Though I never thought of the Metro as a sociologist’s petrie dish, the other day I found myself noticing the stark contrast between the casual behaviors and open interactions of twentysomethings and the more formal rituals and body language of the members of older generations. Millenials chatted and thumbed on their PDAs; Baby Boomers buried their noses in Express and hardcovered books. Millenials sprawled when they could, seemingly having a broader definition of personal space; Boomers avoided eye contact and sat stiffly, careful not to take more than their fair share of seat.
What I’m talking about should not to be confused with college students dressing in ripped jeans and flip-flops while business professionals don blazers and neckties: the contrast is not really about age or vocation. Though it may be illustrated by the external facades, it really represents a deeper and more substantitve social shift: our society is shedding its formality.
I think few would disagree that the formality of our society has decreased generation over generation. From casual Fridays in the workplace, to Evite invitations, the formalities of our society are waning.
According to Wiktionary, formality is:
So, formality is really just a socially-constructed facade accepted because it is the social norm. What was behind the Wizard of Oz’ facade? Stark reality; the cold, hard truth. Formalities protect us from reality.
Over the past five or more years, reality shows have been the most popular genre on TV. Unfettered by the editors and reporting structures of journalists, bloggers speak their minds and share everything under the sun. Twitter enthusiasts share valuable professional insights as well as mundane details of their commutes and coffee breaks. Social media is dissolving the already-weakening formality of our society, giving way to a new set of values: authenticity, openness, honesty, and truth.
Text messages use shorthand, IM forgives typos and podcasts continue through sneezes. For the first time in history, the message has overtaken the medium: what’s being said matters much more than how it’s being said. Size doesn’t matter: individuals can now speak as loudly as corporations. So why is this happening and why is it happening now?
The confluence of many trends is causing an eruption of our formal societal constraints. Put very simply, though, the driver is bandwidth. Today’s speeds and storage capacities enable new tools and technologies which enable us to rapidy communicate and connect with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Now that the infrastructure exists to initiate and support conversations, participation, and interactions across all physical boundaries, progress can be made in all arenas as it never could before. There is so much to say and so many problems to solve. We are necessarily shedding formality because there is no time and no room to care about facades.
Formality is inversely proportional to truth. We are beginning new chapter in human history: Renaissance 2.0: the Birth of Truth.
Just as did Renaissance 1.0, this changes everything. We are starting to see glimmers of the future. Social hierarchies are transforming from being based on superficial demographics to being based on substantitive ideas. The valued currency is shifting from money to influence.
Change is difficult to embrace and many peoples’ instincts are to flee. We must trust that the benefits outweigh the losses and embrace this new era. If only everyone could see that…could believe that…. could embrace that… world peace just might ensue.
I am not such an idealist as to think that this is going to happen anytime soon, let alone in my lifetime, but I am enough of an optimist to believe that we can make this shift.
The mindshift is easier for those who are younger because they literally have lived through fewer years of the previous era, and thus, have less of an attachment to its formalities. Millenials, a.k.a. Digital Natives, are the first generation to think differently: their gut instinct is that the truth matters more than the formalities; Generation Xers still put formalities first. It’s hard to unlearn and hard to let go of concepts and practices that you’ve always known to be true.
One interesting and important manifestation of this reduced formality is blurring of the line that previously existed between our private selves and our public selves. Social media–built upon truth, authenticity and openness–commands a single persona. Millenials understand this. They are hard-wired to be less formal and more open, just as I observed on the Metro.
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