![\"Digital-lives\"](\"http:\/\/tedconfblog.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/digital-lives.jpg?w=900\")
At concerts, lighters once swayed in the air during poignant moments, the audience belting out lyrics together in a moment of catharsis. Today, the group sing-alongs still happen, but the air shines with a different glow: the light of cell phones.<\/p>\n
Last week, while seeing a favorite band, I couldn\u2019t help but notice the sea of undulating phones around me. With my view partially obstructed by shoulders, I found my eyes constantly settling onto the glowing screen of the guy in front of me, who was recording each and every song. The screen allowed me to see clearly, and yet it seemed a strange mediation of a moment that is all about the present. Yes, by recording the full show, you get to watch it later. But what did you really experience in the first place?<\/p>\n
Both today\u2019s talk, \u201cJuan Enriquez: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo<\/a>,\u201d and today\u2019s new TED Book from Damon Brown, Our Virtual Shadow: Why We Are Obsessed with Documenting Our Lives Online<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>take reflective looks at the nuances of what it means to have an online record of life. In his talk, Enriquez classifies social media fragments as \u201cdigital tattoos,\u201d while Brown characterizes this mediated life as our \u201cvirtual shadow.\u201d<\/p>\n Which concept meshes more with your view of our digital lives? Here, a deeper look at the two concepts.<\/p>\n What are they?<\/b><\/p>\n Digital tattoos:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cTattoos really do shout,\u201d says Enriquez in his talk. \u201cWhat if Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, cell phones, GPS, FourSquare, Yelp, Travel Advisor — all these things you deal with every day — turn out to be electronic tattoos? And what if they provide as much information about who and what you are as any tattoo ever would?\u201d<\/p>\n Virtual shadow:<\/b><\/p>\n As Brown writes in his book, \u201cMore than ever, we\u2019re now focused on documenting and building the history of our lives, not on living the life unfolding right in front of us. It\u2019s all about the check-in, the status update, the captured moment, rather than being fully present day to day. We\u2019re each focused on what I call our virtual shadow<\/i>: a collected narrative that, like a physical shadow, is symbolic of where our real selves have been, albeit a few steps behind.”<\/p>\n Is this a brand-new problem? Nope:<\/b><\/p>\n Digital tattoos:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe Greeks thought about what happens when Gods, humans and immortality mix for a long time,\u201d Enriquez says in the talk. \u201cLesson #1: Sisyphus. He did a horrible thing and was condemned for all time to roll this rock up — and it would roll back down. It\u2019s a little like your reputation. Once you get that electronic tattoo, you\u2019re going to be rolling up and down for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Virtual shadow: <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cSocrates had as much trouble with then-new technologies as we do with modern tech. Words were meant to be spoken, Socrates believed, rather than written down,\u201d Brown tells the TED Blog. In his book, he adds, \u201c[It’s] the same conflict humans have had throughout time: how do we successfully capture a potentially significant moment? It is the prehistoric caveman making images on the wall, the elementary-school class creating a time capsule, every man in an army platoon getting the same tattoo right before a battle.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s the most disconcerting new technology out there?<\/b><\/p>\n Digital tattoos:<\/b><\/p>\n Says Enriquez, \u201cFacial recognition is getting really good \u2026 Companies like Face.com now have about 18 billion faces online.\u201d<\/p>\n Virtual shadow:<\/b><\/p>\n Writes Brown, \u201cGoogle Glass can take pictures and video, check your email, text your friends, and surf the web — in short, it can record your whole life \u2026 Google claimed that they weren\u2019t built for everyday use, but I doubt Apple planned on people texting while walking, either.\u201d<\/p>\n How do we escape the grip our online lives have over us?