Monday, March 05, 2012

T.M.I.

Plugged In by erickpineda527
Plugged In, a photo by erickpineda527 on Flickr.

For awhile now I've considered killing off my Facebook account. Between smartphones, iPads, laptops, desktop computers, LinkedIn, Facebook, my blogs, YouTube and the random Google searches there isn't much left in the way of privacy. Is there such a thing as being TOO plugged in? Is it just me or does anyone else feel the web has developed so much these last few years and our lives have become too dependent on it? Or rather that we think we NEED it?

Yes, its convenient at Christmas time when you need to get your shopping done. Sure it's great keeping up with family and friends via Skype. But I think people become desensitized because of too much accessibility to everything. I don't want to get know what some people search for on the web.

It used to be that the early days of the internet were BBS'es of postings from people you knew. Then it became a cool way to write letters, chat (via IMs) and buy music (and eventually steal it). Next it developed into a means to watch your favorite movies and TV shows, shop online and video chat your family and friends.

Now people have to be careful about spouting off about their jobs on Facebook lest they get fired for it. Or building an online persona for everyone's approval. I recently read online about how Facebook has created a need for a "reward" response by users or how some judge the quality of their lives based on the postings of others. Whatever happened to just being able to walk into a business and submit your resume in person and speaking to someone? Whatever happened to just calling someone to say "hi"?

It seems a lot of proper personal interaction has been lost because of the web. Things are too easily accessible through the maze of networks, hardware, software and wiring. And we're paying for all of it.

I think this came to me after I decided to kill off my "smart" phone. Almost $160 a month so I can post on Facebook? To know when my next spam email of Viagra comes in? To update where I'm eating at via Twitter? Really? I just needed a phone in case someone actually needed to get a hold of me.

We've created a blackhole of "need" for ourselves by plugging every aspect of our lives into the web. I'm slowly figuring out where I can trim away some of this need and regain some of my privacy back. Call me if you need me.

3 comments:

ha1ku said...

Good man. Your personal info is increasingly difficult to get off the web. Check out Google's revised privacy policies, carefully. Your info is now up for sale by them.

Get your most personal info is now easier than ever to steal. All a thief need do is begin by typing in "www".

I used to have a vanity site with my name plastered all over it. No more. I may drop my other "anonymous" domain altogether because people at work have discovered it.

ha1ku said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jT0JT3N47g

Lek said...

That's the other main thing about the web nowadays. For years there has been the scare of identity theft. With all that people have been public about themselves it is literally too easy to gain information on anyone.

I may leave Facebook for my personal stuff and use it primarily use it for networking with my freelance design stuff. Honestly I don't think what I ate for breakfast is all that crucial in the grand scheme of things.

I enjoy the blog for what it is ... a creative outlet. All else is ridiculous.