Can Our (Online) Social Lives Really Capture Our Life? at the pursuit of techyness

Can Our (Online) Social Lives Really Capture Our Life?

April 13th, 2010 by ame

Today, we’re all over the place.

Not just in a busy sense (well, that too), but also in a digital sense. We leave our footprint (Foursquare checkins, Facebook wall posts, Tweets, Blog posts, Comments, Yelp Reviews etc..) all over the ‘net. We share where we’ve been, where we’re going, what we did, ate, thought and felt with our friends, family and even complete strangers whom we’ve never met.

But, in reviewing a few photos that were posted by @GeorgeGSmithJr from a recent trip up north, all of the tweets and foursquare checkins fall in the shadows of some of the pictures he uploaded from the trip.

So my question is– we’re sharing our social lives online- but it all seems to fall short when you compare it to a picture.

I think this one’s my favorite, but check out his Flickr stream here for the rest (if you’re interested).

Tags: commentary, photography, photos, social commentary, social media, travel.

http://www.nosenseoftime.org George G Smith Jr

Our online lives, no matter how much we share, are only sketches of our real ones.

They may capture different intimate thoughts – insecurities captured in an online journal, tales of glory, of woe, of all that in between – yet, the online content is solely derivative of the physical world.

Photographs, in my opinion, capture it best. They have a way of stealing that perfect moment – perhaps an impromptu photo shoot on the shores of Lake Champlain – and translating it for the world to see. We can send these to their online destinations, but they ultimately aren't digital. They are magic – a direct manifestation of the real world.

PS – You're beautiful.
sarahc722

i loveee this picture of you. possibly my fave of all time. although, i mean, there is one of you in a duvet cover circa halloween '05 that will forever be one of my faves.
amedmunds

I HAVE to find that picture.
@lookslikeakid

maybe social updates are like metrics. they just try to “quantify” some experience so that it can be understood by others, but is still nothing like the real thing. and you are obviously enamored, so all the thoughts going through your brain are dopamine infused anyway :D
http://www.nskings.com/

Photographs, in my opinion, capture it best. They have a way of stealing that perfect moment – perhaps an impromptu photo shoot on the shores of Lake Champlain – and translating it for the world to see.http://www.nskings.com/ We can send these to their online destinations, but they ultimately aren't digital. They are magic – a direct manifestation of the real world.
http://fayza.me Fayza

Call me old school, but I don't want my life lived online. I might work in social media, but there's no need for everyone to know what I do, where I've been, what I've eaten, where I bought a shower curtain. It's just too easy that way. There's more to me than can be defined by social networks.