Searching for humanity behind an LCD

By Len Gutman on November 11th, 2009 In Hype!

Here I am again, staring into a computer screen writing this blog post. It has occurred to me recently that I spend inordinately too much time staring into a screen. In fact, it seems like that’s all I do anymore.

I communicate to friends and co-workers via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. I can’t remember the last time I picked up a phone and called a friend just to chat. Face-to-face meetings are few and far between because I’m too busy sitting in front of a computer screen to get out.

My job is almost exclusively done through a computer screen. I write news releases, send pitches to reporters, create blog posts and tweets, and fish the Internet looking for places to get hits for my clients. I research online databases and post news releases on wires and social media sites without talking to a human being.

When I’m not working I’m surfing…for news, entertainment and other diversions. I’m posting inane matters on Facebook and tweeting irreverent comments on Twitter. I even search for books to read and movies to see on the net. Sometimes I spend all day working on the computer, then spend the evening surfing. I think my head is going to explode.

I think one of the reasons I like teaching is that it forces me to talk to other human beings, although I often find myself using the computer to teach — using video clips and news sites as visual aids.

Is this what our world has come to? Do folks in other careers have these issues? Is anyone else bothered by how much time they spend staring into a glowing box of digital dreck?

I wonder if I can go a whole day, or god forbid a whole weekend, without turning on my computer? Oh, and that means no surfing on my Blackberry either. I think I’m going to give it a go this weekend. Starting Friday morning. Okay, starting Friday at 5 p.m.

Searching for humanity behind an LCD

Comments

Ed A Says:
November 11th, 2009 at 5:33 pm

I can quit anytime I want….

(Have they invented a LCD display yet that can help me with the whole vitamin D thing?)

@thatonetallguy on twitter

Marketing $ociologist Says:
November 11th, 2009 at 7:21 pm

Len,

Same here. I’ve adopted a phrase, my job is a pain in the butt, literally. I’m sitting on it all day.

You know you’re addicted when you get up at 12:01 a.m. to check Google analytics and how your posts are tracking.

“I wonder if I can go a whole day, or god forbid a whole weekend, without turning on my computer?” More than likely, NAH, unless you’re using a WiFi enabled wireless (cell) phone. Have a friend who went camping in northern New Mexico. Had to run to the Interstate every evening to check his Twitter – and he’s over 60!

Cynde C Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 9:44 am

I have to force myself to check my personal e-mail once in a while because I am plugged in so much during the day. It’s good to get away from all of the message saturation. I enjoy what technology and the Internet enables me to do, but I need more engagement and mental stimulation than it can provide. Nothing beats meeting friends for dinner, going to a live show, reading a book, playing cards, hiking, camping…I’m a geek for sure, but it is getting back to reality that helps me energize for the virtual.

Linda Capcara Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 10:01 am

The movie “The matrix” keeps taking on new relevance. It’s now perfectly plausible to foresee a future where we all just sit in our chairs with our brains plugged directly in to the network. Our virtual lives become indistinguishable from reality and the analog world exists only in a lab.

Ian Gilyeat Says:
November 14th, 2009 at 7:57 pm

Not a problem for me Len. When I want to talk to someone I just pick up the phone and call someone. Go ahead, give it try. Call you mother, your wife or one of your old buddies from college… or if you need new clients, call into some random company and ask to talk to the switchboard operator – they always have time to talk.

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