Don’t be Interesting, Be More Interesting than Every Person I’ve Ever Met

“I don’t have to be more interesting than you. I don’t have to be more interesting than your friends. I have to be more interesting than your phone; more interesting than ALL the friends you’ve ever had.”

Nick Douglas nailed one of the biggest problems we have with modern social interactions in a recent YouTube rant (note: brief NSFW language at the end) – it’s hard to get somebody’s attention when they’ve got all their friends’ life stories in their hand.  I’m just as guilty as the next person, there are some times when you simply get glued to your phone and tune out the real world.

Microsoft has been making big headlines this week with the introduction of their new line of phones, Windows Phone 7, and they’ve capitalized on this concept with their latest marketing campaign.

Besides being a brilliant advertisment, they reinforce the point that we’re wandering through some pretty amazing situations and hardly noticing (although it should be noted that their goal is to sell us their phone, not really stop us from being distracted).  It’s not just your mobile phone’s fault of course, the simple fact is that there is a lot of interesting material available at your fingertips through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and all over the internet.

It’s safe to say that digital distractions are only going to get worse as technology permeates through additional facets of our lives.  I’m excited about the digitalization of society – but what price are we willing to pay to have the internet be a part of our social lives?

Share your thoughts with me in the comments. I mean, I already have your attention, right?