Written by: Will Cramer
When you go to a show, you are paying for the experience: the full experience. Not the chance you may get a better view via your phone’s camera. The amount of time people spends documenting the moment vs. living in the moment has grown tremendously in the last few years. There is not one central reason for the rise of digital documentation; however, quite a few reasons jump out: advancement of cameras on phones, photo & video sharing apps such as Snapchat, the inevitable FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), and all the likes, retweets and social media validation to feel that what you did was dope.
Imagine -- what if you went to a venue and took one photo for your own keepsake, then your phone goes back to its home (also known as your pocket, purse or clutch)? You keep ownership of your phone, but yet, you could not use it for the rest of the show. I know, isn’t that SCARY? In the world of instant gratification, immediate contact & content sharing, why would anyone want that? The answer is pretty simple: BE. IN. THE. MOMENT. Enjoy where you are, who you are with, and what you are about to experience. You don’t simply ‘see’ an artist; rather, you are with them in their full and whole creative entity. Outside of the music you hear, there are countless factors that you are ingesting throughout the experience.
Just think about the last time you went to a show… You walk in… take a 180-degree (maybe 360-degree) look around of everything you are about to witness. You are in the moment and want to take it all in. Endless wonder, no outside distractions, no worrying about taking a quick Snap, no worrying about your IG filters, no ‘likes’. Just the moment and your crew.
That is what the company Yondr is aiming to accomplish. To quote them directly:
“Yondr has a simple purpose: to show people how powerful a moment can be when we aren’t focused on documenting or broadcasting it.”
We are not here to discuss the details of how Yondr works (feel free to read about that here), but the idea is about the underlying problems that Yondr is looking to solve.
We have all been at a show and there is that one person who is constantly snapping or taking selfies that you want to gently, but with a purpose, dance into. Maybe jostling their photo out of focus as they capture that 67th picture. Or, perhaps a gentle nudge suggesting they should turn off the glow of their screen and look at the glow of the show. That is the problem. People who are absorbed to making sure every sick drop is documented or every follower knows how awesome they are. This in turn generally ruins the experiences of those around you -- the glow is killer.
That is problem that Yondr wants to solve. Remove the constant need to be share what you are doing with people on the Internet, but rather share it with the people who are there, in real life. They want to be there. They want to be there with you. They paid for their ticket, they enjoy the music. Remove the FOMO. The only way you can miss out is when you are too concerned about letting everyone else in the world know that you are there, but you forget to be present. Kill the glow, keep it in it’s home.
To wrap up, there is nothing wrong with taking a picture to document your favorite artist that you have been waiting months to see (guilty!), but when it becomes a live stream of the event for your beloved 300 followers and everyone around you...please think twice. Live in the moment. Be the moment.