Zooming in on Present Shock

As I've been reading Present Shock and working with Evernote, I have begun to find little vinettes that are beginning to shape my focus. I am continually fascinated by this idea of present shock and time compression as it relates to the digital age. One thing that Rushkoff talks a lot about is how social media contributes to present shock. We are simultaneously wired into many different networks, all trying to capture the present moment. The problem is, once we capture it, it's gone. Another interesting aspect is that we are so concerned about what is going on elsewhere at any given moment. This is evident by how we read Tweets, view Instagrams, Facebook posts, etc. When we place concern in what is going on somewhere else at any given time, we miss the moment in our time. This is not completely avoidable, but Rushkoff claims that we can be smarter about our technology use. We can teach it to fit our needs rather than being ruled by its predetermined settings. The bottom line is that social interaction is changing, and we can either actively find ways to cope and manage our interactions, or we can passively be drowned in an onslaught of social media and personal accounts that trap us in present shock.

As for my curation, Evernote has been extremely helpful in allowing me to keep track of certain sources that I come across relating to these ideas. The most valuable thing I have encountered was being able to save an article that I found on Douglas Rushkoff's Twitter account. He is going to be part of a public Google hangout discussing new kinds of movements that are occuring in the Digital Age and contrasting them with 20th century movements (for exmaple, the Civil Rights movement). Rushkoff will be leading the discussion. I clipped the article and the link to Evernote and set a reminder so that I can watch the discussion. I hope to be able to engage in some conversations about it afterward. 

I also found an article relating the NSA fiasco to present shock, which was pretty interesting. I took a screenshot of the webpage through Evernote to show here: