THE DEATH OF PRIVACY

I haven't been blogging much lately.

There are several reasons. Life has been busy, personal matters, a minor illness. But I've also been experiencing a cyber-backlash, of sorts.

I've never been a big fan of the Internet... but I use it every day. Know what I mean? I'm a writer/editor by trade so I sit in front of a computer for about 10 or 11 hours a day, just for work. I also like to check sports scores, check out stuff on YouTube because I hate TV and don't have TV, and write this blog. And then there's the mammoth Email Imperative.

Toss in a casual acquaintance with Facebook, using the Net to order things I need, the many sites I've written for or commented on, and it starts to sink in that, in the new millennium, we are cyberspace and cyberspace is us. And that's scary.

I mean, I remember many times my father refused to fill out personal information on a paper form because it was being called for unnecessarily and therefore constituted an invasion of his privacy. (He would have hated the Internet with a passion.) But these days, someone can throw down a few bucks (online!) and get your freakin' life story emailed to them.

Then there are hackers; don't even get me started on those tossers.

And just the usual abuse of information. Like Facebook (and everybody else) selling your profile to third parties. And how many servers -- government, corporate and otherwise -- do you think we are all living on? A dozen more than a s***load, I'd say.

I'm just a bit tired of it. Jaded. I want my privacy back -- even though I know it's gone forever. Like I said, I've never liked the Internet, I've just tried to use it more than it used me. More and more that feels like a losing battle.

I write this blog because I want to do my little bit to make a difference. One of my few talents is the ability to write reasonably well. And so I blog. But the downside, for me, is that to be sincere, to be persuasive, I have to share certain stuff about myself, concede a little of my privacy. As I get older, that feels like a pretty substantial cost.

Over the years that I've worked as a journalist or writer or blogger or whatever, I've had some exposure to the psycho contingent out there too. I've always stuck by my views and, man, do some people hate my views (or maybe they just hate anyone with a view). Who knows if they're "sad sacks" living in their mother's basement or gun owners with mental issues and a death wish. Usually it's just nonsensical crap from near-illiterate whiners or bluster boys who just refuse to think. But again, it gets old.

It's kind of like that old gag: One guy says to another, "I didn't come here to be liked" and the other guys says "Well, you came to the right place."

I'll keep blogging for now; but this cyber-privacy thing is something I feel we all need to think about. And something we are all responsible for. I'm not sure what to counsel here, other than keep your wits about you and make careful choices. And I do think it's important that, since the Net is here to stay, at least until we all get our micro-chip implants in our skulls, that it not be totally overrun by the money hounds of hell... which is happening already. So I'm all for Net Neutrality.

Maybe I'm just getting more suspicious in my old age. Or maybe it's like the man said: I might be paranoid, but that don't mean they ain't out to get me.

Take care and check your rear view mirror ;-)
Adrian

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at NET NEUTRALITY -- READY OR NOT, IT'S CRUNCH TIME, FOLKS.

FACEBOOK -- PT. 2

I should put this on Facebook! Mum would be so proud! (No, I don't know how to rotate photos.)

I was thinking of calling this entry "Facebook Sucks."

I have my reasons for a little antipathy. But then I thought about it some more. And Facebook -- and social networking in general -- does have its pros as well as its cons.

So let's look at them. And let's do a little psychosocial study without going into overkill.


SOME PROS AND CONS

PROS:

* It is a way for people to connect, reach out, be cyber social.

* Some people are too ill to leave their house. For them it's a blessing, of sorts.

* You read the occasional interesting post, see the occasional intriguing photo (my friend Pauline takes awesome shots!), and find the occasional interesting group.

* It is a convenient way to share certain things with other people, all in one fell swoop.

* It so easy to use that I can almost work it out. (But not quite.)

* I'm sure there must be other pros but I can't think of them right now.

CONS:

* News flash! Not everyone on the Internet is who they purport to be. Some of these people are not very nice folks. Keep that in mind.

* Privacy. Does it still exist?

* FB doesn't substitute for real-world experiences because... wait for it... IT'S NOT THE REAL FREAKIN' WORLD!!!

* Nearly everybody is super happy and near damn perfect on FB. How do I know? They keep telling me! "I'm having an AWESOME day"; "Life rocks!"; "Check out this Photoshopped pic of me looking more like a supermodel than the werewolf I really am!" (Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a werewolf!)

* Spare me the details: "Just had a great chicken panini sandwich for lunch!" Who gives half a s***. Trivia is only an art form in the hands of the very greatest creative talents. And guess what...

* The words "Facebook" and "privacy" were never meant to be in the same sentence. WHY there's suddenly a big stir about FB dishing off info about its members is a mystery to me. You put your personal info on the Internet and all bets are off. That's called logic. And yet, yes, it's still disturbing and worth a second thought.

* The personal photos. They're a bit much, aren't they? Do we really want to know you that well? Do we have the same high opinion of you that you seem to have of yourself in front of the camera?

* And the Big One: If you're walking down the street of your home town/city, do you pull out a wad of photos of you semi-clad, getting drunk, kissing male strippers etc. and show them to total strangers? Do you regale these same strangers with tales of last night's debauchery or that great panini you just had? I'm thinking no. So why do it where 500 million people can step into your world?

What I really look like. (Prolly not going on Facebook.)

MORE FRIENDS THAN YOU CAN POINT A CURSOR AT

I mean, you gotta realize, "friends" in the cyber world is a misleading term. You might have 5,000 cyber friends, but if you break your leg and end up in hospital, don't expect the line of visitors to go round the block. Capiche?

Here's the thing: I'm just concerned that our lives have become too public while, at the same time, our real social skills and face-to-face connecting are spinning their tires.

I believe that when we overdo the social networking thing, we're losing more than we're gaining. And we do overdo it, now don't we? Because, y'know, it's kinda addictive to be "famous" on Facebook, right? Famed pop artist Andy Warhol never lived to see the advent of the Internet but he was totally right when he said (in 1968!!): "In the future everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes." That's Facebook. That's reality TV. That's the "idiot culture."

And 500 million registered users? Holy rollers! Facebook could attack the U.S. and kick its ass! Scary numbers, baby, just scary! (Is there actually anybody walking around outside these days?)

Andy Warhol

UPSIDE, DOWNSIDE

Facebook can be fun. It's when people take it too seriously that their psychoses and insecurities show. Hell, FB is a landfill of insecurities thinly covered by a veneer of hyperbolic happy platitudes: "My life is totally working out now!"

As long as gossip and voyeurism and jealousy and exhibitionism and hooking up are popular, there'll always be a Facebook of one kind or another. People want to know what everyone else is doing... and then outdo them. And FB lets them do it more efficiently than ever. I'd just like to see more inventions that encouraged us to flex the better muscles of our nature rather than stuff that constantly seems to appeal to our egos and apathies.


CONCLUSION

The real significance on the macro level is that this is another distraction that keeps the masses occupied and passive. Fine in small doses but when combined with TV and video games and sports etc etc, it doesn't leave much time for thinking about things like feeding the poor or true democracy or "What the hell are they teaching my kids in school?"

Look, I ain't the Grinch, okay? But Facebook isn't your online lord and savior either. Keep your life in balance and your ego in check.

You're much more lovable that way.

Take care and take a walk outside,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at FACEBOOK -- PT. 1 or THE IDIOT CULTURE.