Ces 2018

You guys crack me up.

I don't fear technology, death or aging at all, but I do fear what technology is doing to people from a social and societal point of view. The way people relate to each other, IRL, in social groups is changing and not for the better. I mentioned hiking, I was in the Anza Boreggo Desert with a hiking group of about a dozen people last week. We were all tent camping and hiked all day, each day. What was disturbing was that the hiking, which should mainly be for the pure enjoyment of being in nature, being with our fellow hikers, socializing, mainly revolved around each of the dozen members obsessively shooting selfies and pictures all day, each day, every day. It was almost as if the real experience of what was happening was a distant third to shooting selfies, shooting photos and posting about it on social media, as it was happening. At the end of the day, sitting around the campfire, what used to be a time for storytelling and socializing, was mostly about Air Dropping images to each other and posting to FB and Instagram, it was almost silent, other than people Air Dropping photos. Made me really wish that we would have been more remote with no Wi-Fi signal. Social media is a way of relating, I suppose, but it's surface, a facade, not deep and not "real" at all.

I get wanting to shoot photos of cool places with fun people, I was the only Luddite of the group shooting a DSLR. But the nice thing about that was I just shoot and am done. I don't mess with images until I get home and I only post my best dozen or so from the whole trip. In the meantime, I am then available to have actual conversations, laugh, joke, tell stories, etc. You know, like humans used to do? I recently took a year off of social media, I deleted my Linked In, Twitter, Instagram and kept my FB but didn't post or look at it. It was surprisingly easy and overall, made my life better, especially during the build up to the elections. But I had to go back because to many of my friends and family, it seems that they can only relate to others through social media, not IRL. My mom the other day posted, "So glad to see you back here on FB son"! Ughh.

I'm definitely a fan of technology, a techno nerd like most of you. But I am despondent about where technology is leading us. It's not making our lives better. It's making them easier but living an easy life is not what we were created to do.
 
puredrifting said:
You guys crack me up.
I mentioned hiking, I was in the Anza Boreggo Desert with a hiking group of about a dozen people last week. We were all tent camping and hiked all day, each day. What was disturbing was that the hiking, which should mainly be for the pure enjoyment of being in nature, being with our fellow hikers, socializing, mainly revolved around each of the dozen members obsessively shooting selfies and pictures all day, each day, every day.
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I think you're going to like the film that I'm shooting in February... :)
 
How Taking Photos Increases Enjoyment of Experiences is a very well done scientific article that proves that taking pictures doesn't take you out of the experience, it makes you look more carefully and notice more details. It made me stop worrying about the constant pics and selfies and whatnot. Plus, also, I think nobody ever said "I wish I had LESS pics from when I was young".

And for my second link... I'll only post this because I like y'all XDDD:
https://xkcd.com/1601/
 
That I agree with... and I do it a lot as well. I shoot what's around me though, not just me... and I don't worry about editing or sharing the images until after I get home. :)
 
Samuel H said:
How Taking Photos Increases Enjoyment of Experiences is a very well done scientific article that proves that taking pictures doesn't take you out of the experience, it makes you look more carefully and notice more details. It made me stop worrying about the constant pics and selfies and whatnot. Plus, also, I think nobody ever said "I wish I had LESS pics from when I was young".

And for my second link... I'll only post this because I like y'all XDDD:
https://xkcd.com/1601/
Click to expand...

As a photographer, I just notice the obsession and volume of pointless, crappy images taken. It's really more of the posting and responding to comments while in nature, on the trail that irritates me ;-) Also, FWIW, there was only one person out of the dozen under the age of 40. A lot of geezers and they were as obsessed as my 23 year old daughter and her Millenial friends. Same trip, at a local mall, saw a one year old, on her back, in a stroller (pram) with HER OWN iPhone, staring at it and typing something, it frankly creeped me out. It wasn't the parents phone, it was HER phone! I kiddingly asked the Mom. I don't care what anyone says, giving kids their own mobile phone and social media when they are barely born is super creepy. It was a surreal moment, I had no idea a kid, merely months old, could use a mobile and post to social media. Bad parenting 101.
 
puredrifting said:
... What was disturbing was that the hiking, which should mainly be for the pure enjoyment of being in nature, being with our fellow hikers, socializing, mainly revolved around each of the dozen members obsessively shooting selfies and pictures all day, each day, every day. It was almost as if the real experience of what was happening was a distant third to shooting selfies, shooting photos and posting about it on social media, as it was happening. ...
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I agree with your sentiments. But I pick on our sentiments because history tells me that such sentiments are generational and not meaningful. You are disturbed that the experience you are expecting is being disrupted by a new experience that you view as unfavorable. Each generation goes through this. There is nothing wrong with the experience phone-toting, selfie taking people are having. It will generate as many memories as your experience. It's no better or worse than your experience. It's just different. Sure, you think it is lacking in social and in-the-moment aspects. So do I. But that matters not. Their experience is what it is and it is no better or worse than yours.
 
