Stephen's Web

Are online social networks a net gain for humanity?

It's the question of the day, I guest. Gardner Campbell reports that he has been asked this question "with real urgency behind it" twice this week (because, I guess, if social networks were not some sort of net gain for humanity, we'd have to shut them down!). "Is it a good thing that with these tools we expose so much more of ourselves to so many more folks? Who knows?" Well - it's a different way of living. For me, as someone who grew up in a small town, and who has long been used to the idea that people would know me, know of me, and know about me, anonymity seems to be the odd and perverse lifestyle. Would it be better if I grew up feeling obscure? That is the question I ask myself, and is for me the challenge I pose to those who would want to lock their children away from the world, away from publicity, away from being known, and into obscurity. Gardner Campbell, Gardner Writes, November 16, 2009. [Link] [Tags: Networks] [Previous][Next]

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