Oct 27, 2020
The great forgetting
We are data creators. Every second we make new posts, new images and new videos. On Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Social media (if the data survives) will be a great source for the historians of tomorrow.
What will these historians see? How do we portray ourselves in social media? Sports, vacations, great food, drinks in the sun. Lots of rose-tinted glasses… on social media.
Do we even work? Yes, we work more than ever. We work flexible hours, we work remotely, we work always. Writing an email or attending a meeting isn’t just that exciting to share.
How did people live and work 10 years ago? Or 100, 1000 or even 10.000 years ago? How was work life then compared to now?
10.000 years ago vs Now
We used to search for food, now we search for data
We used to work 6,5 hours a day, now we work at least 8 hours a day
We used to walk through the landscape, now we sit in an office landscape
1000 years ago vs Now
We used to work for our landlord, now we have no land & no lord
We used to stand on the field, now we sit and stare at our screens
We used to build churches, now we build IKEA
100 years ago vs Now
We used to work on the assembly line, now we work online
We used to have work and home, now we work at home
We used to see each other every day, now we see each other at company parties
10 years ago vs Now
We used to work from 9 to 5, now we check our emails at night
We used to have our own desk, now use the same flex workspace everyday
We used to have passwords easy to hack, now we have passwords that are easy to hack
And now… what?
Work changed a lot, even when we look only to the last decade. Technology is easy. Social media is something we wake up with and go to bed. Did we forget how it was? Has it improved our lives? Shouldn’t it give use more freedom and leisure time?
On social media it looks like it, but often the new way of working gives people only more stress. Nobody learned to deal with technology at school. Can we really handle it?
