This week, in a post titled “The Self-Awareness Debate” I argued that while you can be self-aware without owning a smartphone or a tablet, you can do so with a smartphone. Because we are all connected to the outside world through our various devices and our social media feeds, there is a temptation to think that we are just as aware of the outside world as if we owned an actual personal device. This is a false impression.
This is especially true if we compare it to how we behave when connected to our mobile devices. If you’re on your way to a party, and you see a tweet about how happy the president is, you’re probably not going to take that as a sign to text your friends. You are probably going to tweet back how happy you are.
A lot of people I know who are not in denial about their connections to social media are actually quite aware of what they are doing. We all know that we use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to connect with other members of our social circles. We all know that we use our mobile devices to read articles or watch videos or check email or check our fitness goals.
The problem is that we generally do this at the expense of our relationships. A big part of what makes it difficult for us to connect with others is that we are often unaware of the extent to which we are using these tools.
I don’t know about you, but I find myself constantly checking my devices, even when I’ve done nothing more than surf the internet. As a result, my social lives feel as though they are being played out by a video game as I am constantly trying to unlock an extra level so I can get my next objective. This is where the “game” part of social media comes in.
A game on Facebook or Twitter is a game. It can also be a game of virtual combat where you try to kill the whole world. The idea is that you are trying to kill the game as you do so. Of course, you are also trying to kill the people around you, so I feel it’s necessary to make the game as real as possible.
When I was at School I used to play a lot of games about building things up on the board, but in the case of the game I just had to build all of them. I’m not sure if you have any kids that are really going to like it, but I’m sure it’s going to be great.
Yes, I’m looking forward to playing it with my kids (and to not have to worry about my cat and dog running away, or that my mother would be mad at me). But mostly I’m looking forward to the new features.
The game is called Deathloop because every time the player takes out a Visionary, they lose a little bit of their health, but it’s more like a survival game. The goal in Deathloop is to take out the Visionaries and try to build a time loop that will keep on repeating for as long as possible.
What about the character who took out a Visionary? Would he be able to stay alive or would it be a waste of time? Maybe he’s the only one that can survive.
