Thursday, June 11, 2009

To Blog Or Not To Blog....Is That The Question?

Hello internet. Let us partake of a collective hi-five!

In this metaphoric meat grinder I have chiseled out a little space for my thoughts. I am still not sure why but it will come to me. In the meantime it creates the perfect topic for my first entry, don't you think?

What has happened in this time of extremely fast-paced information transfer and trends that spread then burn out like wildfire, that we feel our innermost thoughts are worth the time of others? Is it simply the next step in our technological evolution? Is it really a bad thing?

This virtual world allows us to recreate ourselves in a way that we can not in real life. It gives us the opportunity to control first impressions to faceless strangers. What an odd concept?

If any of us walks into a gathering place of judgment, be it a job interview or a singles bar, before we open our mouths we are being assessed. Our clothes, our hair, our body type, everything conveys an image. In some cases, our ideas and thoughts become a moot point as assumptions have already been made.

However on the internet we can choose to be nothing more than bodiless lines of text. We can withhold appearances and even hide some of our individual speech "ticks," presenting only thoughts and ideas.

What a concept!

What an ... inaccurate concept.

It is proven time and time again.When given such an opportunity many of us choose to misuse it. Even to the point of death, as in the sad case of Kevin Whitrick. I suppose there is a double edged sword here. While we can build ourselves into whoever we want to be, there is also a numbness that comes with anonymity. We forget that there are real people behind these words and images. Real people and real consequences.

Perhaps I should take a few steps back here. I love the internet. I love all it has to offer. The possibilities are endless! It allows us the chance to make connections that may not have otherwise been made.

However the questions still remain. People got along just fine prior to the World Wide Web. So why do we need it as much as we seem to? And what does this need say about us?

As I sit back and admire this churning beast I see no answers to most of these questions. If they come, well then they come. And if not, then I am ok with that.

For now I will pick up my textual brush and begin to paint a self portrait with my first brush stroke being this blog.

Maybe one day I will look back and be able to say I connected with myself for the first time on the internet.
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