Take time out to smell the flowers
If facebook friend requests, text messages, twitter feeds and constant email messages have made it impossible for you to disconnect, you might consider looking into the slow media movement.
The concept is similar to the slow food movement. Slowies write letters, talk to each other (offline) and aren’t fans of multitasking.
Check out Sally Herships’ blog: SohoSally. She recently wrote an entry about her own media diet.
Have you heard of the slow media movement? What are your thoughts?
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While I can see a need to slow down in most every aspect of our lives, I would go absolutely nuts here in the woods without the Internet and my media feed. That being said, I do have to limit my time checking emails, Facebook and other forums, as I could waste entire days doing nothing but that.
This strikes me as so silly that they’ve already named a movement for people who aren’t interested in communicating by computer. How odd that there’s a social movement to get people to talk to each other in person. I just think of talking to people face-to-face as part of being alive.
I hadn’t heard the slow media movement. Now that I’ve investigated, I think it’s an idea whose time has come….at least for some people and some of the time. I’ve been scaling back for quite some time. We got rid of the cellphones, never had a blackberry, and have a DVD player (given to us as a gift) somewhere…I think it’s in a box beneath the bed. We have a land line and an answering machine that I wouldn’t even consider giving up. I let it screen all of our calls (no caller i.d.) and answer only the ones I choose. I limit my television time and computer time also. Whenever things start feeling a bit overwhelming, I unplug for awhile. And guess what? The world still turns.
Great article I just tweeted this
This is something I want to explore more. 99% of our “news,” for instance, is ultimately about selling things and profit-making.
Nevermind the rest of TV, magazines, and other media, which are a waste of time in the service of profit-making. I wish I could turn off my cable *except* for PBS and CSPAN. Ha.
It is so interesting that your top post is about this movement. I had never heard that term before today, and this post is the third place I’ve read it. You know, on all those different media facets that one can utilize to get the word out about not using so many…
How about a Twitter Tuesday, Facebook Friday and limit usage to those days. Still connect with others through great tools, but not be in a media push. We need to pull our technology, not have it pushed to us. Oh, then there is the whole ‘being present’ thing. Hah!
Thanks all for leaving comments.
I love the idea of this movement. I don’t think I could adopt all of their principles. I’m too in love with Twitter, Facebook, my cell phone and the internet in general. Although, I try to limit the amount of media I consume after work.
Part of my job involves monitoring news stories, so it’s nice to disconnect from the internet and read a book. Or actually talk to my friends rather than instant message them.
I admire folks, like Lisa, who are able to downscale the amount of tech in their lives.
@Stella – Getting rid of my T.V. has helped tremendously. We are still exposed to advertising, but I have more time to read and play outside. And you can watch some PBS programs online.