As I
watched the TED Talk and read the first chapter of our textbook, I was struck
by how much of the information in both of those resources was so relevant. It
is strange to see how right Kevin Kelly has been in predicting what the next
5000 days might hold for the Web and our world in general. What I found most interesting, however, is
how optimistic he was about the coming changes. He didn’t see an information
shift as a problematic endeavor; it seemed that he saw it as an opportunity to
move forward and become more connected with one another. So often we think
about more sharing, and less privacy, as an invasion of our civil liberties. We
don’t want Big Brother taking away our right to live our lives in private, yet
we don’t know how to stop this path we are on toward a more open society. Our obsession with things like social media have
created a need for the burden of over-sharing, yet we complain that we would
not like our business being accessible for anyone who wishes to find it. I am
guilty of this, and I'll admit it. I’m a huge Instagram fan, and I love to
tag myself and my friends at various places on Facebook. But when I
Google my name and find an article about being on the Dean’s List in
college…well, it makes me more than a little uncomfortable. I guess my problem
with Kevin Kelly’s optimism toward an open information society is that some of
that information, I did not choose to share. If I want to create a page that
lists all of my past medical records, I’m obviously okay with people looking
for the information. But if someone I do not know, with access to my personal
information, puts that information in some open access database without my
consent in an effort to form some sort of arbitrarily ‘free’ society (free
because we no longer have secrets or things that are kept from anyone who wants
the information), I would have a problem with that. The difference is choosing to share.
This
thought brings me back to the textbook, and choosing between the two societies.
Of course, when I first read it I chose the society in which I knew I was being
watched. It wouldn’t necessarily make me feel better because I would know I had
no privacy in the open, but at the very least I wouldn’t feel that my trust was
being taken advantage of. Even after reflecting upon the comment on page 25
about trading something for a feeling of security or a little less fear, I
would not take the other society over the one where I knew about the cameras.
There are times when I feel safer when I know there are cameras; my alma mater
was in a city that had a high crime rate and I will not deny that I felt safer
walking around campus at night knowing that there were cameras around campus,
and call stations if necessary. But if I were told there were no cameras, yet
had some lingering suspicions that I was still being watched, I would not feel
as good about it.
Am I eager
to see what the next few years hold for the Web, and technology in general? Yes
and no. While I am eager to see the advances our modern society can create
(after all, this video was filmed not too long after the first iPhone came out,
and think of how far that has advanced since its inception), I am hesitant to
give up more than what I have already given. I grew up in a strange time; I had
a childhood not dominated by technology the way it is today, yet I am young
enough that I pick up technology quickly. I grew up as technology and the
Internet advanced, so I understand the value of wanting to reject technological
advancements while still having a desire to see what comes next, to look
forward to those advancements. The chapters of our textbook are really
affirming all the concerns I have heard for advancement and gradual loss of freedom
over the past few years; it is very interesting to read about it in a voice
that doesn’t know what the years between 1998 and 2014 hold. SO much changed in
that small period of time; it’s almost comical at times to read parts of the
book and know exactly what predictions came true.
No comments:
Post a Comment