Socializing technology

When language first emerged, we were able to communicate in person with one another in any given moment. Then we learned to write our thoughts down to communicate across distance and time. Over the last two hundred years, we've figured out how to record the spoken word and our faces, while being able to transmit them around the world in milliseconds. Today, we have gone so far as to be able to generate words, audio, and video artificially, as though they were created by a real person. Shared knowledge and communication have been our competitive advantages in the survival of the fittest.

Walk into any library and the thought of reading every book is overwhelming. The internet is a combination of every library as well as most other systems of record combined. How do we filter through it all? For me, the answer is with each other's help. I'll take a friend's recommendation for a restaurant. I'll decide which headphones to buy based on collective reviews. The news I read is vetted by publications with reputations that were earned over time and can be lost in an instant. Tapping into the worldwide hive-mind can have its benefits when used appropriately.

It's incredibly valuable to be able to communicate over distances. With satellite internet, we are covering the entire planet with internet access. Across distance, it is easier to remove any filters you would otherwise have face to face. The strong, often hurtful opinions of others can be sent to us quite easily. The threat of physical violence and/or reputational damage in personal confrontations is removed to a large extent on the internet. There are many people that enter the online arena looking for an outlet for their frustrations. That is one of the main reasons I chose to leave that arena. I still tap into the value of distance communication by communicating with my friends and family around the world.

One of the students I tutor mentioned that he'll be spending his school break on Roblox. It's easy to draw parallels to how kids used to spend their breaks in arcades together. But when they got hungry, they would still head across the street together to have a meal. Now, they might not even log off to eat, and they certainly won't be eating with each other in person. It's concerning that the cheapest, easiest ways to socialize today are online. I don't entirely understand the appeal, even though I'll spend some nights playing video games online with friends. The value of in-person events and activities will only go up as it gets easier to get together online.

This article will live for as long as Substack and I choose to host it on this platform. It will be associated with me that entire time. It will be a part of my reputation. A question we ask ourselves more and more these days is whether or not I should say something online. It is a reputational risk. What we say or do may stay with us for the rest of our lives. This is causing people to take fewer risks, especially kids. Why ask out the person you're interested in if they might say no and tell the whole school? Self-censorship is missing 100% of the shots you won't take.

Language is the technology that brings us together. It allows us to exchange ideas and feelings across space and time. We have unprecedented opportunities for connection at our disposal. Parents have a responsibility to guide their children on how to use technology together to learn, explore, and communicate. This means teaching them when to engage online and when to step away, how to navigate their reputation while taking healthy social risks, and most importantly, how to maintain genuine human connections in an increasingly virtual world. There's so much potential in these tools of connection. We must make it good for everyone's sake.

Originally published on Substack.