Digital Invisibility
One unfortunate outcome of this digital age we live in, is that unless one has a digital footprint, for all intents and purposes, you barely exist outside of ones immediate family and social circle. Conversely, if one does have a substantive digital footprint, notably a large social media following, one’s “presence” can become global, having an outsize influence on society. In many cases, this notoriety happens despite these “influencers” having little discernible skillset beyond being famous or looking a certain way.
This digital divide is especially striking for my parents generation of creatives, as there is almost no record of their respective contributions, save for the odd analog newspaper or magazine mention on a dusty library shelf. Yet many of my parents generation of fellow creatives were intimately involved in varied and numerous fascinating activities, honing their skills, plying their trades, initiating projects in an amazing diversity of creative output over decades. In most cases, because there are no digital versions of their respective portfolios, appreciating their contributions is nearly impossible.
Accelerating in the 60s and 70s, there is little doubt Canada’s active promotion and embrace of multiculturalism attracted millions of would be immigrants. The charismatic charismaticprime minister Pierre Trudeau was a compelling spokesman who was instrumental in framing this social experiment, creating a seductive narrative for those who were considering immigrating to this relatively new country.
It was Expo67 in Montreal that put Canada on the international map as a forward looking land of hope and possibility for millions of new Canadians, especially numerous creatives. As well, the Ontario governments decision to create community colleges throughout Ontario offered non university post secondary educational opportunities to the curious beyond the 10% of the population who went on to University at the time. The creation of these community colleges also provided numerous opportunities for English speaking creatives and intellectuals, including new-Canadian ones like my parents. The late 60-early 70s of Canada was a boom for many young architects, exhibition designers, graphic designers, industrial designers, typographers, theatre professionals, writers, artists, musicians and more.
Unfortunately, today, for the overwhelming majority of my parents creative peers, there is scant evidence of their consequential contributions to Canadian material, creative and intellectual discourse. As their generation are now in their 80’s and 90’s, if they are still alive, the chances of their legacy’s never seeing the digital light of day are quite high. Meanwhile, we are bombarded by way too many intimate yet banal details of the typically superficial influencers that dominate our digital landscape.
Of course, this phenomena is not limited to a Canadian context.
One of the outcomes of such a disparity is we are overwhelmed and exhausted by the tweeting antics of the banal, the unimportant, the superficial, the inconsequential, and the unmitigatedly ignorant. We are drowning in a tidal wave of distractions, amusing ourselves to death. It would be great to swap out this outcome, by celebrating the legacies of relevant cultural contributors while “putting a lid” on the less important cultural drivers.