Can Social Media be Solitary?

 Solitude and social media might seem contradictory, but a lecture I read recently on a different contradictory relationship - solitude and leadership - made me think otherwise. It's a great read and totally worth it if you have the time - originally delivered by literary critic William Deresiewicz’ to the plebe class at West Point in October 2009 and published in The American Scholar.

 Deresiewicz argues that to be a great leader you have to think for yourself. You have to have the personal courage and patience to think through a situation, make associations, change your mind and finally trust that although the final outcome might not be the most popular, it’s the best.  And to think for yourself, you have to spend some time “finding yourself” – or if that sounds too wishy washy, getting to know yourself.  But this isn’t easy, and there are many distractions. According to Deresiewicz, this is one of the biggest downsides to the ever-connected, multitasking world of Twitter and Facebook.  

“When you expose yourself to those things, especially in the constant way that people do now—older people as well as younger people—you are continuously bombarding yourself with a stream of other people’s thoughts. You are marinating yourself in the conventional wisdom. In other people’s reality: for others, not for yourself. You are creating a cacophony in which it is impossible to hear our own voice, whether it’s yourself you’re thinking about or anything else.”

I’d argue that the activity of writing a blog post – or even a well thought out post on Facebook or Google+ – is pretty solitary.  The content only becomes social when it’s published. We also have a wide and expanding range of tools at our disposal that actually help us be more solitary in the digital world by taking content off the social media grid or giving us a space to produce content privately but still online. I’m thinking of products like the notetaking organizer Evernote or the scrapbook-like Clipboard for articles.  

It’s an interesting question - does social media always have to be interactive?  Does it have to be about multitasking? Can social media be solitary?  By definition the world “social” implies the involvement of other people, but we have the power to turn this social element on and off.  We can (and should) invest the solitary time to construct our own ideas and then, once we’re satisfied with the result, we can open the floodgates to the online world. Those who don’t do this end up throwing premature ideas out to the world, and it’s usually painfully obvious.

Toward the end of his lecture, Deresiewicz makes the point that one of the ingredients of the solitude and introspection is, paradoxically, conversation with friends. He points to an Emerson quote:

“’the soul environs itself with friends, that it may enter into a grander self-acquaintance or solitude.’ Introspection means talking to yourself, and one of the best ways of talking to yourself is by talking to another person.”

So this is where the social aspect of social media comes in. There’s something really valuable to be gained from the open discussion of the social world, we just have to manage it.

Will Human Thought and Technology be Fully Integrated Soon?

Microsoft recently came out with this awesome video about how technology will soon be fully integrated in our every day lives.  It's not a traditional advertisement, but more of a general technology promotion a la "Got Milk" campaign. The message is: technology doesn't have to be invasive or disruptive to our personal lives, but will actually help us accomplish more in all aspects of life.



There are no words - just a series of futuristic (and totally plausible) vignettes, but it sends a clear message and will definitely get you thinking.  Here's some thoughts I had after watching. Would love to hear what you get out of it!

• Right now, most of us still operate in two distinct worlds - our "plugged in" world and our "tuned out" world.  
• When we choose to be, we are "plugged in" with our cell phones, social media sites etc. But we can choose to "tune out" by turning all of these things off (or at least ignoring them). 
• In Microsoft's video, there's no distinction. The two worlds will be seamlessly one, and technology makes us more productive because of this seamless interaction.

At the end of the video, we're left with a lot of unanswered questions: 

• Will the way we think evolve because of this interaction with technology? Will we get dumber or more advanced?
• What if it all falls apart through some global crash or hack? 
• Will the infiltration of technology propel more inequality between those who have and those who don't have. 

I wonder if these were the same questions people were asking at the advent of electricity... Worth checking out if you have a chance.

*I have to credit BigThink's Scott McLeod for calling it out.

5 Websites to Jump Start Your Imagination and Feed Your Brain

Even the most focused people have moments when they let their mind wander. And mental wandering is when some of the best ideas take shape. It's the "incubation" period that lets the brain process large amounts of information while being open to new possibilities.


So not all who wander are lost...but not all wandering is productive. At a recent event hosted by the Wimlink Women's Network entrepreneur and Reiss Omnimedia Group founder Karolina Reiss gave this piece of advice: if you want to be successful, you have to be constantly learning about the space where you want to work. So cut out the Facebook browsing/stalking friends of friends of friends and fill that time instead with some exploratory reading.


Here are a few sites that I've been turning to lately to stave off my Facebook addiction and spark some creativity. 


