There’s a strange thing controlling most of the content you see on a day-to-day basis; something most people have dubbed ‘the algorithm’. 20+ years ago, most content people saw was largely through their television set or heard through their car radio, all of which was curated by people in boardrooms who planned out what ‘prime time’ would entail for the average household.
Now, no faces or boardroom tables are required to plan what sort of content to show you that will capture your attention and hook you in to view/want more, and the difference in the two worlds is startling.
For example: in the 80’s broadcast networks had little-to-no way of knowing if somebody turned off their telelvision set in the middle of a show. With the introduction of platforms like Netflix and Hulu, watch-times are closely monitored and algorithmcally researched to better understand the wants of the ‘user’.
Human relationships have also changed. In the past, human relationships were strengthened through shared experiences, time spent together and even long-form written communication (remember letters?) that slowly developed strong relational roots over time. Now, most relationships live betwen two electronic devices.
With the introduction of social media, there’s been an introduction of ‘assumed knowledge’ found in relationships. This evening, I caught up with a buddy of mine who spoke about the last few months of his life assuming that I was a follower of his social network channels. I’m not. Once I told him that, he blurted out:
“Man, I had no idea you had no idea what I was talking about. I figured you saw all of the content I posted.”
I didn’t. Nor was I there to experience the events with him.
“I thought you knew me.” could have been the words he uttered.
There are so many beautiful moments that happen when nobody else is around to like, comment or subscribe to them. However, the “LCS” modality that most of the world operates on now has diluted the beauty of these moments.
Life is full of a lot of special moments, times and experiences that were never meant to be broadcast to thousands/millions of people hidden behind screens – who fail to live their own life in the moment they tune in to watch somebody else’s, sort of like The Truman Show.
Sometimes I ponder why I didn’t go the route of the ‘influencer’. In a lot of ways, I probably could have become wildly successful documenting certain parts of my life. If I’m honest, there’s a deep part of me that feels like people should go live their own lives, rather than follow some random man/woman on a screen. In similar fashion, I feel a deep conviction to go out and live my own life – authentically – and learn from the bumps in the road without having an audience to dilute (or pollute) my own lessons.
For years, I’ve used this this website/blog to capture reflections of my own life. If you read between the lines, you’ll see tiny details emerge that most viewers wouldn’t ever catch. For example, the last year of my writing has had a copious amount of errors in it. Why? Because my iPad keyboard was on its last leg. I knew it, but opted not to get a replacement or bother to correct the errors, as they gave the writing a level of personality – like Alfalfa’s hair.
There’s a great deal of life to be found in the quiet moments, the broken keyboards and even the hurts and pains we feel every day. No amount of money can pave over a heart that’s broken, any more than a few million ‘followers’ can fix the inherant brokeness of our human condition/experience.
This evening as I write this, I can’t help but feel like a human being. While I’m alone, I recognize that there’s beauty in the quiet moments; a stillness that speaks far more than countless notifications on my screen, sourced and procured from an algorithm that will never keep me warm at night.
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