Wall St. Journal Validates Another of Our Predictions: Getting Away Means Disconnecting

Back in 2012, we said:

• The desire to be connected 24/7 may change in 2012. You almost never have downtime anymore, and people are beginning to notice that’s not all good. Sure, if you are waiting in line at the post office or bank (something today’s kindergartners won’t do by the time they hit college), you’ll be able to check email, play an app, text your friend, or make a call. But this lack of downtime may negatively impact our ability to concentrate and avoid distractions at work and at home. The recognition that we actually need to disconnect, that we need downtime, is likely to generate coverage this year. Already a handful of companies have limited email, both during the day and after hours – and we think more will join those ranks. We also think the concept of going on vacation without access to email or cell will become more of a status symbol because it now takes a lot of money to disconnect yourself from your regular workday.

In our list of ongoing trends that we update annually, we've mentioned the ongoing need to disconnect. That need may be more pronounced than ever as younger-and-younger kids own their own devices -- and as more-and-more parents can't get their kids off their screens.

Screen use and children, including how they socialize, how they interact with peers and grownups, how they experience their environments, will be a growing area of tension for parents -- at least when they look up from their own devices. (And we're all guilty of that.)

We even once said that where it was once only the wealthy who could stay connected wherever they traveled, that soon, it would be a luxury to travel and not be connected. That's borne out but an article in today's Wall St. Journal: "Resorts Promise Families the Perfect Getaway—From Electronics: Looking for a technology detox, more parents book vacations at family resorts touting limited Wi-Fi."  Check it out.

Fast Company Cover Story on How to Unlug Validates Our Prediction from 2012

Back in 2012, we said:

The desire to be connected 24/7 may change in 2012. You almost never have downtime anymore, and people are beginning to notice that’s not all good.  Sure, if you are waiting in line at the post office or bank (something today’s kindergarteners won’t do by the time they hit college), you’ll be able to check email, play an app, text your friend, or make a call. But this lack of downtime may negatively impact our ability to concentrate and avoid distractions at work and at home. The recognition that we actually need to disconnect, that we need downtime, is likely to generate coverage this year. Already a handful of companies have limited email, both during the day and after hours – and we think more will join those ranks. We also think the concept of going on vacation without access to email or cell will become more of a status symbol because it now takes a lot of money to disconnect yourself from your regular workday.

The current Fast Company cover story validates our prediction: #Unplug: Baratunde Thurston Left The Internet For 25 Days, And You Should, Too; I have left the Internet. I’m on vacation. That means no social media updates, responses, check-ins, likes, taps, pokes, noogies, tickles, or head locks. I’m going to practice looking people in the eye and not checking my email or . . .

Check it out -- there are some good tips for unplugging/disconnecting.

Guess we were ahead of the curve on that one!

Let us know if you have unplugged (clearly that would be after the unplugged experience.)

The Atlantic Validates Our Prediction: Social Media May Make Us Lonelier

In this year's edition of our annual predictions of top media stories, one of our prediction was: "We may be immersed in social media, but we’ll spend less time with actual people."


Back in Jan., we wrote, "So many people use social media sites – from Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn, to and more -- that people have less time to spend with their friends and family. We’re not sure if this will get much media coverage..."

Well The Atlantic Monthly has validated our prediction in its May 2012 issue. It's article, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" makes the point that: "Social media—from Facebook to Twitter—have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)—and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill." Written by Stephen Marche, a novelist who writes a monthly column for Esquire, the article reports on "what the epidemic of loneliness is doing to our souls and our society."

It's well worth reading.

And today's Boston Globe validated our prediction that "The desire to be connected 24/7 may change in 2012." Op-ed columnist Joanna Weiss wrote, "Giving screens -- and ago -- a week off," in favor of unplugging from 24/7 and a Screen Free-Week. Check that out, too.

Late-in-the-Day Update: Just got around to reading Jane E. Brody's column in today's Times.  She's a must-read health columnist, and her current column, "Making Progress Against Clutter," went beyond thinking of clutter as physical objects.  She spent about half the column talking about how much she enjoyed a recent trip to Antarctica because she and her two sons did not spend hours monitoring email and world news.  Instead,

We read books and missed not one excursion, lecture, vista or conversation with an interesting shipmate.

As I watched others buried in their iPads, laptops and smartphones, I wondered what people did on vacation before we had this plethora of electronic equipment keeping us “in touch” 24/7. Perhaps they telephoned now and then to see how the dog was faring.

Not knowing about problems back home or at work surely meant vacations were more relaxing, a real break from daily stress.

 Makes a pretty strong case for unplugging.

Another New York Times Article about Cutting the Cable Cord

Another day, and another article about alternatives to accessing TV content that previously was available only via cable subscription.

