After decades away since the dawn of the world wide web, some people’s fixation to anything virtual and instant is starting to wear off. For them, having access to more than 700 thousand apps on Google Play or more than 20 million songs on iTunes that they can choose to download anytime is no longer rewarding.
That’s right.
The usual goodies offered by the digital world -practicality, unlimited options, and even instant gratification- are now generic and too mainstream.
They simply yearn for other things.
Google these key words: “vinyl return”.
You’ll discover thousands of articles saying vinyl are making a comeback to the collection of many music buffs and audiophiles everywhere, even in Indonesia.
Vinyl produce warmer, more real sounds -complete with the crackle, pops and hisses- compared to “studio clean” sounds from CDs and digital downloads. They also come with satisfyingly extra large album sleeves sporting vivid graphics. They definitely give “fanboys” tangible things to collect and show off.
Imperfect and impractical, but tangible.
In an interview with CNN.com, Patricia Wallace, psychologist and author of “The Psychology of the Internet”, explained that the need for such “real connection” is more deeply ingrained.
“When you’re in front of a computer or an iPad, you’re not interacting with a human face,” Wallace said. “All of the millennia of evolution that helped us learn how to read all of the nuances to do that choreography of conversation aren’t there.”
No wonder that in other cases, the need to disconnect from the digital world is strongly driven by a feeling of disconnect from reality.
Jake P. Reilly, a 24-year-old from Chicago, decided to take a “digital sabbatical”; living “unplugged” from social media, email, and his cell phones for 90 days.
“I think that Facebook is the biggest waste of time, because everyone is just presenting such a filtered picture of themselves. you only put up your best pictures. People only check in when they are at the fanciest restaurant in the city. They only keep things up there that are flattering to themselves.”
Do you think that’s unthinkable? Check out this guy: Paul Miller.
Paul is a 26-year-old tech writer who has written thousands of articles for the last seven years for Engadget and The verge. He is now conducting an experiment similar to Jake’s, but more drastic. He vowed to live without the internet for one whole year. His experiment started on May 1, 2012. at 12:01 a.m.
Unlike Jake, Paul claims that he does not hate the internet or the social media. But still, he sees them as a giant distraction consisting of more distractions. His experiment was, he said, in an interview with ABCnews.go.com, motivated by his desire to learn to live without for a little while.
Despite differences in attitude towards the internet and everything digital, all the above cases are hint toward a subconscious yearning.
The yearning for experiences that are tangible, and touchable. The yearning for activities that demand undivided focus, and force people to be completely in the moment.
For us -brand owners, managers and strategists alike- the big question is:
How can we contribute? How can our business and brand help answer the yearning?
Meet Kai Brach, a web designer and publisher from Melbourne living in Berlin.
Feeling detached from reality because of the digital world, Kai decided to create something more tangible. He started a printed magazine. Everything, -from the magazine’s brand name, brand values, down to how the articles are designed- is infused with his own insight.
The magazine’s name is ‘Offscreen’.
‘Offscreen’ dives deep into the stories and private lives of renowned people of the digital industry. Everything from that scene that goes on “off” the screen. Even more, the readers will find that every article is a long read; the kind that will demand them to drop their iPad for a moment to read it.
Clearly, Kai knows how to answer his own yearning, while at the same time, answer those of others alike. He is not the only one, though. Matt Meeker and Scott Heiferman did it before him when the duo launched Meetup.com more than 10 years ago.
Meetup.com is a social network that makes it easy for people to organize a local group and meet up face to face. It was said by many to be the grandfather of the New York tech scene. Obviously, they don’t grow to be as big as Facebook, but with more than 300 thousand meet up groups facilitated monthly in more than 190 countries worldwide, I think that’s already a huge achievement.
Meetup.com answered people’s yearning for a “real” local community.
Behold their tagline:
“Use the Internet to Get Off the Internet!”
Insightful, isn’t it?
Last but not least, I trust that you have heard of Etsy.com.
Yes, the e-commerce site that hosts D.I.Y and handmade products.
Aside from providing a distribution channel for sellers, resellers and D.I.Y enthusiasts to engage in the digital world, Etsy also runs two offline workshops in Brooklyn, New York, and in Berlin, Germany that called Etsy Labs. Through Etsy Labs, Etsy ensure that their audiences’ need to switch on and off is facilitated.
From Melbourne to New York, three solutions for this yearning for reality have been proposed. Now, what’s yours?
