Writing in The Wilson Quarterly, Brandon Ambrosino asks an important question: “If, in the smartphone age, our only experience of a place is through the lens of a camera, then in what sense are we ever truly here?”
And that isn’t the only uncomfortable question he asks—not by a long shot. But the article isn’t the usual unrepentant-luddite-versus-millennials screed. It’s a thoughtful look at the shrinking nostalgia gap, hyperreality, and a sobering reminder that
on social media, we are never present. Rather, the very sign of our presence—a status update, a tweet, a picture of what we’re eating now—is the promise of our absence. My Facebook profile, like yours, is an eerie reminder that I don’t actually know where, or when, I am.
If you need me, I’ll be in my office cultivating an air of detachment and ironic distance.
