Analog > Digital
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – there’s something to be said for actual, face-to-face human contact.
You can’t replace it. You can’t duplicate it. Even in this day and age, where you can feasibly know every important piece of information about someone’s life without ever having spoken to them – or, for that matter, met them – human contact is still important.
People lived for centuries without the constant connection of social media, computers and smartphones. They didn’t live without real-world families and friendships.
We may be a digital generation, but we have analog lives, too.
I, for one, would much rather be at a party with my friends than at home reading tweets and text messages about what a great time they’re having. I would rather be taking the pictures than seeing them later on Facebook. It gets boring staring at a screen – and, if you do it long enough, it gives you a serious headache.
If anything, our analog lives are made more complex by our digital ones. Not only do we need stellar interview and phone skills, but our e-mail and texting has to look professional when the situation requires.
And that doesn’t even scratch the surface. Our Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, MySpace profiles (if they exist anymore), and everything Google-able has to appear spick and span and viewable by potential employers, colleges and parents. That keg stand you did at that frat party freshman year was a lot easier to hide 10 years ago.
Not to mention, your digital world wouldn’t be very exciting if your analog one wasn’t filled with people and activities. Without those first connections…well, you’re kind of just a creeper looking for friends in a chatroom.
When it comes down to it, our digital lives complement our analog ones. And it should never be the other way around.
Digital natives, what’s your take?
Photo Credit: detune
I work to have clear lines between my digital and analog lives. The digital is, under the best circumstances, supposed to augment and expedite my analog experience. Sometimes that doesn't happen but I certainly try.
I've taken to NOT looking up new acquaintances online after meeting in person because it's just more fun to get things directly from the horse's mouth and not worry about panning through all the rubbish one might find online. Will I end up dating an axe murderer because of it? I don't think so. Most of my friends still heavily research potential friends, etc, so they're all over that side of things.
Sometimes it's good to shut off the computer, put the phone away, and just be.
I love an analog life. My biggest pet peeve is people intensely tweeting about how drunk they are at a party instead of actually getting drunk at the party and interacting with everyone around them.
So yes, sometimes I forget to log in on Foursquare – because what's going on is much more interesting than doing that.
I think our digital and analog lives are becoming more and more intertwined and inextricable. I recently had a conversation with a bunch of friends who were thinking of deleting their Facebook accounts, because they knew it would be easier than combing through and deleting anything that would be offensive to a relative or employer.
Did you ever sit and think how impossible it would be to delete your Facebook account? How much of our analog life depends on it? The number one thing I use Facebook for (besides to post silly videos and pics on friends' walls) is to coordinate analog social events. Without Facebook, I would completely forget where and when the party was on Saturday. I wouldn't be able to send messages to 5 relatively new friends (whose phone #s I don't have) to coordinate our dinner plans.
I adore the digital world and digital culture, but the real value of the digital world is in its utility for our analog lives.