SparkLife » Tips on Digitizing Your Real Life

Tips on Digitizing Your Real Life

Posted August 26, 2009

It's safe to say that most of us spend a good deal of our real lives living in the digital world—right SparkLife blog readers/commenters/obsessives? But what if, for a single day, we all lived our digital lives in reality? Comedian Rob Huebel tried to do just that by breathing 3-D life into the Twitter trend FollowFriday. You see, FollowFriday gives Twitterers the chance to suggest other Twitterers for people to follow, making for a more exciting Twitter Feed. Huebel decided to literally follow people one Friday, making for some seriously awkward (but hilarious) interactions.

In the name of comedy and the time-space continuum, we'd like to honor the physical world by offering some ideas that will help you merge the digital and the tangible:

Have all in-class text chats verbally. But rather than using complete words, spell out the "t-x-t v-r-s-n" of every message you send or receive. u wll soon h8 txting. N spking 2.
Build a simple square frame out of white cardboard. Bring it to school, extra-curriculars, the dinner table, wherever and "tag" people as you see them. Real world bonus: It's impossible for your friend to un-tag herself if she's making a weird face or doesn't like her outfit.
Keep a pad of Post-it notes with you at all times and stick them to yourself with new status updates throughout the day.
Instead of snapping pics with a digital camera or your phone, sketch out or paint every image you want to capture.
Say "LOL" instead of actually laughing.
When you meet someone new, introduce yourself by telling 25 Random Things about yourself. Your new companion MUST listen to all 25 Random Things and respond with his or her own 25 Random Things. If they don't, you will refuse to be his or her new friend.
When you're in class and some bit of information isn't quite sinking in, touch your forehead and whisper "Refresh." If that doesn't fix the problem, start hitting yourself and screaming expletives.
Put a baby chick in your pocket and let it tweet. (Get it!)
If you're bored or in need of a good laugh, make your friends act out YouTube-style videos like "Grape Lady Falls," or "Drunk Squirrel Tries to Climb Tree." (Note: Make sure to wrap your friends in real bubble wrap to prevent injury and harm.)
Make yourself a set of emoticons out of paper plates and popsicle sticks. Use these in place of actual facial expressions—NO CHEATING with real smiles!
Go over to your ex's house and spy on him with his new girlfriend. Bring along a high-powered microphone to pick up their verbal exchanges. (Note: Actual stalking may result in embarrassing and potentially damaging run-ins with the police.)
Walk around poking everyone as a gesture of friendly goodwill.

Is there anything you do online that you think would be weird, funny, or awkward in the real, physical world? Did we forget any digital behaviors that could be translated to real life?

By: Katie_Rolnick

Topics: Digital

Tags: facebook, twitter, texting

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