How Do You Like to Stay Connected?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably keep saying it:
I am an analogue girl living in a digital world.

Lately, I’ve been wondering if I’m not the only one feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of ways we’re expected to stay connected:

Instagram.
Email.
SMS.
WhatsApp.
Facebook.
Event platforms.
Newsletters.
Podcasts.
Text threads.
Apps sending notifications about other apps …

At what point do we simply tune it all out?

I recently connected with a wellness practitioner who began sharing their offerings through SMS, e-mail and social media. While I appreciate the desire to reach people where they are, I noticed something happening in my own body. My nervous system started to feel a little agitated, not because I didn’t want to hear from them. It is quite the opposite. I value what they offer, but when the same information begins arriving through every possible channel, connection can start to feel like consumption.

I don't want to consume my community.
I want to be part of it.

That distinction has been percolating in my mind.

Do we lean further into AI to filter the noise for us? Do we ask technology to consume everything on our behalf and only offer us what it thinks we need to know?

Maybe.

But where does that leave other avenues of connection?

The handwritten note.
The flyer at the coffee shop.
The bulletin board.
The person who tells you about something because they thought of you.
The conversation that happens because you happened to sit beside someone at a table.

There is something about analogue connection that asks us to slow down. Perhaps that is what I’m craving.

It is not a call for less community.

This is a call for less noise around community.

I'm asking you…

How do YOU prefer to receive information about the people, places and experiences you care about?

I genuinely want to know, because if we are building community, I want to build it with you and not simply keep adding another channel to your already-full digital life.

This question is leading me somewhere creatively. I have a feeling there may be an opportunity to bring some of us back to the roots of analogue communication—to create ways of connecting that don't require another login, another notification or another screen.

Stay tuned. Something is brewing.