given only 2 or 3 minutes. He’s our next president by the way. In case anyone from outside of South Africa stumbles upon this remote part of the online world. Speaking in summaries seems to be the age we are living in. People still want narrative and people still enjoy hearing another person speak above reading something, but where before someone had two minutes to say something interesting, now we expect interesting and funny every few seconds.
Anyway, back to the topic- the talk was on the way that mobile devices have re-shaped social interaction. Having said what I did above I realise that my time is limited and that I have to say something interesting quickly or else you will close this window. So i’ll summarise with these scary thoughts to add to the collection:
1. When you allow yourself to interact with your device in a social context (even just a one on one context) you are saying that literally ANYTHING that comes up on your phone from any source is more important than the person(s) you are with.
2. We are looking for narrative - personal narrative is not enough... we desire shared narrative as that is what creates a culture. Sending is loneliness, sharing is social. That is why being able to comment on pretty much anything on facebook has now become the new hit thing to do. We want shared narrative.
3. If taken to an exaggerated conclusion, we are perhaps existing in reality only to have to have a story to blog later, a status to update with something funny or a friend to invite on facebook after the party, when the real party starts.
I have just listened to a 3 minute talk by Renny Gleeson on mobile-phone usage which i found highly enjoyable. The best things about the talks on ted.com is how efficient the communicators are at being concise. If Jacob Zuma battles to say anything significant given an hour on stage, I am sure he would not manage to say absolutely anything at all given only 2 or 3 minutes. He’s our next president by the way. In case anyone from outside of South Africa stumbles upon this remote part of the online world. Speaking in summaries seems to be the age we are living in. People still want narrative and people still enjoy hearing another person speak above reading something, but where before someone had two minutes to say something interesting, now we expect interesting and funny every few seconds.
Anyway, back to the topic- the talk was on the way that mobile devices have re-shaped social interaction. Having said what I did above I realise that my time is limited and that I have to say something interesting quickly or else you will close this window. So i’ll summarise with these scary thoughts to add to the collection:
1. When you allow yourself to interact with your device in a social context (even just a one on one context) you are saying that literally ANYTHING that comes up on your phone from any source is more important than the person(s) you are with.
2. We are looking for narrative - personal narrative is not enough... we desire shared narrative as that is what creates a culture. Sending is loneliness, sharing is social. That is why being able to comment on pretty much anything on facebook has now become the new hit thing to do. We want shared narrative.
3. If taken to an exaggerated conclusion, we are perhaps existing in reality only to have to have a story to blog later, a status to update with something funny or a friend to invite on facebook after the party, when the real party starts.
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