For this week's blog post, I read the first chapter of Clay Shirky's book, Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. His basic premise is that over the past decades, we have accumulated an endless amount of free time, which as a society we've filled up mainly by watching TV. Now, with the advent of social media, we are enticed by a world that we can create and become an active part of, rather than one where we are merely observants.
As I read this, I kept having "Aha! I never thought of that!" moments, followed by a questioning "Ooooh - I get it, but....!" realization. My first Aha! Moment (AM) was when Shirky recounts his conversation with a TV producer and gets upset when she says "Where do people find the time [to contribute so much to Wikipedia]?" His response is that TV is taking up all the time, and being honest with myself, I could see that. I too am from the camp that social media takes too much time - its no longer just updating a status on Facebook, its checking in on FourSquare, Tweeting to stay relevant, uploading pictures on Flikr, blogging about something or another, uploading videos to YouTube - make the madness stop! But the time I don't have to spend on doing that, is in part because I'm hanging out with my "friends" from Seattle Grace, mesmerized by the talent of my Glee "friends" or trying to figure out why women would subject themselves to abuse from Mad Men. Hmmm...seems like TV IS taking up much of my time. Shirky provides rationale for this - he says that you feel like you're with "friends" when watching a show, and so we've gotten so used to it, its hard to break away. So, now I feel like I'm in good company - no worries, right? Everyone has TV "friends"...
AM #2 - "Did you ever see that episode of Gilligan's Island where they almost all get off the island and then Gilligan messes up and they don't?" Good point. So now I relate it back to more current, dramatic and I think sophisticated shows. "Do you remember the episode when Meredith and Derek got together but then ended up breaking up?" Yup, four whole seasons of it actually. To counteract this, Shirky brings up that World of Warcraft, though lame to many, actually engages its users - you have to come together in groups to defeat the game, take an active part of the development and outcome of the game...whereas, regardless of the amount of times I have shouted at Meredith not to screw it up with Derek, she inevitably does. So social media has this huge advantage in that "You can play this game too", as Shirky says - and for many of us, myself included, its a powerful idea. (Point in case: He brings up the example of lolcats. Not knowing what it is, I go to the website and see that a) Yes, it is a ridiculously stupid idea and b) Darn it all, I want to put a caption down. Sigh.)
AM #3 - I wish it stopped there, at my realization that I watch too much TV and that I can't change the outcome of Meredith and Derek's relationship, but that I can become actively involved in a community. But it doesn't- my third AM comes from his discussion of More is Different, where Shirky discusses how as individuals our actions are unpredictable, but as a group, they are actually quite predictable. He gives the example that the chances that any one person is around to witness and document an event of global impact is slim - the chance that any human will is actually quite great given the fact that pretty much everyone has some sort of camera with them at all times. So now we don't rely on traditional media, we're actually relying on each other. No more Katie Couric giving me the news, its probably going to come from a person, just like me, in the Middle East.
Ooooh, I get it! Moment - so it's bigger than just checking in, tweeting, blogging. It's actually a whole cultural change where we go from being hibernating loners watching TV to interconnected social beings, webbed through social media. Yet you hear adults (and OK, even I've said it before), that younger generations are less social, they don't know how to interact with people, they only live in their social worlds...and while yes, we watch (way too much) TV, we do that with other people in the room and it sometimes spurs conversations (I'll give you a topic: why won't Meredith just realize Derek is the one?! Discuss amongst yourselves.).
So where's the balance? How do we become truly social again?
Great post! I like how you've broken down Shirky's chapter into the AM's you experienced while reading. I think most interesting is your "Ooooh, I get it! Moment" and your realization that we as a society are undergoing an enormous cultural change. The word "social" is itself changing in meaning. According to dictionary.com (one of my favorite websites), social is defined as "pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations," and in order to be social in the past required that people gather together in the same physical location. Now, people in millions of different places can gather online and socialize. But is this really social? Are we gaining the same benefits online as we do interacting face-to-face? Maybe it's because I remember the days before Facebook, but for me, no online socializing could ever replicate or substitute the joy and fulfillment I gain from socializing with my friends, family and colleagues face-to-face. If instead we are talking about substituting activities normally done in isolation (i.e. watching TV) with shared media consumption, then that is a different issue, one that suggests we are, in fact, becoming more social. As my mother always says, "it's all a balance." How to balance, I think that's up to the individual.
ReplyDeleteThat was entertaining to read! Do I have to feel dumb, because I didn't understand any of your TV references.
ReplyDeleteReading the chapter from Shirky's book reminded me of an experience I had in South East Asia.
After completing high school I decided that I wanted to travel a bit before thinking about further educating myself. To make a long story short, I ended up spending a year in a Thai orphanage about 150km NE of Bangkok, IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! There I was in the middle of nowhere with 40 Thai children, 3 Thai caretakers and 2 female volunteers. This was in 2000. We had no phones, no internet, no TV,no washing machines, no A/C but we did have fans! My day started at 4:30 am, when I had to wake some of the older boys to go work in the chicken farm. After breakfast I drove the kids to school and spent the rest of the morning and afternoon busy with the disabled children that remained at the orphanage and all kinds of chores. After tutoring, getting the kids to bed and washing my clothes by hand with a brush and soap I fell into bed completely exhausted by 9pm.
Any spare time I had, which was very little, I read. (At one point I actually started reading the encyclopedia that was given to the orphanage) For the first time I could understand how people used to spend time listening to the radio. There were some English programs that I honestly looked forward to hearing! I was never bored, and loved working in the orphanage.
What I realized through this experience, is how much time I had wasted watching TV. Don't get me wrong. I love watching TV and that's the reason I don't have one. If it's there, I'll watch! However I still waste time with other stuff, reading ESPN.com and sport.de! So before I go overboard with this comment, I'm just wondering if it matters how we waste time! Watching TV or through lolcats? Shouldn't we all spend less time looking at a screen and more time in reality!