Ep #28: Using AIM to reflect on always-on tech and social norms

Rethinking with Alex Torpey

Do you remember Netscape, AOL Instant Messenger, and loud dial-up? Well in this episode of Rethinking, we drink some cool refreshing millennial nostalgia and talk about the values and assumptions built into different social communication technologies, and how much those have changed over the last 25 years.

We trace some important differences between things like dial-up AOL Instant Messenger to the always on connected devices that pervade nearly all corners of the world now. We talk about how differing designs in technology impacts our own capacities, such as the difference between learning to navigate around by using a compass and map versus GPS. And we think about the three tier red-yellow-green system that was implicitly built into AIM (and many other areas of our life), as a framework to help us create more uniform social norms about how we communicate with each other, how present we are in what we’re doing, and how productive we are at work.

You can find all the episodes of Rethinking at rethinkingwithalextorpey.com or wherever you to listen to podcasts. Please feel free to share or like if you enjoy!

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted here, and in large part that is because I’ve been settling into living up in New Hampshire and Vermont and my new job as the Town Manager in Hanover, New Hampshire. If you want to hear what we’re up to there, we actually have a town podcast called “Hanover Happenings.” We’re working on lots of interesting stuff!