Just yesterday my brother performed solo at one of the leading theatre events in Delhi. While he was getting ready for it, I asked him - why was he being so finicky about the white shirt, it wasn't going to show when he would be so far away on the stage.
He looked at me as though my question had really offended him. He said that the group he was opening for had a live twitter feed, an updated Facebook page and a videographer present at the event. Also, he himself has an active YouTube channel among other social media sharing outlets. To add to that, his friends would be present at the event who would definitely share his images and recordings online.
He basically meant that technically his performance doesn't end that evening. It'll be carried to different platforms where that tiny mark on his shirt could create potential crisis or unwanted conversation.
I was a little taken aback. So this 15 year old boy had not only thought about his performance live but also the aftermath of it on social media. So is the fact that there are no boundaries to sharing and no event is technically closed to an online audience making us perform better than before? Or for that matter, micro manage things that we would've ignored earlier?
What one does on stage can trickle down positively or negatively online. Delhi concerts have been a clear example of this. A few days before the Tiesto concert, we were hearing rumours about it being cancelled. The organising group did not choose to pick a publication, print a life size advert and erase that rumour but just published an online interview of Tiesto talking about how excited he was to come to India. And moments later, people were posting all over social media about the confirmation of the Tiesto tour. This definitely relays the trust people have in what other people like them post online than someone unknown sitting behind a printing machine.
Coming back to the point of performance. Are we paying more attention to what we create keeping in mind the kind of platform it would be shared on? According to me the answer is yes. Taking the example of Instagram - how many us who have that application installed on our phones don't think about what filter a certain thing would look good in? The fact that photo sharing has become synonymous to Instagram is a clear indication that people are putting articulated thought into things around them and how to best capture them.
At a polo event last month, I was sitting amongst Delhi's elite and was overwhelmed by the talks of leading make up and clothing brands. Something mentioned by one of the ladies surprised me - she said - "I bought this Louis Vuitton Damier bag just two weeks back and she had it a day after I did. I think she saw my Greece vacation pictures on Facebook and decided to buy it." I wanted to tell her - "Honey, I don't think she dropped a few thousand dollars just because she looked at how good the bag looked on you in your profile picture" but I stopped. Because yes, there could be a clear high possibility that this trend-cheater just saw that bag on her friend's profile and decided to buy it. So is sharing helping us convince other people's choices and set trends like never before?
He looked at me as though my question had really offended him. He said that the group he was opening for had a live twitter feed, an updated Facebook page and a videographer present at the event. Also, he himself has an active YouTube channel among other social media sharing outlets. To add to that, his friends would be present at the event who would definitely share his images and recordings online.
He basically meant that technically his performance doesn't end that evening. It'll be carried to different platforms where that tiny mark on his shirt could create potential crisis or unwanted conversation.
I was a little taken aback. So this 15 year old boy had not only thought about his performance live but also the aftermath of it on social media. So is the fact that there are no boundaries to sharing and no event is technically closed to an online audience making us perform better than before? Or for that matter, micro manage things that we would've ignored earlier?
What one does on stage can trickle down positively or negatively online. Delhi concerts have been a clear example of this. A few days before the Tiesto concert, we were hearing rumours about it being cancelled. The organising group did not choose to pick a publication, print a life size advert and erase that rumour but just published an online interview of Tiesto talking about how excited he was to come to India. And moments later, people were posting all over social media about the confirmation of the Tiesto tour. This definitely relays the trust people have in what other people like them post online than someone unknown sitting behind a printing machine.
Coming back to the point of performance. Are we paying more attention to what we create keeping in mind the kind of platform it would be shared on? According to me the answer is yes. Taking the example of Instagram - how many us who have that application installed on our phones don't think about what filter a certain thing would look good in? The fact that photo sharing has become synonymous to Instagram is a clear indication that people are putting articulated thought into things around them and how to best capture them.
At a polo event last month, I was sitting amongst Delhi's elite and was overwhelmed by the talks of leading make up and clothing brands. Something mentioned by one of the ladies surprised me - she said - "I bought this Louis Vuitton Damier bag just two weeks back and she had it a day after I did. I think she saw my Greece vacation pictures on Facebook and decided to buy it." I wanted to tell her - "Honey, I don't think she dropped a few thousand dollars just because she looked at how good the bag looked on you in your profile picture" but I stopped. Because yes, there could be a clear high possibility that this trend-cheater just saw that bag on her friend's profile and decided to buy it. So is sharing helping us convince other people's choices and set trends like never before?
I personally believe it is the beginning of a never ending era of sharing and crowd sourcing. So would you thinking before you wear that shirt or watching your pronunciation while you speak at a presentation. According to me - please do, you never know who is sharing.
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