Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Sizzle of Social

When I watched soaps as a teenager my dad accused me of liking them for their "titillation" factor (a phrase in and of itself that sounds dirty). He was right. I was too young to have a life of drama of my own so I watched the continuous struggles of those in and out of heartbreak.

Social media has taken the place of this nonstop source of drama - for some, at least - a titillating resource. Yes, social media has an educational value of learning from industry experts and the dissemination of information that is fascinating but I can also Google what your celebrity crush is drinking at this very moment. Social media (in collusion with reality shows) has fostered a culture of voyeurs - seeing how other people live, think, sleep, date...you get the idea. I know what life on the Bering Sea is like and I have a very negative view of society in New Jersey. Because it's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We can "watch." We can watch to the point that it interferes with the events of our own lives. When we don't see the immediate gratification of activity in our streams we feel "disconnected" and lost. We long for the continual high we get from nonstop stimulation. 

We don't allow ourselves to be "bored" anymore; to have a moment when a feed of activity is not ticker-taping through our minds. There's something very disconcerting in that lifestyle. What do you think?    

2 comments:

  1. I think you are seeing just one side of how social media is changing the world. I am in the web broadcasting business.

    That wasn't possible 10 years ago. Everywhere I go I ask people if they want their story or their event told in a television production. The answer is always yes.

    They either don't know the technology or they don't realize they can afford it. We can cover any event professionally for under $2000.00.
    No money, anyone can connect their cell phone to You Tube but no one cares unless you catch a moment that goes viral.

    This voyeurism has always been with us but a lot more people would be telling their stories if they understood this new media is both accessible and affordable if one wants to make a production of it.

    You and I write blogs and the world is not beating a path to our blogs but we still do it. I think people want to be heard. A lot of them haven't woken up to the fact they can be heard and seen. Getting people to watch & listen is still a little tricky.

    Some of that is due to all the stuff out here but there are a lot of voyeurs out here. I think it is changing the world we live in.

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  2. Thanks so much for your comment. I didn't even know it was so affordable. I am perplexed, enthralled, confused and enamored by social. I've never had a job in an industry that is constantly changing like this one. It is a continual challenge. And I love it but I sometimes worry about the constant sensory stimulation. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Thanks again for the comment.

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