You’re missing out!
– A conversation between friends –
Project details
- Year
- 2024
- Programme
- Bachelor – Product Design
- Practices
- Social Practices
- Minor
- Powerplay
In today’s digital age, the art of face-to-face conversation is diminishing as online communication takes priority. Generation Z’s reliance on social media affects their ability to engage in meaningful face-to-face conversations within friendships. This project aims to spark a reconsideration of priorities, emphasizing the importance of reconnecting with friends through real-life conversations.
With this installation, I want people to feel the impact of digital communication on our conversations in a fun and lighthearted way. So, grab your friend and go through each phase, following the cards, starting with the PINK action cards, then the BLUE question cards and finish with the ORANGE explanation cards.
Full story
I looked into the impact of Generation Z’s heavy use of social
media on their ability to have meaningful, face-to-face
conversations within friendships. Motivated by my personal
experiences and a fascination with real-life interactions, I aim
to highlight the importance of in-person dialogue.
The decline in face-to-face communication skills is partly
caused by the convenience and prevalence of digital
communication via apps. My theoretical research also
indicates that face-to-face conversations, significantly benefit
mental health compared to digital interactions.
Practical field research involving conversational experiments
with peers revealed that non-verbal cues and certain
behaviours disappear in digital conversations, affecting their
depth and quality.
I want people to realize the impact social media communication
has on their conversations with friends, both online
and offline. By creating an interactive installation, two friends
can engage in a conversation while progressing through
four phases, and physically moving closer together. In these
phases, they will open up about their friendship, their conversations,
and how social media may affect them. Using cards
and an added object that simulates the influence of digital
communication, the experience will highlight these effects in
a lighthearted and humorous way.
Each exercise will explain what the object simulates only after
they’re done. This way, they’ll be unaware of it during
their conversation and only realize its impact
afterwards.
4 Phases of installation
1. ‘All day mirror’ – Simulating the unnatural distracting factor
of seeing yourself during video calling and how that influences
a conversation, with the help of mirrors and cards.
2. ‘Phubbing’ – Simulating the phenomenon of people ignoring
the real person in a conversation for their phone, with the help
of a very distracting audio on the headphones.
3. ‘Miscommunication’ – Simulating the miscommunication
that often happens over text, with the help of cards and
an hourglass.
4. Reflection/ ‘A letter to our conversations’ – Reflecting on
the phases they just went through, their conversations, their
friendship and the influence of conversing via social media
has on these things, with the help of question cards and a letter
they write to ‘their conversations’ and give to the other person. 🙂
Contact information
Instagram: @lizandingen
Linked-In: @lizanguliker