THE FUTURE OF MEDIA - THE PARADIGM SHIFT: A DIGITAL SUMMARY
CRAVING SOMETHING NOVEL, BUT NOT LIKE THE VIRUS BY MICHAEL PERMAN
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wo sustaining experiences have imbued Portlandia since the beginning of the pandemic, and both have clues for the future of media. First, there is the nightly cacophony. Around 6.57pm every evening since early April, hundreds of people begin to emerge from their perches hanging on the steel and glass towers where I live, on the banks of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, to express their gratitude and empathy in novel ways. They mimic the ritual of making physical distance emotionally shorter. It’s a ritual happening all over the world. People bang pots and pans, blow conch shells, ring bells, wave hands, and just plain applaud front-line workers for sure, but to express novel forms of connection.
Emotional energy craved, bursting at the seams as a distraction to uncertainty and boredom. I love the noise amid the uncommon silence. My wife and I play African drums and sometimes blow bubbles. For the moment, whatever anxiety exists dissipates into joy, human connection, compassion, creativity and relief, which last only five minutes until I yell, “have a nice evening!” And then we all cruise back into our cocoons, with just a bit more of a glow. The other obvious Portland ritual at the moment are the nightly protests, and the artwork/media that has arrived with those protests. While conservative news media likes to paint a portrait of Portland as a city in ruins, my perspective is of a city that is painting a narrative in dramatic expression through messages and images; essential forms of media.
As novel as this virus is, our society is matching it by creating novel forms of empathy to compensate for the physical distance, for the absence of hugging or holding hands, or even worshiping together in times of need. Our eye contact is more expressive. Waving matters more. Even though we avoid humans, we seek new forms of connection. We convey our passion through shouts and murmurs, images and words, some with meaning and some with random anger. We are in early stages of an emerging wave that will likely change beliefs and behaviours as we shift into new forms of normal, and influence how we communicate through new forms of “media”. Our craving to connect physically is sprouting new ways for humans to share love and faith. We saw novel virtual gatherings of worship during Passover and Easter, and we continue to share
People applaud front-line workers to express novel forms of connection.
A city painting a narrative in dramatic expression through expressive messages and images.
Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied
NOVEMBER 2020
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