Somehow, people have gotten the idea that I hate digital media. I'm not exactly sure how this happened. Maybe it's because I write a blog about digital disenchantment. Maybe it's because I teach a class questioning the inflated role of communication technologies in our culture. Maybe it's because they heard my interview with Sally Herships on NPR about how I'm fostering a movement that encourages people to re-value offline media and get disconnected more.
For the record: I think the Internet is pretty neat. I remember the moment a few years ago when I looked at Google Earth for the first time, and felt dizzy. I just had fun launching a new website-slash-business-card. I did a video chat via Skype with my boyfriend the other night, and it was way cool. I'm even into online shopping, and e-banking, and streaming videos from Netflix and Hulu and YouTube, and all that jive.
Plus, I'm sort of addicted to this blog of mine. I have good discipline and a busy life, so I spend most of my time doing things offline. But if I were getting paid (conditional contrary to fact) to write about Slow Media, I would totally love doing this every day.
Especially since one of my dearest friends just sold everything she owned and moved to Paris, I realize that we're lucky to have digital technology now for staying in contact. I lived in the south of France for a while in the 1980s and was really lonely, being completely out of touch with all my friends and family for long stretches. I also lived in Beijing for a while in the 1990s, and although there was an Internet, it was really slow (especially in China at that time) and phone calls back to the States cost $3... per minute. Living abroad must be easier now with e-mail, Skype, blogs, online photo sharing, iPhones, etc.
So don't think I'm hating on new communication technologies. They're super! I just think it's healthy to disconnect once in a while, to keep a good online-offline balance, and to be conscientious about the burdens that accompany these blessings and the analog losses entailed by digital gains.
I don't mind being so far away because I can read your blog and feel connected to you.
I'm so connected that I feel you are right next to me. And I like that. Connected to me by magical, diaphanous threads of techmology. (typo, and it stays; that's what I call it when I'm making fun of it)
PS: Awesome NPR interview! You go girl, slowly...
Posted by: Lisa G | 01/15/2010 at 07:11 PM