Level Up: How to connect authentically in a digital world

How does one create and forge authentic connections with others in a digital world of pixels, 1's and 0's

Words replaced by meme's and code.... With the introduction of social and digital media, we have gained the ability to connect with people from different backgrounds, across different timezones instantly, make new friends and re-connect with the old(er) ones. Digital advances in phone technology has meant that we can do alot at just the touch of a button from ordering food to dating. With this, the new generation is built on a different

Disconnection is the new goal Growing up, being connected was the goal, to talk to fellow teenagers on Myspace, to have a penpal in another city, we watched National Geopgraphic or documentaries at set times on TV to see how other cultures lived. Social media like Facebook quickly presented more efficient means of connecting with others, you could have instantly have a hundred friends from different countries, of different ages and backgrounds. Provided you remembered their surname, you could easily re-connect with your old school teach, stay in touch with your kindergarten friend and know what your new crush had for

breakfast.

The facade of communication, talking at one another Communication is defined as the creation of and receipt of a message. This includes the receipt of the message. Advances like whatsapp meant that you could talk to someone without talking to them directly. The introduction of Group chats meant that one could instantly broadcast their message without directly talking to all that many people. I could send a message to my entire group without caring how it landed and if they received it. Between work, studies, friends, family I belong to at least 100 group chats and I have only interacted with a fraction of the people on there. It is great and efficient to keep in touch with so many people but do we connect? Voice notes mean I can speak and broadcast my message without having to acknowledge the receipt of that message and who got it. Whatsapp arguments are the best.

Less talk, more emoji's For this one I used one of group chats with the younger of my tribe. It did not take long to find a good illustration of the point that follows, I can now confirm that I was able to go a full week without exchanging verbal words with my niece and nephews. "Hey" "Hey" as the greeting of choice replaced Hi and emoji's were the letters of choice with the odd sprinkling of text abbreviations and meme's to convey emotion or reaction. NB: As I post this Whatsapp just upgraded to allow reactions to a text. :-(