Okay - that was really cruel of me.
Yes, I know you clicked and got this, but there's something you should know: You and I both have a problem.
Oh - I didn't see it initially. Part of me was in denial because it seems so completely senseless, but I'm realizing that I am a sucker for any of those: "Top 15 Ways you can really mess up a blind date at a wrestling match" or "The Top 50 Space Aliens you ever want to be kidnapped by." I have no idea why I'm compelled to click on the pages -- but I'm drawn to these incredibly futile lists because maybe I want to see how MY Top 50 Space Aliens stack up against some author bunkered down in a basement in southeast Detroit.
And yet - I've been noticing a trend though lately: I don't read things in depth like I used to. Whether or not this is the "twitter" effect -- where my noggin can only handle 140 characters at a time, I don't know. But I do find myself frustrated when I have to read over 4-5 paragraphs into a story before it actually gets to the meat of things and even then I find myself disappointed because I'm like: "I wasted 2 minutes and 10 seconds for this?"
It's like the line from "The West Wing": "I only have so much RAM in my head..." and there are truly days that I feel that way...
I also think that this could a product of where society has become so hyperactive about: getting this done, writing that email, scribble off that to-do list so you can march on the next to do list, on and on and on.... We're all victims of our technology that keeps us pushing forward to getting things done as quickly as we can so that we can use that free time we have saved up for a project we kept putting off....
The cycle never ends -- but I know my mind needs a quick break from things, it doesn't want to dive into a piece that is so choreographed that it takes a lot of energy and mind-think to really grasp what the author is trying to convey. In fact, when my mind is wanting taking a quick respite from the action -- it doesn't want deep ... it wants quick, entertaining, "let's go ahead and move it along" kind of material.
Are you an addict as well?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Be Careful?
I don't get to read everyone's blog as often as I'd like -- but I do like sitting down every once in awhile to get caught up on what's been happening to our friends and people we like.. The good stuff, the bad stuff, even the seemingly mundane stuff because it ultimately comprises of the totality of our lives with the words and images we share.. Blogging has become a very wonderful way on how to keep in contact with people (even though I whole-heartedly admit being a primary violator of this principle.)
But this is where part part of me worries -- because we have become so open with our lives, our victories, our celebrations, our deep thoughts, our complaints, our ventings -- and the fact that they are also shared among the people of the big ol' world out there .... well .... it can actually work against us.. There are reports of bosses getting unhappy when they read a co-worker's blog piece that just chewed them out for taking the garbage out wrong. Even if names aren't revealed in our posts -- certain factual events can still be re-created if there's reason to believe *I* am the author of the blog.
That's incredibly problematic because this puts our careers, our families and our lives at stake with each posting. That's why I didn't post much about my previous place of employment because I didn't want to deal with the repercussions in the event one of my posts were revealed.... because if one of the posts were revealed, imagine how the remainder of my posts on sadism, hoods and objectification would've went over with the troops.... (YIKES!)
So I guess I'm offering my two pence of advice of being careful. If you have a LiveJournal account -- you can lock your posts to a small circle of friends if you still want to share what's going on -- otherwise, we all have to remember that these posts are nearly automatic on the web and while it may seem like a virtual impossibility of being discovered -- it can and has happened.
But this is where part part of me worries -- because we have become so open with our lives, our victories, our celebrations, our deep thoughts, our complaints, our ventings -- and the fact that they are also shared among the people of the big ol' world out there .... well .... it can actually work against us.. There are reports of bosses getting unhappy when they read a co-worker's blog piece that just chewed them out for taking the garbage out wrong. Even if names aren't revealed in our posts -- certain factual events can still be re-created if there's reason to believe *I* am the author of the blog.
That's incredibly problematic because this puts our careers, our families and our lives at stake with each posting. That's why I didn't post much about my previous place of employment because I didn't want to deal with the repercussions in the event one of my posts were revealed.... because if one of the posts were revealed, imagine how the remainder of my posts on sadism, hoods and objectification would've went over with the troops.... (YIKES!)
So I guess I'm offering my two pence of advice of being careful. If you have a LiveJournal account -- you can lock your posts to a small circle of friends if you still want to share what's going on -- otherwise, we all have to remember that these posts are nearly automatic on the web and while it may seem like a virtual impossibility of being discovered -- it can and has happened.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
