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Beau Smith: My Rant, Your Attention.
by beau Smith
I genuinely take pleasure in modern technology; the internet, email, texting (well, not so much texting), Twitter, Facebook (well, not so much Facebook), and the quick information that they all bring me. technology does make my job as a writer and a marketing director easier.
While technology brings me a lot, it also takes away more. I’ve found that in the last ten years, technology has caused an erosion in comradery. Others will argue that tech has given us Facebook, Twitter, and all the other assorted social networks that allow our pod of friendship to expand. Yeah, things have expanded, but real friendship isn’t one of the crops harvested.
Example: on Facebook, I have close to 5,000 Facebook friends. truth be told, I only know maybe 100 of these folks and I’ve met less. Out of that 5,000, only 50 are really close pals or family, the rest I have no idea who they are. same thing runs true with the other social networks I belong to. I’m on a lot of of these to make people aware of my work in hopes they will get it and help me stay in biscuits and beer. In pre social network days, I normally ended up making lifetime pals through conventions, phone calls, and letter writing (the handwritten kind). The Internet hasn’t brought me those kind of results.
This isn’t me being the grouchy old man, this is me laying out facts. In the world of comic books, losing touch is a horrible thing on the creative and service end. The larger conventions such as SDCC and new York con are so big now that no one has time to connect anymore with new or old friends. Sure, promises are made to “stay in touch” and “follow up”, but it rarely happens. everybody Tweets a good game, but in reality nobody wins; they just play to a standstill.
Because technology makes it much easier for us to work a lot more or waste time more, it takes away from genuinely building up new relationships and keeping old ones strong. I’ve heard a lot of my good pals in comics tell me that they are overwhelmed with emails and online work. They are begging for relief, but it doesn’t come because they refuse to reach out for the lifeline and cut back on the tech line.
Let’s face some a lot more hard facts, very few people pick up their phone line, a lot of let incoming calls go straight to voice mail. That’s why Texting has grown so popular; you can read the message quick, give a terse reply, and not be distracted from playing angry Birds or reading about what cereal Geoff Johns is eating that day on Twitter.
Don’t even get me started about office meetings. If anything ever needed to be cut and streamlined, it’s office meetings in comics. tech half of those and you’ll save yourself so much time.
Multitasking is something we humans were not bred to be good at. I’m sorry, you may think you’re good at it, but you’re not. none of us are. It makes you look and feel busy, but not in a productive way. productivity as well as creativity have suffered so much considering that the rise of the machines (devices). It’s added to the lack of sales, the problems with distribution, retail, and publishing in comics.
You can’t do this on Facebook.
Creative friendships in the comic book service have dipped in quality considering that the rise of the machines. solid personal networking has been replaced by fragmented networking of the online nature. instead of bringing creativity closer, technology has set it adrift. The spark and charge of editors, writers, and artists has become near empty texts and emails. Comic book news sites are interchangeable and none of them changed for the better. They are the same news stories and press releases done over and over. so-called interviews are nothing creative; they’re with the same creators rehashing the same old news. now and then the self-proclaimed journalist (who says there’s no comedy in comics?) will attempt to be funny and the designer will try and do their snark-filled best to entertain, but substance of comic books remains a stranger in the conversation. everyone loses.
I’m not saying that everyone must banish technology from their lives, but like owning a gun, you must know how to use it. like cheeseburgers, you must know not to eat one every day. control technology, don’t let it control you. get to know new people and re-know old friends. creative stuff can happen and you, as well as the entertainment, can be better for it.
I’m not saying you have to spend hours talking to folks, but a series of short voice to voice, person to person sessions will do wonders for you, them, and comics as a whole. think before you say “I’m too busy.” Ask yourself why you think you’re too busy and does your productivity back that up?
Can’t we all just get Along?
That’s my rant for this time. I’m not always right, but I’m pretty darn close. just checkmy Tweets or ask any of my near 5,000 Facebook friends.
Your amigo,
Beau Smith
The flying Fist Ranch
www.flyingfistranch.com