First post in a while…
Sometimes life gets in the way of posting for various reasons, but the reasons in this case are very good reasons (I’m on a much needed vacation), but I’m glad I’m able to make time to make a post.
Today’s post is a bit of a thought piece (you know, a post designed to elicit thought)…
I’m absolutely fascinated by the way people use the anonymity of the Internet to either become something they are not or act in a way they would not in public or around polite company that reflects exactly what they are, unvarnished and unfiltered.
I am convinced that the anonymous nature of the Internet drives a lot of our problems today, not just politically, but socially.
People can reinforce their ideologies and beliefs in ways not possible before the advent of the Internet, this is both a blessing and a curse.
I love the above meme that opens this post because of the simple truth it conveys…
On the Internet, no one knows who you are. Unless you tell them truthfully.
The Internet continues to erode our ability to communicate socially in person. It’s a lost art to be able to express oneself intelligently in person using the spoken word. The Internet is also eroding our ability as a society to express ourselves intelligently using the written (typed) word as well. Way too many acronyms, abbreviations, and what I affectionately call “shortcut words”, such as ROTL, ILY, OMG, and one that thankfully is out of style, YOLO.
Feel free to look those up if you don’t know what they mean, I am not inclined to decipher shortcut words for the uninitiated, as I wish no one was initiated into using them in their daily communications on the Internet.
To close this post, the anonymity of the Internet isn’t all bad…
It does allow people to communicate honestly as much as it also allows people to be posers. It allows us to communicate with friends and family we’d otherwise be totally cut off from, or at least makes it easier to stay in touch no matter where you are in the world.
Powerful media always has a dark side and a light side. Be a Jedi when using or consuming media.
-The Rational Ram
The Rational Ram 