Here's the latest New York Times article that validates our prediction: "In Search of Apps for Television."

It's worth checking out.

New York Times Validates Another Prediction

Our second prediction in our annual list We may be immersed in social media, but we’ll spend less time with actual people. We made the point that "So many people use social media sites – from Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn, to Pinterest and Quora and more -- that people have less time to spend with their friends and family."

Although we noted that "We’re not sure if this will get much media coverage," we said that "we’ve seen some books addressing the topic (like last year’s “Alone Together” by MIT Professor Sherry Turkle)."

Turkle continues to write about high tech alienation, most recently in a cover story in the Sunday Review section of the New York Times. Her article, "The Flight from Conversation," is compelling and sad and true. And worth reading.

Boston Globe Validates Our Prediction about Unplugging

Topping our annual list of predictions this year was this: "The desire to be connected 24/7 may change in 2012." With vacation season fast approaching, The Boston Globe's travel section published a cover story on truly getting away and unplugging.  Check out "10 places where pleasure is the plug-in and only boats need a port."

Now that our top prediction has been validated, we can relax, and unplug. (Ah who am I kidding -- who can afford to unplug?)

Birnbach Communications' Top Predictions for 2012, Part I

We've been issuing annual predictions going back a decade now. Our goal is to help our clients more effectively understand and engage on topics of interest for social media.

We will be rolling out our 2012 list of trends over the next two weeks. Here are the first few:

1. The desire to be connected 24/7 may change in 2012. You almost never have downtime anymore, and people are beginning to notice that’s not all good.  Sure, if you are waiting in line at the post office or bank (something today’s kindergarteners won’t do by the time they hit college), you’ll be able to check email, play an app, text your friend, or make a call. But this lack of downtime may negatively impact our ability to concentrate and avoid distractions at work and at home. The recognition that we actually need to disconnect, that we need downtime, is likely to generate coverage this year. Already a handful of companies have limited email, both during the day and after hours – and we think more will join those ranks. We also think the concept of going on vacation without access to email or cell will become more of a status symbol because it now takes a lot of money to disconnect yourself from your regular workday.
2. We may be immersed in social media, but we’ll spend less time with actual people.
    So many people use social media sites – from Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn, to Pinterest and Quora and more -- that people have less time to spend with their friends and family. We’re not sure if this will get much media coverage, but we’ve seen some books addressing the topic (like last year’s “Alone Together” by MIT Professor Sherry Turkle). We expect more attention will be paid as kids in schools face a new way to feel alienated.
3. Value will be king in 2012. Upscale consumers, suffering from frugal fatigue, have started spending again.  But for the 99% of us -- a phrase that will be popular throughout 2012, due to the presidential election -- will continue to look for value. That bodes well for Groupon, LivingSocial and other sites offering discounts. However, some companies have complained that they’ve lost money on their promotions through Groupon, so a question in 2012 could well be: “Do group discounts actually generate a return for companies?” Expect two other questions this year: “Will Groupon turn out to be a good investment since its Nov. 2011 IPO at $20?” and “How many e-coupon sites do consumers want or need?”

Let us know if you agree or disagree. And check back tomorrow for additional predictions.

Can Stanley Bing Unplug? Or Four Steps the Rest of Us Should Take to Prepare for Our Vacations

Interesting Stanley Bing column in the July 7th issue of Fortune.

Surprisingly, given Bing's blog and the fact that so much other Fortune content is searchable and available, I had trouble finding an electronic version of the article to point people too; unfortunately, the version I did find is not shareable. For example, the archive of Bing's columns in Fortune are listed through 2007; this being the middle of 2008, I think someone has fallen down on the job.

Nonetheless, for those who have already taken or have yet to take their summer vacation, here are some key thoughts:

• First, Bing admitted to himself that he's "a digiholic. ... That I was powerless over the BlackBerry and, to a lesser extent in my case, the cellphone and laptop, and that as a result my life had become unbearable."
• He then came to believe "there was a power that was greater than my own ambition," including silence. "Remember silence?" Bing asks.
• Bing suggests being present as you walk though each day. "That's harder than it sounds," he observes. "Go by yourself to a diner. Order something you like. Sit and eat it without e-mailing, text-messaging, or calling anybody."
• Bing also discussed the fact that he tried to reconnect with people he had lost touch with over the years but "didn't even know it" because of his 200 e-mails a day and "virtual" friends across many social networks. The problem (until now, he claims) is that he "twittered and texted and kept myself busy indeed, my mind occupied with junk."

After going through these four steps, Bing writes, he is at peace with himself.

Although he notes, "I just hope I don't miss any really important calls, you know? Did you hear if our merger went through?"