No Place Like Face-to-Face

Remember what Dorothy famously said three times at the end of the Wizard of Oz…”there’s no place like home”. What was she most excited about when she woke up from her incredible journey to the Land of Oz? It was seeing the faces of those she loved the most surrounding her and being in the place that meant so much to her. She didn’t say it in the movie but was probably thinking, ‘there’s no place like face-to-face’. But if Dorothy lived today, what would she do next?

She might have Skyped with more people outside of Kansas about the crazy thrill ride of an experience she’d just had. Or she would walk around the neighborhoods in Kansas wearing Google Glass  in a mad rush to map places and faces and take videos to see if it all really was a dream. Or, Dorothy could have stayed right at home and recreated her dream in her actual physical space to blend real items, holograms and other elements using Microsoft Hololens.

Speaking of cool ways to connect, maybe someone should remake the end of the movie and introduce social media. Call it, ‘The Prologue: Dorothy from Oz on Social Media’. It wouldn’t matter. The impact of Dorothy’s message through any social media would derive from her actual experience.

The fact is, Dorothy was so great in the movie because of her authenticity—the way her feelings and intention were known. The way she was engaging because of her transparency and honesty (which does not mean she was a pushover!). All of which she used to create trust and a strong ability to connect so well with others be they friend or foe.

So my quick question for you is this: what is unique about how you connect with people in person and on line—what makes you authentic? How authentically we connect in person anywhere and everywhere launches how great we can be using social media. Be great!

Selfies: Millenial connection or Narcissim (a late Boomer point of view)?

I was in the movie theater the other day. There was a huge storm and the power didn’t go out but the movie was delayed.  The crowd had fun with it.  People started telling jokes. Then this guy said he wanted to get a selfie and asked who wanted to be in it.  We all did!  I thought, ‘what is going on?  Is life being lived and counted by way of Instagram and Selfies?  Well, maybe it is. So I wondered…do selfies promote more connection or more narcissism? Are they really any different than pictures boomers took with friends or while on trips?  The difference is the need for the star quality as in, ‘look at me, where I am, who I am with, the experience I am having’.   A picture was taken to capture a sweet moment to remember later. A selfie is taken because it is the moment.  The selfie has replaced the actual event.  Or has it? Maybe not.  Maybe Millenials and Posts are not so narcissistic but instead, able to both live in the moment and have an extra helping of fun by using social media to capture it. And maybe it is just that simple. There’s no need for additional psycho-analytical whatever to figure it out. Well, I don’t know, really.  I mean, who cares.  I mean, why’d I even write this blog. I could have just posted a selfie and you’d be done by now. Sorry.  Here it is:

 

Theater is not Social Media

Theater is not Social Media

 

I recently went to see a play. It was The Zoo Story by Edward Albee and when written way back in 1958 marked the beginning of American absurdist drama.  I found it wacky, a little surreal and incongruous at times.  I was also struck by the unintentional similarities of the play’s theme with the effects social media addiction can have on some:  isolation, loneliness, and miscommunication.  My indicator was that while watching this riveting show I noticed the experience was a little weird—it was not any of these:  a video, a screen, a text, a voicemail, a blog…..by g-d it was people on a stage speaking and portraying and as a result painting a picture of a story in three dimension with real human beings.  It was striking, and for a moment even seemed absurd that there was no social media as a filter between me and the play.

Gary Danoff is an account executive at Microsoft Corporation, Mentor and author of the soon to be published, R.I.S.E. – Move Up Now!  Gary can be reached at @Gdanoff and gddanoff@msn.com.