We are in an age where it is expected that we share our day to day experiences on Social Media. But is there a point where you can go too far? That’s the question I pose in today’s article.
I want to tell you a story. I recently attended an intimate gig in Kawana Waters, Queensland to watch Angus & Julia Stone on their current tour. If you don’t know who they are, if ‘acoustic folk blues’ sounds like your cup of tea, then do yourself a favour and give them a listen. Soulful, mellow and heartfelt, I honestly haven’t heard a bad track from this brother and sister duo.
I digress, as I’m not here to give you a review of their show, instead I’m here to tell you about something I noticed. We turned up to the hall and found ourselves a place to stand; not too close to be crushed by the die hard fans, but not too far away either (i.e. prime real estate to take in the show). My partner and I took a quick pre-show ‘selfie’ to share on our Instagram and let our followers know what we were up to that night. Sharing is certainly a habit we’re now in as a society, reflective of when we do something outside of our normal routine.
A small group of people made their way past us and a few pulled out their phones to do the same as we did. I did have a chuckle about the fact that we had just done this, especially since a habit is so hard to spot unless it’s pointed out to us, or we see it in someone else. However, unlike the two of us, their phones did not go back into their pockets. These strangers hung their arms by their sides, phones still firmly gripped. That was slightly odd I thought, they obviously wanted to take more pictures but were waiting for the band.
As soon as the group came to the stage, their phones were raised like an automatic response, almost like an involuntary movement. And they stayed like that for almost the ENTIRE PERFORMANCE.
This group of friends had their eyes glued to their screens, which were glued to the performance. Occasionally they interacted with each other, to comment on how amazing the song was, but then they went right back to their screens. Photos with flash, photos without flash, video with flash, video without flash. I have no idea how their phones could hold so much data…
And then I looked around the room, phone after phone after phone, all held up, all doing the same thing.
Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take pictures at an event or concert, we did ourselves, but it was a couple of photos. We chose to listen and enjoy the event for being a live event, not record the live event to then watch the live event on video at a later stage.
So why is this a behaviour we see so much of these days?
- I wondered if these people would quickly forget the feeling of being there? Well, nearly a couple of weeks later and I can clearly remember the night and the feeling of enjoying that moment. Sure, I probably won’t remember it forever, but that’s when I can go to another live concert! (Actually, I also remember walking past a young couple sitting on the pavement after the show watching the video that they had JUST RECORDED, so maybe it is easy to forget…)
- Maybe they want to watch the show later with their family and friends? But then who would want to watch an hour of shaky video with TERRIBLE audio? I certainly wouldn’t and I’d be turning that video off after 10 seconds.
- Maybe it benefits the artist & musician, exponentially expanding their social media reach when these photos and videos are posted? Well that’s certainly true, but again if they are poorly lit, grainy versions of the band, it doesn’t necessarily put them in the best light.
Consider The Alternative
As I mentioned, I took pictures with my phone, but I also enjoyed the night and actually ‘took it all in’. The sights, sounds and that strange aroma you can only get in a concert hall with a couple of hundred people squeezed together. The music was fantastic, and apart from the humorous distraction of the phone worship going on, I barely took my eyes off of the stage.
How could I have had that same experience if I had decided to record it as well? I make videos for my job and I can tell you that as a video professional, I can barely take anything I am recording ‘in’, since I’m concentrating on the framing, composition, exposure, subject movement, focus, audio levels… the list goes on.
I believe that since we live in this social media age, we are in danger of missing an opportunity to experience something in favour of capturing something, and there is a BIG difference.
At the start of this Top Tip I wrote:
“Sharing is certainly a habit we’re now in as a society, reflective of when we do something outside of our normal routine.”
And therein lies the solution I believe. Most of us share something when we do something out of the ordinary of our normal routine. A music concert, competing in a competition, a fancy restaurant etc. We feel we MUST get as much onto our social feeds as possible. But what about our normal routine? Why aren’t we sharing that?
You may say ‘because what I’m doing is boring!’. But is it? If you are an accountant, aren’t you looking after the numbers to protect your clients’ financial stability? If you’re a receptionist, aren’t you the voice of your organisation, responsible for how the brand is received with each and every call? These sound like pretty interesting pieces of content to me!
I’ve just spent an hour writing this, and I can tell you that I posted onto my Instagram account a picture of this block of text (you can check it out here if you’re interested). Boring? No! I just told people about my thoughts for writing a blog for The Social Adviser, and how I hope someone can get something useful from it.
A balance is essential but think about the posts that you can do during your normal routine as well as your extra-curricular activities. Maybe that’s how we can feel more comfortable that we don’t have to capture every moment of the live show so that we don’t miss the moment!
To end on a funny note, here’s what I posted after the concert:
