Social Media on the run… addictive?

I don’t know about you, but heck…. I find it difficult to even think of a day without social media in my life. Hmmm… wonder if Shabz is online… or Claire perhaps (calculate time zones and check anyway)…. hey what’s everyone got to say on Twitter…

Probably one of the first things I do when I wake is check emails and Twitter updates on my phone. I have deliberately not added the mobile Facebook application, since I already have GTalk, Yahoo Messenger and Blackberry Messenger…. in addition to two email accounts and oh… an additional Twitter account too. These seem more than enough to keep me occupied and connected whilst on the go.

When my phone went in for repairs, I felt officially lost! I promise you…. I’m convinced I had withdrawal symptoms. These 3 weeks truly seemed like the longest 3 weeks of my life. Initially, it was as if I just didn’t know what to do with myself and this built-in inclination to check up on statuses, messages and chats. How could technology do this to me!!! Don’t they realise how much I need it?? How dependant I’ve become on the convenience? No red little flashing light to check?? What now?

The first week was super hard and slowly the realization sunk in that I need to occupy myself in other ways and just live with my little scenario. Ultimately… I think I calmed down a bit. I chilled bit more, read more, didn’t feel the need to check little red light (cos well I couldn’t even if I wanted to). And sitting at the PC is just not the same. Needless to say- happiness returned once my phone got back.

I have the habit of putting my phone on quiet mode – not even silent or vibrate – with the idea that I check up on things when I want to, when convenient for me, particularly when with family and some friends. So the thinking was that I managed my time pretty well when it comes to social media. Well- my 3 weeks of perceived hell certainly proved me wrong and I couldn’t help but think… am I addicted … me?

Make no mistake, obviously I love social media and being connected, yet my 3 week abstinence taught me that I need to strike a healthier balance between time spent online and off.

Love it or hate it- it’s now a part of our daily lives…. learn to deal with it or you may find yourself networking with the 12 steps.

(Pic: http://is.gd/gCqkF)

Life before social media

Elated is about the best word I can think of how I felt today after receiving a postcard from a friend from halfway across the world! Handwritten with stamp and all! Now if that ain’t special – heck I don’t know what is.

It really got me thinking of life before social media and even though its boosted our abilities to communicate at rapid speeds, transcending vast spaces, I think there’re still some things it simply cannot beat. I’m certainly not bombing social media, especially since its facilitated chats with this very same friend, yet some things about the past I just feel are irreplaceable.

So what is it that I miss about life before social media?

• That handwritten, or better yet, homemade birthday card for sure.
• Uninterrupted conversations where people aren’t reaching for their phones every 5 minutes
• Developing pictures for the photo album that creeks when you turn the pages
• Not being that easily contactable and traceable
• Phone calls to simply know you doing and what you been up to

Is there anything you miss about life before social media?

(Pic: http://is.gd/gslJB)

The 10 most unexpected consequences of being online

Many of us spend hours online and these days – its not just about finding information – it’s also about engaging in conversations and exploring the randomness of the great world wide web. Our hours of browsing and engaging it seems also come with some unexpected consequences – some good…some bad. Here’s my list of some of those consequences:

1. Finding an old school friend from primary or secondary years – I think just about everyone can relate to finding Natasha after 10 years

2. Having an argument with someone you don’t even know – it’s a looooong story, it happened via email and had nothing to do with work

3. “Forgot your password?” … thankfully just about every site is equipped to “reset” those gazillion passwords we accumulate.

4. The joys of online banking!!! – yaaaaaay! Transacting by a coupla clicks here and there has changed paying bills which could take all day to just a few minutes… love it!

5. Checking out reviews of a product or service ahead of a possible purchase – its reeeeaally helpful to know about others experiences when considering something new

6. Freedom of expression!! – I just love the fact that I can air my views, concerns and opinions with no consideration of censorship at all … clearly.

7. The randomness of searching for really random information and actually getting hits – yes midgets can have babies and babies can be perfectly normal.

8. Chatting and catching up with a friend in London, Cayman Islands or India- its like they’re just around the corner and have never left….although ye… nothing beats face to face – miss u Claire!

9. When last have you received a handwritten birthday card?…. a bit of a sentimental-I tend to hold onto these things and loved the little thoughtful notes … precious. These days… Facebook or an email seems to do the trick- its impersonal man!

10. Your whole life splattered across an array of social media networks… there is no such thing as secrets my friend and don’t even try to keep anything to yourself… if its not on your page somewhere – its on a friend’s or somewhere – some poor woman found pics of her husband’s wedding….er yes… her husband’s wedding… what a way to find out.

(Pic: http://www.psfk.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Addiction-To-Social-Media1.jpg )

Augmented Reshmality

PRP’s... I hope you sitting down... and up for this one! Whilst sitting down with our website guru recently- I learnt about something called Augmented Reality. In considering how social media has evolved, transforming peoples lives within such a short period of time... I’m afraid to think of what this Augmented Reality’s gonna do to us. From my limited understanding, it will (and already is) taking marketing and advertising by storm... maybe da pro... and it could also mean the end of privacy as we know it... da con?

Augmented Reality (AR) is the intermingling of our real and virtual worlds... using graphics and data from our virtual world and integrating it into our real world... as in REAL-TIME... now... ultimately enhancing what we see, hear, feel or smell...

Using software on eye-classes or on our mobile phones for example, AR allows us to interact with our real world like never before. Admittedly, me still a little fuzzy as to the mechanics of it all- ... but shoo! ... talk about blurring the lines.

Already used by Saatchi & Saatchi in a campaign for Wordsworth Books in SA... seems AR is gonna take brand communication to whoooole nother level! No doubt – it’s a matter of time before AR really rocks SA. What’s scary is when AR meets social media... imagine walking down the street and having graphics and audio coincide with what you see... info and ads popping up as you go along. Or what about an instant view of online profiles of those around you... people you might not even know?! ...”Ooooh... dat dude was at Mavericks last night and OMW!... he knows Cindy... small world ne!”. … so what? Bye-bye privacy?

Google it and check it out on YouTube people... AR is something that’s got me scared and excited at the same time. And to my fellow PRP’s, here’s to making magic with our future campaigns. If anything, AR is sure to change how we view our world.

(Picture by: http://www.mikearauz.com/images/socnetwork_AR_lg.jpg)