No Virtual Handshakes: Remember That the "Virtual" Doesn't Exist Outside the "Real" World

By: Sam Ford, PepperDigital

My blogging silence has been due to a few days spent in Boston for the Consumer Culture Theory Conference in Boston.  I'm planning to share some notes from that conference here on PepperDigital over the next couple of weeks, but I'll say for now that I was honored to be a guest speaker in their "CMS vs. CCT Smackdown" event last Saturday.

While I was in town, I was lucky to have the chance to meet up with a lot of smart thinkers from some innovative media companies in the Boston area.

One theme that popped up in multiple conversations is the connection between the local and the global in a digital "convergence culture" world.  In particular, these conversations emphasized that, as great as the Internet and mobile technologies have been at creating ways to transcend geographic barriers, the virtual world still hasn't replaced the physical one--nor should they be seen as separate from one another.

I was at lunch with Brian Haven and Peter Kim from Forrester Research, for instance, when the topic came up.  (By the way, thanks for the shout-out, Peter.)

Peter and I both came to the East Coast from Kentucky, and we were discussing the plight of people like us who actually love the place we grew up and find the idea of raising a family there appealing.  However, those of us who love the media industries in one way or another might find "The Bluegrass State" a hard place to live.  Sure, there are some local media jobs, especially in the music industries surrounding Nashville, but there's not a plethora of choice...

Our conversation reminded me above all that there's still no "virtual" way to replace the handshake, the face-to-face meeting, and the experience of being in the same place, at the same time.

Working from home today, and just getting off a conference call, I'll be the first to admit that there's something lacking when a room full of people are talking while you try to make sense of what you're missing in terms of hand gestures and facial expressions.  Video conferencing technologies likewise help us overcome these issues, but both sides are usually left wondering at the end of a conversation exactly how well the discussion went.

The next day, I was out with Manila Austin and Judy Walklet from Communispace, and we likewise talked about the advantages of working in a media industries hub such as New York City and the many ways its convenient to have clients and vendors alike only a few streets over.

This was emphasized yet again at the CCT session on Saturday when discussion turned to how enthusiasm about the global and the power of virtual connections to make communities online that can congregate on a daily basis cannot ignore the importance of the geographically local today.  The marketing theorists we were conversing with talked about how they considered the geographically local a vital part of conversations about brands and communities.

So I wanted to remind everyone that, in all our enthusiasm about digital technologies, let's never fall into the trap of thinking about the "virtual world" as something disconnected from everything else.  After all, these are technological tools that still connect us in our everyday life, not a way that we can somehow transcend living.

As I wrote back in April for the MIT Convergence Culture Consortium:

The idea of a "virtual world" existing as separate from one's own world, rather than a technological tool to communicate in "the real world," is the type of technological determinist view we steer away from at the Consortium. This isn't to say that virtual relationships are "less real," but rather the "reality" of how people use online tools is that social networks become more often about staying connected to our geographical roots, or friends we knew from being in the same geographic proximity, than about meeting new people.

Comments

[nick huhn]

nice thoughts, sam. given my recent departure from yum, i guess i should open myself to the possibilities of FINALLY relocating. (sigh) we'll see... ;)

[Sam Ford]

Well, keep me updated, Nick. I want to see where you end up. If you've got to make the move, there's always the Big Apple. I hear there's an organization for displaced Kentuckians in the NYC area. Maybe we can go to the meetings together. :) Wonder if they serve sorghum...

[how2]

sam
this is a piece i wrote last year also thinking about the handshake i think you might enjoy
http://talentzoo.com/website/columns/ColumnContent.aspx?Id=1958

thanks for the insightful posts

[Sam Ford]

Howard, thanks for the link. Certainly something to think about in our digital era...As you point out, no matter what the medium, some degree of interactivity and intimacy is essential in building sustaining relationships.