The biggest concern for me about the Internet is the increasing loss of one’s self. Is it possible that through Facebook and Twitter and things like that that we are losing our individualism? We are all interconnected almost 24 hours a day. It used to be, less than two decades ago, that our home phones were the only quick and reliable way to contact someone else. Before that was Morse Code, before that was mail, and before that was seeing them in person.
I received a text message that woke me up at 3 am last night. And although it was from a good friend of mine, I did not want to be awakened by that. I started to get this feeling that even sleep, my only place for personal time, was being taken away from me. I can socialize, but I don’t want to be a social person in this modern society. I do not mind having a cellphone, because I can ignore a phone call or choose to respond to a text message later. But I have become uncomfortable with the introduction of Facebook and Skype and Places and the multitude of other ways of getting in contact with others. It is starting to feel like the social life is becoming more of a 24/7 job that I will have a harder and harder time getting away from as I get older. As companies become more and more aware they will start to introduce cross platform media and soon your television will tell your friends what shows that you are watching without you having a say in it.
With the introduction of the 24/7 social connection I feel that I have to represent myself more carefully than I would like to. On Facebook I have to worry about the types of pictures that get posted because it is likely to affect my future job endeavors. I have to worry, even if it is subconsciously, what people might think of me if they saw this or saw that. I am tailoring myself to look the best in public rather than being myself and letting people like me for being the messed up me that I am. We can choose who to be on the Internet and as we increase the amount of time and ways that we spend on the Internet it becomes more and more our reality and we lose what we really are. We lose all of those annoying things about ourselves that we hate and yet makes us who we are.
It would be impossible to be successful and yet shun all of this development. I think the only thing that can be done in preparation of this inevitable future is to recognize what is going on. That people are beginning to lose themselves on the Internet. Those who are able to control this intake and still be functional in the real world are the ones who will be the happiest.
This is an interesting point and speaks in contrast to the theory that technology makes us more human. Technology is beginning to have control over our lives whether we like it or not. It seems we are entering a phase where instead of being ourselves, we must constantly keep our actions in check to avoid possible repercussions.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about possible ways to battle this type of technological take over.