There is a general notion that the Internet has allowed us to share more and be more open with the world but consider this. When we type an e-mail, send a text, post a blog we are writing our thoughts in a text editor. This gives us the ability to edit and manipulate what we say and how we say it. Combined with pictures and videos what we present on the world wide web is this censored version of ourselves. On the other hand when we engage in a conversation it is much harder to edit what we say. Is what we post electronically the truth or an overly managed portrayal of ourselves?
Are we really sharing that much with each other?
What do you think?
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Interesting question. I suppose in some ways we do edit ourselves more "online" than we do in face:face conversations. Or at least we can choose to do so.
ReplyDeleteBut it is also true that some people tend to post, email, text, post pictures, etc without thinking through the possible ramifications. Someone might fire off an angry email and later think, "hmmm, perhaps I shouldn't have sent that while I was so angry." And that's a lot like something we might do when we're in a heated discussion with someone.
Then there is the fact that being online allows us to interact with people we might not have access to in our everyday lives. In that case, we can share more than we might otherwise. For instance, I email or chat with my best friend from grad school several times a week online. So even though we live some 3000 miles apart, the distance doesn't seem that great.