Goodbye handshake in the wake of the coronavirus?

coronavirus-elbow-shake

Ok you got to have a bit of fun in the wake of something which might turn out to be an epidemic. I certainly feel Vice were thinking this as they wrote the click bait headline, Seize the Coronavirus Moment and Abolish the Handshake Forever. However I got to say there is good points about the handshake.

Life desk senior staff writer Hannah Smothers recently wrote about how groups from Silicon Valley investment firms to Canadian minor-league soccer teams were banning handshakes in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Instead of banning handshakes, everyone could simply wash their hands—something that is always a good idea, especially when we are staring down the barrel of a global epidemic.

I disagree that we should keep on shaking hands with each other, as if the very act of doing so is not totally deranged. Think about it: You walk into a party. Someone’s like “Hey, Kristy Marceline!” (Your name is Kristy Marceline.) “Come meet my friend David.” You hold out your hand. David holds out his. You clasp hands and move your claspèd doublehand up and down and up and down with a lot of force to prove to that you’re happy to see each other. You use a lot of force, but not too much force, as shaking hands with David too strongly or too weakly will make him think that you’re a terrible person, fundamentally flawed to her core.

This is ridiculous logic, and we just accept it on a daily basis without thinking twice!

Like the writer, I get the historical reason but maybe its time for something different. For example friends of mine have been doing the elbow bump, which has some strong legacy in the outbreak space.

Kid N Play's new greeting post epidemics?

I was thinking about something quite different… something like Kid n Play’s power dance move the kickstep. Yes I can hear you laugh but heck its one of the most dirty parts of our general body space and you are still looking each other directly in the face. Although I admit theres a lot of timing needed and maybe its best done with close friends for those mis-steps? It certainly bring something to those boring meets at least.

Author: Ianforrester

Senior firestarter at BBC R&D, emergent technology expert and serial social geek event organiser. Can be found at cubicgarden@mas.to, cubicgarden@twit.social and cubicgarden@blacktwitter.io

One thought on “Goodbye handshake in the wake of the coronavirus?”

  1. The word is out… MozfeLast is officially moving to Amsterdam.

    The decision to move locations after 9 years in London wasn’t taken lightly. London opened its arms to us in 2011, and we loved its multicultural diversity and entrepreneurial spirit. But it was expensive, and harder to get visas for our guests each year.
    During many conversations with the community in Amsterdam, we were consistently impressed with the alignment in values between Amsterdam and Mozilla, as well as the enthusiasm they brought to the proposal process. Amsterdam has publicly-stated principles around protecting data transparency, privacy, and internet access for citizens. And, it is home to a robust and eclectic community of creative thinkers. Our common goals for progressive, radical change in areas of AI, digital rights and literacy, with community inclusion at the fore, will make us great partners in executing a festival that will be a convening force for supporting a more open and healthy internet for all.

    Lets say I had a sneaky thought this might be the case when it was first announced that Mozilla was moving the festival.
    The bigger surprise is the date change….

    Moving to Amsterdam is not our only news. We have also decided to wait until March of 2021 to host our next MozFest. The extra time allows us to critically assess our design to ensure that what we build is robust and accessible and it allows us to embed ourselves in Amsterdam to get to know the local open advocates and activists.

    March 2021, is likely a good idea with the Cornoavirus on the rampage right now to be fair.
    Mozilla have a couple of Ask Me Anything sessions planned for Wednesday 18th in their Slack group.
    Session 1: 9am-10am GMT/5-6am ET
    Session 2: 5:30-6:30pm GMT/1:30-2:30pm ET

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