Imagine creating a video letter from 2011 to the 1960's in which young and old alike show their passion for "social media," in terms a time traveller would understand....and you'll gain an early sense of the concept for my next documentary.
The other day, I asked visitors to my vlog to consider the challenge of describing what we like to call "Social Media" to an individual from decades ago - a time before home computers, before the Internet (at least as a universally accessible resource), and certainly before social technology. Responses were fascinating - here are just a few:
21stCenturyCat suggested that Twitter was like having pen pals all over the world - but with immediate response.
EdElisea took the alternative approach, hosting a visitor from forty years ago in our modern time. He points out that before addressing social media, he would have to explain all of the strange noises a visitor would experience - car alarms, cell phone ring tones, talking GPS Units. THEN he would begin to explain today's powerful PC's.
Bearchay889 uses a grapevine analogy for most social media platforms, but suggests that YouTube would be more of a challenge to describe because of its unique technical characteristics.
Yllekr123 said: "If you tried to tell me 40 years ago about the internet I would have laughed at you."
journeyoflifevlogs perhaps summed it all up. He would ask inhabitants of 1971 to imagine technology that would enable people of all races to communicate and share inexpensively and from the comforts of home. He also pointed out that he would likely be "locked in a crazy home for the rest of my life."
Technologically, we live in an age so wildly distinct and unanticipated from just a few decades ago that it's becoming hard to comprehend how far we've come. Even the most visionary science fiction writers couldn't imagine the social tools we use today on a daily basis.
Today, many people still respond to the concept of tools like YouTube and Twitter with "I just don't get it." My film, in sending a "message to the past," could also be a fun way to better understand our revolutionary age.
This is at early stage - responses and input welcome! Subscribe to my Vlog on YouTube, if you haven't already!
Sorry I missed the vlog when it was initially posted, but glad to catch it - and the reaction - now.
ReplyDeleteOne way I would have explained it would have been to simply say, "Read Philip K. Dick." In fact, we're only barely catching up to Dick's vision now.