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The Horrible Future of Social

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Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#111

Post by ejdyksen »

jeremymcanally wrote: post #65

I see this every time I go to Disney World (I live nearby). It's almost impossible to enjoy a single ride or fireworks show without a ton of people videoing the whole thing or taking horrible pictures of it with a smart device of some sort. Rather than enjoying it and capturing some deep memory of a moment with their family, they have their face stuck in a digital device capturing a crude facsimile of the experience…

This is why I tell people that my (pretty large) Nikon D7000 is unobtrusive. Though it may be physically large, it doesn't get in the way of whatever I'm actually doing.

I can put it up to my face (it's already on, because I can leave it on for days), frame, focus, and take a picture in less time than most phones can even turn on. That and, just as important, it never lights up or beeps at all (except for the memory card write LED).

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#112

Post by chrisro »

lathamcity wrote: post #100
siganakis wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the bigger problem is when people begin using "social networking" while they are actually doing the intimate, stimulating, exciting things in real life - either looking for validation or because its easier to bury your head in your phone than it is to participate in social interactions. For example, checking Facebook while out at dinner with friends, or uploading photos of a party while you are at the pa…

I was watching some video the other day where Jon Stewart made a random appearance. All the people around him had their phones out taking pictures of him instead of actually experiencing him being there. It was like proving to other people that they'd had an awesome experience was more important than actually having that experience. Or like they were going through life as tourists, making sure they checked every box…

The compulsion to be a tourist is ever-present in our lives. Social networks just move the reward of validation for tourism up to the near-instant. One of my favorite books has a significant character plot that explores the (sometimes ridiculous) role of being a tourist.

"Twoflower stared raptly at the display overhead. He probably had the best view of anyone on the Disc. Then a terrible thought occurred to him. 'Where's the picture box?' he asked urgently. 'What?' said Rincewind, eyes fixed on the sky. 'The picture box,' said Twoflower. 'I must get a picture of this!'" (Color of Magic, 1983)

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#113

Post by harigov »

nostromo wrote: post #9

Meh. This is a touch over-the-top. You know what Facebook is to me nowadays? It's another flavor of Gmail. Sometimes I send and receive messages there. It's plumbing. Sometimes I turn the spigot on for some updates, then turn it off and go about my day. I think pro-social and anti-social pundits are both wrong about the upside and downside of social. Social is neither the next giant leap forward, nor is it the downfa…

Better way of looking at it is:

gmail is for person-to-person communication. facebook is more of a person-to-restricted-group communication. twitter is person-to-public communication.

Each one has its own positive and negative points. Whatever it is, it's not your life and don't treat it as such.

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#114

Post by JacksonGariety »

This article addresses a simple fact of life, where there is energy, people will try to create something there. Lots of people are making things for the internet.

"The horrible future of social" isn't bad. It means the internet is so great that we have all kinds of people making all kinds of things.

If it truly has no value, people won't use it.

This is the reason McDonald's exists, it isn't new or unique to social.

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#115

Post by mung »

RegEx wrote: post #94
jerf wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's time to pack in the comments defending the putative purity of the word "irony". I've seen numerous people get up in arms about some incorrect use of the term, followed by them giving the "correct" definition. I'm yet to see two "correct" definitions that match each other. How... ... ironic.

I'm completely okay with irony-ish things. But smugly calling something ironic when there actually isn't anything resembling irony there is just odd.

The irony is that you where unaware that you are doing the very thing you are accusing someone else of doing. te_chris assumed that the author was projecting his insecurities, you assumed that te_chris was trying to look clever. ...and then downvoted for it.

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#116

Post by [deleted] »

brandoncapecci wrote: post #76
rsl7 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The gameification angle is a fad though. checking in and leaderboards for everyday bullshit will get old.

That's like saying gambling is a fad. The novel implementations may change but integrating markers for performance will only come more common in time. Expect to be able to passively track how long you brushed your teeth in the near future.

[deleted]

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#117

Post by RegEx »

mung wrote: post #115
RegEx wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm completely okay with irony-ish things. But smugly calling something ironic when there actually isn't anything resembling irony there is just odd.

The irony is that you where unaware that you are doing the very thing you are accusing someone else of doing. te_chris assumed that the author was projecting his insecurities, you assumed that te_chris was trying to look clever. ...and then downvoted for it.

Fair enough. You could have said that in the first place, but whatever.

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#118

Post by BuckNasty »

jeremymcanally wrote: post #65

I see this every time I go to Disney World (I live nearby). It's almost impossible to enjoy a single ride or fireworks show without a ton of people videoing the whole thing or taking horrible pictures of it with a smart device of some sort. Rather than enjoying it and capturing some deep memory of a moment with their family, they have their face stuck in a digital device capturing a crude facsimile of the experience…

Very interesting points and I agree with you in spirit.

One thing that's a bit ironic though, is that the examples that you gave are themselves very much corporate, pre-packaged experiences.

Kind of hard to tell where the rabbit hole ends.

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#119

Post by firefoxman1 »

jeremymcanally wrote: post #65

I see this every time I go to Disney World (I live nearby). It's almost impossible to enjoy a single ride or fireworks show without a ton of people videoing the whole thing or taking horrible pictures of it with a smart device of some sort. Rather than enjoying it and capturing some deep memory of a moment with their family, they have their face stuck in a digital device capturing a crude facsimile of the experience…

I'm in complete agreement with both you and the author on this subject. In fact, I've been intentionally without a smartphone for close to 2 years now. I recently had a similar experience on a trip. I'll try to keep it short:

Recently I took a trip to San Francisco for the first time (and I'll admit I brought my deactivated Palm Pre along to take some vids). On my third day there I came upon a guy making a cool form of street art: he wrote his own quote-able thoughts on masking tape and stuck it on a piece of sidewalk. I'd say a quarter of a block was covered in this guy's thoughts.

I started taking pictures like a typical tourist, then I met the guy making the art. As I got to asking him about where he got his ideas and such, something occured to me: nobody else was even noticing this art. I asked him why and he said "oh, a lot of people are too absorbed in their phones to stop and enjoy what's around them." I promptly put my phone away, but he had already noticed it. To him I looked like a typical teenager obsessed with my phone. "So where are you from?" he asked. He knew I wasn't from around there just by the fact that I stopped to enjoy his art. It was a little depressing, and it reminded me why I gave up that amazing Palm Pre. But hey, at least I captured a few moments on camera I would have forgotten otherwise.

Re: The Horrible Future of Social

#120

Post by viviantan »

jeremymcanally wrote: post #65

I see this every time I go to Disney World (I live nearby). It's almost impossible to enjoy a single ride or fireworks show without a ton of people videoing the whole thing or taking horrible pictures of it with a smart device of some sort. Rather than enjoying it and capturing some deep memory of a moment with their family, they have their face stuck in a digital device capturing a crude facsimile of the experience…

Your comment reminds me of the turning point in WALL-E when all the humans finally looked up from their computer screens to see the world :)

Coincidentally a few days ago I was just writing about how Imagineers pioneered UX design. And speaking of Google Glass, the Haunted Mansion at Disney World was updated last year with augmented reality effects so that the hitch hiking ghosts in the mirrors now interact with the visitors (like swapping their heads) -- http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/haunted-mansion/news/05a...

Have you been? How was it?

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