I remember life being much better, simpler before I knew any of the following words:
- ____-shaming/bullying
- AI/algorithm
- Appropriation
- Big Data
- Binge-watch
- Buzzfeed/HuffPo/Upworthy
- Citizens United
- Click-through/Content marketing/SEO
- Co-working
- Coffee/brew/latte/Grande/roast/java
- Comic-Con
- Cosplay
- Disruption/bootstrap/exit/pivot
- Engagement
- Evangelical
- Experiential
- Fanboy
- Foodie
- Fracking
- Gamer
- Gerrymandering
- GMO
- Hacking
- Hashtag
- Hoodie
- Human trafficking
- Imam/cleric/jihad/fatwa/fundamentalist
- Inequality
- Influencer/Thought-leader
- IoT
- IRL
- Kanye
- Kardashian
- Listicle
- Militarization
- MOOC
- Photoshop
- Pokemon
- Roofie
- Safe-space
- Selfie
- Sharing economy
- Snopes
- Snowden
- Social networking/social media
- Social/tag/share/like/follower
- Trump
- Tweet
- Viral
- virtual
- WikiLeaks
What are yours?
The words themselves may be good, bad or neither. They’re just milestones…
If there were an umbrella to place all of them under, I’d say it’s “overhead” or “baggage”. They’re not all negative or positive per se, but they all represent layers of complexity that we’ve added without a corresponding level of life enhancement. Or maybe they’re just indicators of increasing levels of awareness that lack direct relevance to our lives, but nonetheless consume our time and burn precious calories.
_____
Inspired by this, a good friend of mine came up with her own list:
- GoT
- Pivot
- Beta
- Tidal
- Bumble
- Redditor
- Scale!
- Chiavari chair
- Plus plus
- Google business app (there’s no such thing)
- Dropbox
- iOS update
- Another iOS update
- K-cup
- Craft beer
- Curate
- iPhone watch (Why)
- Selfies
- Snapchat
- Hashtag
- Likes
- Taylor swift
- Stackoverflow
- Locally sourced
- Organic
- Macros
- Lol
- Wait for it
- Meme
- Yolo
- Millennial
- Facebook live
- Filters
- Kakao/whatsapp
- Go pro