1. The 99 Percent. One of the more sophisticated sites in its class. It's got it all - substantial content, nice layout, good balance of articles, tips, and video. Check out this conveniently relevant article on the importance of downtime.


2. Big Think. This one's great for quick clips and brief articles. It has a bit of a "brain teaser" vibe but it's practical too.  Michio Kaku's out-there science blog is always fun (but may make you question your own existence).


3. Open Culture is about "learning for the sake of learning" and, more generally, openness. It's a refreshing option when you're worn out from endless tech/start-up/digital innovation banter on twitter and want to just geek out. Loved this Thelonious Monk post. (This reminds me - jazz is another AMAZING way to let your brain juices stew...more on that later.)


4. Ted Talks. Yep.


5. Funny or Die. What else can you expect from the offspring of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay other than pure intellectual fodder? This is a better one to follow on twitter than anything else. Recent inspirational tweets include: "Sometimes you need to take yourself to that ghetto university." and "'Why don't we do it in the road?' is a line that only gets you laid if you're in The Beatles."




So there you go...my Anti-Facebook. What's your anti-Facebook?

The Elegance of Apple

"FYI - Steve Jobs died."  The reactions were mixed when someone in my NYU blogging class broke the news to the group.  Some gasps, sighs. Someone mentioned it should be one of our blog posts (good idea).  Suddenly the many half-bitten fruits (now morbidly) staring back at us from from Apple monitors in front of every chair became strikingly apparent.

We were typing on paper thin keyboards, courtesy of Steve; scrolling down the screens with the tiny ball that creates a surprisingly satisifying sensation under the middle finger. I paused periodically to check my iPhone, then threw it back in my purse next to my iPod. When I got home, I jumped on my mom's MacAir, which I'm using because my Macbook has been slow lately. Before going to sleep I read a book on my iPad, and woke up to the alarm on my iPhone.

But Jobs' legacy - as the countless articles, news features and radio programs tell us over and over again - isn't just the sum of the products his vision created. He left us opportunities to learn, an example to strive for, and a standard of elegance to pursue.

In the short but sweet book "In Pursuit of Elegance," author Matthew E. May lays out four key elements of elegant solutions: Symmetry, Seduction, Subtraction, Sustainability.



May's framework is convincing, accessible and holds true to the major and minor innovations of the world.  Here's my take on how Apple fits into May's framework:

Symmetry. May argues that the simple rules of aestheticism and beauty (in both a physical and conceptual sense) are integral to elegant solutions.  One paragraph in particular sums this up:

"Scientists and artists share a common mantra, one immortalized by the great poet John Keats, who contemplated the relationship between art and real life in his 1819 'Ode on a Grecian Urn': 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty--that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'"

Apple products are, relative to other products in the industry, undoubtedly pleasing to the eye and to the touch. There's something satisfying about the sleek, smooth exteriors of the iPhone or MacBook Air. We get a sense of satisfaction from the soft click we hear when we turn up the volume on our iPod. We become intrigued and addicted to the symmetry of the world of Apple.


Seduction. In a similar way, Apple products are nothing if not seductive. One of the most amazing things about Jobs is he convinced us to buy, over and over again, products that we did not need. The smooth surfaces, the black and silver, the state of the art technology made us yearn to be part of the Apple club every time a new product came out.


Subtraction. Less is more. What you don't do can be more compelling than what you do. In his book, May uses the example of Sopranos season finale - a black screen. We don't know who dies, who lives; our mind is left to wonder. And it sparked an unprecedented conversation among viewers and an aura of mystery around the entire show. What you don't see can be more compelling than what you do see.

Apple got this one right too. The smooth curves of each of its product, the lack of apparent excessive buttons or keyboard on the iPhone. The carefully chosen products and the restraint Steve and others used to say "no" to so many brilliant ideas that came out of the innovation powerhouse. "Less is more" is an Apple mantra.


Sustainability. This was one of the more elusive elements of May's framework, but it's important. Elegant solutions don't just exist for a moment and then disappear - they progress and grow because in their DNA is an element of sustainability.

Apple products are sustainable in their make and in the way they're released. The products themselves are like BMWs or luxury watches - the design itself is sustainable because it's classic. And from a macro view, the process by which Apple products are released is sustainable - like clockwork, new and improved models of every product are released, and people buy them.

What happens next for Apple is unknown. In most of my discussions with friends, there's a consensus that the era of grandeur for Apple ends with the death of Jobs. But a company like Apple isn't just a one-man show, even if the inspiration came from the top. Jobs' legacy might not always operate under the Apple brand, but it will spread, split, multiply and continue to change the world through those who built it with him.