ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SCREEN

So, I’m waiting for my friend the other day, sitting in my car, checking out random OuterWeb stuff on my phone.  Exciting, I know, stay with me.  We communicate through hand-held robots via satellite frequencies ~ I’m sorry if you don’t find that absolutely amazing but my mind is still blown away by it.  I look up and catch a momentary glance of a young girl walking on the sidewalk across the street.  Her dark brown hair and cream coloured dress billows behind her as her eyes remain planted on her phone as she goes.

My distracted obsession is 100% social media, I check it far too often, I admit, and based on all logical deductions, I assumed the young girl’s fascination is the same.   She stops walking to text/post something, walks no more than 2-3 seconds, and then stops to check again.  I spotted an elated transformation at one point, as she smiles and gleefully keeps walking upon receiving a response.

A wonderment streamed through my cerebellum.  Why are we all so transfixed by the OuterWeb, by new technologies in general these days?  I mean, really.  It’s not reason enough that the glow is addictive and the gadgets are new and shiny.  No, I surmise that the reason we (or at last me and her) can’t take our eyes off social media is because it’s the first time ever in the history of always that we regular people can see ourselves on the other side of that magical screen.  Up until recently only famous people have occupied this space.  The screen was reserved for people, who in my mind, represented the better-thans, the smarter-than-mes, the amazings, the larger-than-lifes, the rule makers and breakers…wasn’t it like that for you?  I think I’ve harboured an inferiority complex all my life because my smug mug didn’t live on the glamourous-looking flip side.  Even having your name published in the local paper for a, what was it, a high school music competition?  Man, such a thrill!

And now we’re ALL on the other side of the screen!  Just like that we’re among the untouchables!  We can’t get enough of it because suddenly we see our faces on the same news feed as Steve Martin!  Holy crap, if only my avatar had arms I could tap him on the shoulder and take him out for coffee instead of the friend I waited for.  He’d play banjo while I tried out my best material.  That must be it, right?  We’re shinier over there.  We can flip between being a Regular Joe to a Spectacular Francis with an effortless thumb tap.

Another reason we might enjoy the digital interface is because it reminds us of the thrill of passing notes in class.  To keep a second, secret, sometimes anonymous voice perpetually running behind our actual comings and goings.  And is that conversation more important to the ones we have live?  When we’re glued to our screen and someone has to ask our attention we look up, deal with the request, and then quickly get back to our exchange online.  Just like I did when the teacher asked me something in school.  This fascinates me.

I don’t think I communicated this idea in my novel this effectively, but the essence is the same.  Jesters Incognito is about tech obsession as much as it is about creative expression.  I set out to tell a story, and my pontifications on the nature of tech in today’s society peppers the plot arch.  Don’t misunderstand me, I adore technology, and social media is a big part of my life fabric.  Still, I’m curious to know why we’re all transfixed by this otherworldly digital space.  Thoughts?

Good times with my friend, by the way.  We didn’t look at our phones once.  But I really wanted to.