Last week I encountered 'augmented confusion' on three different occasions. I am not sure if it is an actual term or that I made it up...
What I mean by the term Augmented Confusion is that I sometimes do not remember if I met a person in real life or it has been a digital connection and when we interact I am totally confused if I actually know who I am communicating with... Last week I received messages from people via different communication channels (LinkedIn Direct Message, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp) who addressed me on a very personal and informal manner. And, my initial reaction was: that I did not know if I have met the person contacing me before and I was confused if my mind was playing tricks on me (read: suffuring mild amnesia) or that due to active social media activities these people know so much about me (and interact on such an informal and personal level).
It is (as if) our digital life is blending/converging with our real (offline) life and adds to the confusion. Hence my word/term: augmented confusion. As I try to be as open and honest as possible, I asked these people whom reached out to me if we actually have met in real life. And, lucky me, I am (still) not suffering from amnesia... I indeed did not met them in real life yet. Apparently I am so active digitally and invest so much in marketing that people (think they) have a good impression of me. And, one of the three people that reached out to me said my reputation precedes me and it made them reach out to me for a business proposal. And, in my reply in that conversation I used the term 'augmented confusion' for the first time to explain my confusion and ignorance about our relation.
I mutated the term Augmented Reality, which means: "an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device." 'My term' augmented confusion stayed with me and I was curious if it is an actual term. My google search did not yield anything worth mentioning. When we split the term and analyse both their meanings according to Merriam-Webster dictionary:
- Full Definition of augment
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transitive verb
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1: to make greater, more numerous, larger, or more intense <the impact of the report wasaugmented by its timing>
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2: to add an augment to (see 2augment)
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3: supplement <augmented her income>
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intransitive verb
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: to become augmented
We can conclude that my team literally means: to make an instance of confusing even greater. This is definitely what I meant, but when considering I wanted to derive it from augmened reality, I prefer to explain the term augmented confusion as followed: "an enhanced version of confusion created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on a mental image or thought."
Please let me know if you encounter augmented confusion in your modern life!
Merry Christmas and a healthy & happy New Year!