Our Digital Voices

So all of a sudden so many of us have a voice. A voice that we didn't necessarily have pre-digital, pre-social media, pre-Twitter.

It's ironic that one feels a greater sense of security in voicing their opinions and their feelings in an online setting, in spite of the fact that these thoughts are very much open to the world to see and judge. Yes that's right, I am a hypocrite, hiding behind my persona as 'the blogger.' But the freedom for discussion, for debate is liberating, particularly in societies where this may be more difficult to achieve in an open setting. Of course, it works both ways as it also opens you up to scrutiny.

The blogging phenomenon has created some of the most innovative and inspiring writing, because of this idea of liberation, the freedom to say what you think. Personally I think people should say what they think more often, rather than skirting around the issue. Of course there is no need for rudeness, but etiquette and political correctness just go too far in my opinion (with exceptions of course) and I think people need to be more to the point in what they say. I am all for a please and thank you, and holding the door open is always nice, but "I don't mind" just doesn't get the decisions made. Another pet hate: "But it's been 43 minutes and he still hasn't text back." So text him again. Words. Digital words. It is all down to words. And if Tom, Dick or Harry don't have any words for you then expend your time and your vocabulary elsewhere. In light of being politically correct it doesn't necessarily have to be a Tom, a Dick or a Harry. There could be a Carlos, an Ahmed or a Sunjay in the mix.

Gotta love a bit of old school Nokia.

I know a lot of debates over digital communication centre around the fact that people are no longer communicating face to face, instead separating themselves by means of a digital screen, throwing words into the ether of cloud technology. And yes this is totally true, but social media and digital communication have also done a lot of good, in terms of marketing for example. Consumers learn about their products digitally, and producers simultaneously learn about their audiences and who they are marketing to. Amazon, Google- they know what we want and that is why they are so successful. I may despise Google from a publishing standpoint, in their aim to create the largest digital library in the world, trying to bypass copyright laws left right and centre. However, we all use Google because Google can provide the information we want, when we want it, and pretty much wherever we want it. The term 'Google it' speaks volumes about their success as a company. I only wish I had invented it.