f: (dis) con

The Question: With the addition of social media to our everyday lives, are we more connected to each other or are we simply (dis)connected?

The Idea: Follow this question down the rabbit hole in search of an answer.

The Challenge: Give up social media for one month and see if you become more connected or simple disconnected.

Are we as a society addicted to social media? Could we even survive without it? Is there a life beyond facebook, twitter, and myspace?

I often find myself lost in a sea of information. With everything vying for my attention, I am stressed out. This made me think, is everyone else as stressed and tired as I am?

We are spending more time connecting than ever before. According to Nielsen the use of social media is up by 82% from last year. Grandparents are now facebooking their grandchildren. Employers are hiring through LinkedIn profiles. I’ll admit it; I’ve sent my husband an instant message while we are in the same room. Ok, more than once. Is all this viral noise the reason I can’t sleep at night? Am I really busy or am I just simply lost in cyber space?

So, how does one come to grips with these radical changes in our lifestyle? As a documentary filmmaker, my instinct is to make a movie, and that is what I am here to do.

For the next year I will research, interview and immerse my life in this topic. While doing this, I will keep a diary of my personal social media consumption and post it here weekly for the entire world to see. (What am I getting myself into?) This is all leading up to May 2011 when I will officially unplug myself (and a few brave followers) for 30 days.

Will the world come to an end? Will everyone I know shun me? Will life ever be the same?

So it is you, social networking elite, which I proudly invite to follow me for the next year and half as I take this journey. I invite you to participate in this process and become a part of the film. Be patient the next couple of weeks as my production team and I begin to build all the elements of this project. It is our plan to spark a viral discussion as we chronicle this journey.