What’s New in 2010 - January 8th, 2010

What’s New in 2010

Our brains

This isn’t exactly “news” but the way that people of all ages are interacting online may be affecting the way we think.  According to Lady Greenfield, professor of synaptic pharmacology at Lincoln college, Oxford, this is the first time in human history where both adults and children are “playing games by themselves”.  The danger, she fears, is that attention spans will become shorter and societal levels of empathy will be reduced.  (Just read the comments section of any controversial blog, for that one). Personally, I recommend clicking on the link just to hear her beautiful accent.  Be forewarned however, it’s a massive five minutes long.

Our friendships

Friendship has been huge focus of attention online for a long time (remember Friendster?) but it’s also calling into question what makes human relationships meaningful.  Several years ago Leisa Reichelt, a prescient London-based researcher, coined the term ambient intimacy to describe the cloud of relationship-messages that engulf people (phone calls, texts, e-mails, tweets, status updates) 24/7.  But is this high level awareness of the details of the lives of others really meaningful? Back to Lady Greenfield, who opines that the true test of friendship is not how many times you’ve texted one another.  Rather she recommends you ask yourself, to whom would you lend money? Talk to for an hour? Call in the middle of the night?

Our companies

Long gone are the days when computer geeks wore lab coats and pocket protectors working in a chilled room in the basement. Now they have polished their act and have become a ubiquitous presence online with blogs, websites, apps, and other social media channels. But sometimes highly technical folks are still a little challenged when it comes to communicating about information critical to business.  That’s why I adore this new social media graphic by Elliance, which very clearly delineates for companies how online resources and responsibilities should best be divided up.  Even a right-brained guy like me can understand it.

Our attitudes?

An oft-cited poll last summer noted that “87% of adults said they prefer dealing with others in person instead of via computers or smartphones.” With changes in the way we think, make friends, and do business based on accommodation to social networking, will that change? Areas where we need more research – airline passenger statistics, analysis of the success of online dating services, and minutes of phone call usage compared to non-speaking communications.  Sometimes I wonder, will our mobile devices themselves become our new best friends?