i just read this salon article, about social networking software. it comes to the basic conclusion that, if these sites help further human friendships and relationships, then they can’t be all that bad.
it also hit on a theme that i have often thought about lately, which is that in this day and age, our lives are pretty much going to be more or less open books. if you are anything like me (and i would consider it likely you are, if you are reading this), you will live a significant portion of your life sitting in front of one of these screens interacting with it, creating an extensive data record. blogs and orkut/friendster activities can be looked at as something of an attempt to place one’s own spin on this data that is being collected about oneself.
hell it’s late and i am not forming my thoughts very clearly. read the article and see what you think. i basically started this blog in the spirit of “an unexamined life is not worth living”, and keeping something of a public journal of this process was a way of pressuring myself out of complacency in thinking. any time you have to express something in a way that others can understand it, you must first become clear about it yourself. i will probably begin blogging more in this vein in the days to come, as i begin to publicly consider what the next chapter in my life will be. the gallery is on the market, and while i love the place dearly, i am looking forward to moving on. i am still not sure what the next project will be. there are many thoughts.
in any case, the strange thing for me is that i am highly optimistic that whatever happens next, it will be good.
hmmmm. this post started one place, and took a sharp turn and wound up elsewhere. i see the connection. but it will have to be better explained at a later time.
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