Digital life. Nowhere to hide

We enjoy the freedom given by digital tools. Just one click and we are connected to Facebook in the MTR. Just another click leads us to the Youtube channel. We are connected twenty four seven. We like it. We are not alone at all.

Of course, the usage of digital tools is not just limited to checking out others’ status . It also facilitates the development of daily business operation. During my internship in Singapore, I was talking to my supervisor through Yahoo messenger even though we were sitting right beside each other. This’s kind of funny as it seemed that we two were ignoring each other, but actually there was a whole lot of conversation going on between us. This is how we all are relying on digital media even when we don’t have to. But digital media can sometimes be our obstructions. The day when my supervisor was on leave, I had the fancy thought I can have a luxury break in the office. But my dream bubble was bursted by the blinking Yahoo messenger icon. Oops…it’s my supervisor. She was instructing me to take over her work. Nowhere to hide, she got me through the internet, my day was ruined. OK, I lied, I didn’t feel bad at all. But digital tools do somehow pull us into the technology black hole.

I just read from newspapers that office workers in Hong Kong are now bothered by their always-on smartphones. There are no more regular office hours. They have to always stay alert to the incoming message of their phones. Some of them feel there is no reason to ‘shirk’ after the office hours as they have the tools to continue working even when they are having dinner with their families. Some of them check the company emails when they are brushing teeth in the morning. The line between leisure and working is disappearing. Some of the ‘remote workers’ complain that digital tools are no longer adding colour to their life but taking away instead.

In these days, it seems that we can’t live without digital tools. It is melting into our daily life. Living without digital tools is just like having pizza without cheese, things will be so plain and dull. But too much cheese will overpower the favors of other ingredients and makes you feel sick. This is a very crappy metaphor but do bear with me.