The digital age

You are not human anymore. In a world driven by binary, you are just a number. Or maybe you used to be human but then came the real digital age… when brands and marketing teams decided that you need to be analysed as data. 

The social network wanted more of you on their platform so that they can sell you as numbers to the marketeers.

And here is the thing… you agreed. You opted in.

Your life was made bare with every post, every status update, every checkin, every review, every share, every new addition to the list of contacts. You let yourself become data. And then data became big data. The more people who jump in, they bring with them lot more information to be mined and made available for brands for better targeting.

Now it is no more about your experience of having a coffee, a meal or watching a movie. Data is gathered about where you have that coffee or meal, the kind of movies you watch, how often do you go as a couple to watch the movie, which theatre you frequent, what’s your favourite show timing (Mail I received from bookmyshow the other day!)

You travel and google travels with you in the background. The map knows your home address and office address (two destinations frequently traveled).

You look at the information and depending on your digital evolution, you are either amazed or shocked. But hey, it is too late. You opted in every time you pressed “I agree” for any app without reading the fine print.

So there you are… just a number to a digital marketing professional. The professional who probably knows you way better than your spouse or partner.

So all those who crib about privacy should shut up. You got seduced by technology and now it is too late for you to complain about intrusion. Might as well figure out if there is something constructive that can happen, now that the brands and marketeers know you so well. 

And if you don’t like what is happening… do the digital disconnect. Now that would be the toughest thing for you to do. Remember you got seduced?

When the operating system changes

 

So yes, after spending years with Android, I also fell for iOS!

It is like stepping out of the comfort zone.

Isn’t this true for most of us?

We get too comfortable with our status quo. Peddle out excuses for not changing. Even if things are not alright, we continue to exist. Refusing to accept the new. Refusing to accept that life needs a change. Happy to (no not happy but perhaps resigning ourselves) continue with our life the way it is.

I was the same. I refused to accept any argument against Android. Kept saying I will never shift to iOS.

And then figured… what the hell… let me take the plunge. Let me change something. Let me step out and look at life in a different way. It is strange isn’t it? How I am talking about life in the context of an operating system. But that is what our lives have become, given how much interaction we have today with screens vs real people.

We connect more with people through the screen than in real life. Because what is beyond the screen, doesn’t give us enough time to interact up close and personal with people we would like to interact with. We start living on multiple levels.. what is happening around us and what is happening on the screen. Lines between real and virtual increasingly get blurred.

I guess when nothing big is happening in life right now, changing the operating system perhaps is a little pleasure of making a change. Who knows, it could be a harbinger of change in the life beyond screen too!

It has been less than a day and the struggle is real to adapt but hell yes! it is exciting : )

(image courtesy blackchilled.com)