<\/b><\/p>\n Digital tattoos:<\/b><\/p>\n Enriquez tells us, \u201cBe cautious when faced with the choice of doing something boneheaded on Twitter or Facebook. Give it 12 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Virtual Shadow: <\/b><\/p>\n Brown writes, \u201cThe best way to separate mundane short-term memories from important long-term memories is to simply be as present as possible \u2026 The more aware you are of your surroundings, the more your brain can create a cohesive, solid memory. A rich memory — for instance, making love for the first time — isn\u2019t created by an isolated sensation, like a gentle touch or the smell of a cologne, but from the collecting and connecting of all those inputs into one unforgettable multisensory experience. The brain doesn\u2019t need better tools; it just needs us to be as present as possible when things are actually happening.\u201d<\/p>\n How do photos and video play into this?<\/b><\/p>\n Digital tattoos:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand how quickly this has changed,\u201d Enriquez tells the TED Blog. \u201cThere weren\u2019t a lot of videos of September 11, because it was a pain in the rear to take video on 9\/11. You needed a large camera and battery pack \u2013 you had to set up the camera. Now every one of us carries HD in our pockets \u2026 HD video is so simple, cheap and easy to use that it can affect a presidential campaign, like what happened with Romney<\/a>.\u201d He adds, \u201cThis 24-second news cycle, where a presidential candidate says something stupid on air and, \u2018Gotcha!,\u2019 is now beginning to apply to other people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Virtual shadow:<\/b><\/p>\n Brown writes in the book, \u201cMy favorite uncle shared some good news: He had pictures — hundreds of pictures — from our wedding day. He\u2019d gotten some gorgeous shots, he said, and he couldn\u2019t wait to send them to us. He also told me that he couldn\u2019t wait to get the official video, since he\u2019d been distracted and missed a lot. He was excited to watch a recap of what had happened while he was busy trying to capture the beautiful moments as they were actually happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Is there potential for good with social media?<\/b><\/p>\n Digital tattoos:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe really neat thing is that this is exactly the kind of stuff that allows a group like TED to be so successful and spread ideas,\u201d Enriquez tells us. \u201cAnd that allows Twitter to spread ideas in a very powerful way — to take on governments, take on bad officials, expose corruption, start movements, do Kickstarter. I\u2019m not arguing [social media] shouldn\u2019t exist. I\u2019m saying that precisely because this stuff is so powerful, we should be careful.\u201d<\/p>\n Virtual shadow:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThere is definitely much good that comes from social media. I\u2019m a huge Twitter fan<\/a> \u2026. I think we just need to ask the same question we do with other activities: Is this affecting my quality of life?\u201d he says to the TED Blog. \u201cSaying technology is making us less attentive is a copout. Technology has always been an issue for us, whether it was a child in the \u201950s watching too much TV or a caveman playing with a new discovery called fire. Like our ancestors, what we really need to do is find a smart way to integrate our newfound technology into our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n So where do you stand, do you feel like the bits and pieces of you online are your digital tattoos, or that they comprise your virtual shadow? Or perhaps a little bit of both?<\/p>\n Watch Juan Enriquez’s TED Talk on digital tattoos \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n Read Damon Brown’s TED Book about virtual shadows \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Juan](\"http:\/\/images.ted.com\/images\/ted\/df4268df2cdd9dbc4f5c1e6f1c95cfddedf71576_240x180.jpg\")
Juan Enriquez: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo<\/span><\/a>Meanwhile, the group standing beside me at this concert had faces flushed from a little too much alcohol. They had their phones out too, the flashes going off periodically as they snapped shot after shot — arms excitedly slinging around each other. As soon as a photo was taken, they\u2019d lean into the capturing phone and laugh as its owner typed out a message and posted it on Facebook. Was the liquor-soaked moment really one they wanted to share with everyone, co-workers included?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/comments\/tedconfblog.wordpress.com\/75432\/\")
<\/a> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stats.wordpress.com\/b.gif?host=blog.ted.com&blog=14795620&%23038;post=75432&%23038;subd=tedconfblog&%23038;ref=&%23038;feed=1\")