Saturday, March 10, 2007

The Age of Insecurity

In today’s fast paced world we are constantly bombarded by information. People’s lives are open to the public. Any celebrity’s life is an open book, and can be recorded on a daily basis. Random people can be made famous overnight, and this lightning fast process is because of a lack of privacy. People have forgotten how to do things for themselves, and are more concerned with how others will perceive it. If someone were to do something good, they would hope that someone catches it on camera, and they probably will.

People online are sharing information all the time. Personal details are given without thought for registration purposes. Blogs are filled with personal information. Sites like friendster have pictures, videos and tons of other information regarding the user. People around the globe are willingly uploading information that they wouldn’t disclose to strangers in the physical world. What they are doing online is as good as calling millions to a gathering and telling them about themselves with a slideshow and contact details. While it is true that millions of people will not bother to look at any one individual’s website, but if they wanted to they could do so with a click of a button.

The internet has vastly increased the opportunities for individuals to subject themselves to the demands of the personality market, resulting in ever increasing confusion and anxiety about how much of ourselves to reveal to strangers(Rosen, 2004). Given the nature of the internet people are forced to reveal personal details of themselves to strangers to have a substantial impact on them. This is because such details are hard hitting and get people thinking. This has been described as the best way of attracting attention online (Rosen, 2004).

This attention seeking tactic however comes across as an act of desperation. Apart from desperation, people who try very hard to cultivate an image of themselves in a public space so that they can get noticed would be described as insecure in the real world.

As an individual, I would not and do not disclose personal information about myself online at all. I have a freindster account, but it doesn’t scratch the surface of who I am. While I am very dependent on the internet I like to use it for convenience purposes and not to attract attention. I contribute to an online poker forum, but only when I am faced with a problem and need advice.

Another perspective of looking at the internet and the concept of privacy is to use the internet as a form of expression. This way revealing different aspects of ones personality would be similar to that of an artist working on a blank canvas. However, with artists and their work, coherence with their lifestyles is apparent. Whereas, a person made famous for their blog and the tons of pictures which are posted up there, is different. A lot of the time, People try to be something they’re not, and to deal with their insecurity issues pretend to be something else in the virtual world. Therefore it can be defined as an escape, which helps them out with their own internal issues. By telling the world about oneself and getting recognition for it at the cost of privacy is an inherent problem with this medium and its users.

However, this concept of privacy issues online has become common. People update their Blogs and webpage’s and hope to get as many hits as they can. Privacy is not the issue anymore, recognition is. Becoming famous online is a straight link to stardom. Blogs like www.perezhilton.com have made their owners media icons for reporting and critiquing the lives of celebrities. Dawn Yong, a famous Singaporean blogger is a household name due to her activities online. The list is endless and people are waiting and uploading their lives onto the internet so that maybe someone finds them interesting enough to talk about in larger circles. The way I look at it, is plain and simple insecurity.

References:

Rosen, J. (19th July, 2004). "The Naked Crowd". Retrieved on 8th March, 2007 from http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA5FF.htm

Sullivan, B. (17th October, 2006). "Privacy Lost: Does Anyone Care?". Retrieved on 9th March, 2007 from
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Privacy (7th March, 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 9th March, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Privacy&oldid=113354124

2 comments:

Kevin said...

If this is the case, then even dressing up everyday might be considered a form of insecurity. There are legitimate forms of expressions that take place online and offline that could be easily dismissed as a sign of weakness, but that may be too simplistic.

Not everyone suffers from maintaining an identity online, in fact some gain a lot of traction which real-life might not have afforded them in the first place.

Blogs are as open as paper, and it's really up to users to define them by how they use it (i.e. motivations for blogging). Some want popularity, others to share common interests with a community. Academic blogs for instance serve as a fragmented form of Wikipedia, a more personal version of it, which has it's place in our world.

The key here is to keep an open-mind to the possibilities, rather than to shut them off completely when they could be of possible use to you in future.

Full grade for a decent argument. I sincerely hope you and your peers can be more open-minded, rather than be locked-in by a popular mindset.

adnan said...

thanks for the grade kevin. i am in no way against the internet and its various forms of expression. what i felt strongly against is the concept discussed in article 'the naked truth'. the author explains how, people disclose alot of information to impress others online. sometimes it is true and sometimes it isnt. it could come across as insecurity because your having to prove something to a stranger online. similarly on blogs, people tend to be something theyre not for the same purpose. i would be helpess without this medium and its various avenues, but some aspects of it irritate me. after reading my article through , i did find it to be too biased , and that was a mistake. i clearly understand your point of view and will try and refrain from taking such strong stands against topics. thanks for the advice man.