Our digitised identities and memories

Over the weekend, I have finally decided to upgrade my iCloud storage from the default 5GB to 20GB. With that, I have just committed to paying USD 0.99 per month for the cloud storage service by Apple, and bought myself a peace of mind knowing that my files on the phone will be backed up to the cloud periodically.

What can I say? I have been spoiled rotten by the ease of use of the current state of consumer technology.

I can vividly recall the days when we had to manually syncing the contacts from our mobile phone to a SIM card, and vice versa. Some of you might be able to relate to this, as that was how we used to back-up our mobile phone contacts.

There was also a time when we had to manually ‘add’ every friend of ours to each online chat services. Do ICQ, MSN or Yahoo Messenger ring a bell?

Fast-forward to present day, after logging in to a platform or service, our contacts, music, photos, and a myriad of apps would be automatically synced to the devices we use.

Look at how far we have come!

With the combination of Apple iCloud, Facebook, Google and Twitter, the need for me to keep a physical notebook scribbled with names, phone numbers and addresses has ceased to exist.

It is no longer a question of whether we have become overly dependent on technology, but to ponder on what basis do we believe that our data saved in the servers of various online platforms are permanent? Will our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google+ profile still be around ten years later? What will happen to all the ‘memories’ that we have diligently uploaded to these social media sites?

A majority of the content we consume and post online today is ephemeral. Unless you decide to have them printed, most of the emails, articles and images we send and share on the Internet have never exist in a physical format, only in the form of impermanent bits and bytes.

Perhaps some of us may find it appealing that in a digital context, we have the flexibility to craft a narrative that we would rather identify as our own. By selectively post and share fond memories and delete the ones that no longer resonate with us in a positive way.

Take past relationships for example. “Memories” with another individual are now erasable — one can choose to “delete” and “reshuffle” a digital life history, where the remnants of memories lie only in the confines of one’s mind.

As we continue to willingly envelop ourselves in the digital realm, I hope that we will continue to make an effort, and to never give up on creating memorable moments through offline human connections. While we can turn to social media, apps and features to add a layer of novelty to human interactions, technology changes form as it develops and advances to new height. We should always keep in mind that at the core of human communication, real connections will only be established through the quality of time and experience we share with others.