It's valid to be worried about what social media is doing to society, but I think this is just a temporary phase. VR was mentioned earlier and I think the end of the line for social media is having it take place in a virtual space, or an augmented reality, where it will be people interacting with other people as though they are physically present. People may still be anonymous, but VR reintroduces things like body language, vocal intonation and eye contact. The illusion of intimacy can be very startling in VR if you've ever experienced it. People are generally nicer to each other in real life than on social media, and VR, while still an illusion of real life, will allow more nuanced communication than can be had on current social media platforms, where people mostly just scream hyperbole at each other. Yes, people will be withdrawing further into a fantasy virtual life, although ironically it will be so they can experience genuine human connection again.
 
puredrifting said:
You guys crack me up.

I don't fear technology, death or aging at all, but I do fear what technology is doing to people from a social and societal point of view. The way people relate to each other, IRL, in social groups is changing and not for the better. I mentioned hiking, I was in the Anza Boreggo Desert with a hiking group of about a dozen people last week. We were all tent camping and hiked all day, each day. What was disturbing was that the hiking, which should mainly be for the pure enjoyment of being in nature, being with our fellow hikers, socializing, mainly revolved around each of the dozen members obsessively shooting selfies and pictures all day, each day, every day. It was almost as if the real experience of what was happening was a distant third to shooting selfies, shooting photos and posting about it on social media, as it was happening. At the end of the day, sitting around the campfire, what used to be a time for storytelling and socializing, was mostly about Air Dropping images to each other and posting to FB and Instagram, it was almost silent, other than people Air Dropping photos. Made me really wish that we would have been more remote with no Wi-Fi signal. Social media is a way of relating, I suppose, but it's surface, a facade, not deep and not "real" at all.

I get wanting to shoot photos of cool places with fun people, I was the only Luddite of the group shooting a DSLR. But the nice thing about that was I just shoot and am done. I don't mess with images until I get home and I only post my best dozen or so from the whole trip. In the meantime, I am then available to have actual conversations, laugh, joke, tell stories, etc. You know, like humans used to do? I recently took a year off of social media, I deleted my Linked In, Twitter, Instagram and kept my FB but didn't post or look at it. It was surprisingly easy and overall, made my life better, especially during the build up to the elections. But I had to go back because to many of my friends and family, it seems that they can only relate to others through social media, not IRL. My mom the other day posted, "So glad to see you back here on FB son"! Ughh.

I'm definitely a fan of technology, a techno nerd like most of you. But I am despondent about where technology is leading us. It's not making our lives better. It's making them easier but living an easy life is not what we were created to do.
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Yes. To all of this.

 
Love the post Pure. Especially poignant after what has just come to light with Sean Parker of FB. Nothing surprising, but direct confirmation of the engineering towards addiction and how it is affecting all of us.

I turned off all notifications on FB and Instagram, though I haven't deleted accounts, and that has been freeing. But it's technology and the internet as a whole. There is always a new product, tech, piece of news, etc. that it is impossible (and endlessly entertaining) to stay on top of. Perhaps we all need the discipline to realize that we don't need more information, more tech, more shares, more news, more likes, or anything of the sort.

We need more time, and it's been and is being robbed endlessly by consumer electronics, social media, materialism, and an endless stream of news, information, and new tech.
 
We are social lemmings, especially in our youth. When you are young, it feels imperative to be connected; to know the latest thing that is happening, to be in the know. So one must know everything that is going on your tribe's facebook, twitter, and instagram pages. You would be a loser if you aren't on top of things.

I don't use any of those things. I think its a ridiculous waste of time. But if I was in my teens or twenties, I can't imagine not being buried in those applications.

In the '50s, Rock and Roll was going to destroy our society. It did, along with several other social changes. The way of life completely changed. The '60s were very revolutionary. So what. Here we are fat and happy with a whole new set of things to complain and worry about.

By the way, for those of you not on my facebook page, I had tomato slices and egg whites for breakfast.
 
Batutta said:
It's valid to be worried about what social media is doing to society, but I think this is just a temporary phase. VR was mentioned earlier and I think the end of the line for social media is having it take place in a virtual space, or an augmented reality, where it will be people interacting with other people as though they are physically present. People may still be anonymous, but VR reintroduces things like body language, vocal intonation and eye contact. The illusion of intimacy can be very startling in VR if you've ever experienced it. People are generally nicer to each other in real life than on social media, and VR, while still an illusion of real life, will allow more nuanced communication than can be had on current social media platforms, where people mostly just scream hyperbole at each other. Yes, people will be withdrawing further into a fantasy virtual life, although ironically it will be so they can experience genuine human connection again.
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People will still be on their phones in the VR world
 
puredrifting said:
It's really more of the posting and responding to comments while in nature, on the trail that irritates me ;-)
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We're in an age of increasing ADD. Your comment makes me think of the posts I see in Blu-ray forums from people who write "Wow, I've been waiting for forever for the studio to release this. It's my all-time favorite movie. I'm 20 minutes into it and this disc is fantastic!" Jeez, dude, put down your phone and enjoy the freakin' movie! You can tell us what you think about it afterward.
 
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