WoDG Postcard

coffee cup
Digital Natives

   
Author: Maven Blue
Column: Behind the Bar
Date: 2013-11-01 15:32:38

 

If there’s one thing I’ve learned behind the bar is that there’s nothing that gets more conversation going than politics, religion, culture and the state of the city. Throw out a few lines on what Mayor Morgan Phillip Thomas is or isn’t doing for the city and a full on debate flows faster than I can pour. Start talking about globalization, mega-corporations and who’s buying who these days and the young pups all but salivate and the old dogs join right in with their conspiracy theories. All that aside, it was an observation from one of my senior residents that sparked a curious discussion into the culture of the digital native.


It started with a young couple, both twenty-somethings, both good looking kids. They held hands - cute - but in their free hand each held a smartphone which they constantly looked at. Their time together was mostly spent engaged with their phones and not with each other. It sparked a comment from my old friend, “Kids. Always trapped in their devices. Nobody ever talks to each other anymore.” He was dismissed by some who called him a luddite, and applauded by others who shared in his opinion. It was mostly a divide by age, but it was an interesting conversation none the less.


Is there some truth to his observation though? We are living in a world where the digital native predominates the culture. If you’re reading this, you’re already part of the machine; you’ve bought into the world of ones and zeros. Digital footprints are being created from before birth - yes, you who posts the pictures of your ultrasound - and they only continue to grow. People are living through virtual worlds, deriving their pleasures from instant information and communication. You don’t have to have any human interaction at all. No email? You might as well be a resident of the dark ages. You’ve been left behind if you aren’t connected to a social network. We live behind our screens and communicate with an inherent level of anonymity. There is isolation … even though we share our lives with others. We engage, but are we really there? Are we losing the intimacy of the human experience?


I asked my bar flys when the last time they had a meaningful interaction with someone … face to face without the distraction of technology? It was a mixed bag of results as I expected - some did so on a regular basis, some couldn’t remember a time at all (said while they checked their messages). For others, this was the most meaningful interaction that they’d had all week. So where do we carve out these spaces for authentic human communication? When do we stop being anonymous? Is this even possible for the digital native?


If we are careful we can find these spaces, small though they may be. I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a stranger on the subway. She told me about her granddaughter who just started college. There was pride in her voice as she talked about her family. I took the time to be engaged. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but it was an authentic moment even though it only lasted a few stops.  For my bar flys the moment comes the minute they sit on the stool in front of me.These are where we carve our spaces. It’s these spaces that we have to share.


You can’t stop progress; the next big thing will always come. But before you lose yourself in the virtual world, remember that a life spent too long in the shadows of the digital might not be a life at all. Step out from the shadows once in a while. You might even like it.