This whole question of connectedness continues to bounce around in my head.
I got an email today from someone I’ve never met, but I’ve now heard from twice. It was by no means an intrusion or unwelcome, just surprising. They came across my website in the course of doing some internet searching, and discovering a (somewhat distant) connection to me, got in touch with me. Actually, it was exactly that reason that I deliberately included mechanisms in the website for reaching out to me. In any case, they did and due to the nature of the connection suggested it would be nice to get together with me if/when I get back to the Midwest. Without the website they probably never would have discovered the connection nor decided to contact me. I don’t know how much of an impact this will make in the broader scheme of things, but it definitely makes it a more interesting situation for me. I’ve probably had 10 people locate me (in cyberspace anyway) through Facebook that I’ve lost touch with over the years, and although some of them were acquaintances rather than truly close friends, it was nice to reconnect.
So on one side there’s that.
The other side is what all this information out in cyberspace may be doing. I’ve been the victim of identity theft. Whether that was directly because of the availability of information on the Net or not I couldn’t say, but it seems likely it played a role. People have discovered to their chagrin that photos they posted on the Internet can come back to haunt them years later when they’re applying for a job. When you read some blogs you wonder if the bloggers realize how much they’re revealing.
I’ve already said I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so forth; obviously I’ve come down on the side of Internet community. But I’m conscious of the potential for unintended consequences.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
Sense of community or cyber voyeurism?
This whole question of connectedness continues to bounce around in my head.
I got an email today from someone I’ve never met, but I’ve now heard from twice. It was by no means an intrusion or unwelcome, just surprising. They came across my website in the course of doing some internet searching, and discovering a (somewhat distant) connection to me, got in touch with me. Actually, it was exactly that reason that I deliberately included mechanisms in the website for reaching out to me. In any case, they did and due to the nature of the connection suggested it would be nice to get together with me if/when I get back to the Midwest. Without the website they probably never would have discovered the connection nor decided to contact me. I don’t know how much of an impact this will make in the broader scheme of things, but it definitely makes it a more interesting situation for me. I’ve probably had 10 people locate me (in cyberspace anyway) through Facebook that I’ve lost touch with over the years, and although some of them were acquaintances rather than truly close friends, it was nice to reconnect.
So on one side there’s that.
The other side is what all this information out in cyberspace may be doing. I’ve been the victim of identity theft. Whether that was directly because of the availability of information on the Net or not I couldn’t say, but it seems likely it played a role. People have discovered to their chagrin that photos they posted on the Internet can come back to haunt them years later when they’re applying for a job. When you read some blogs you wonder if the bloggers realize how much they’re revealing.
I’ve already said I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so forth; obviously I’ve come down on the side of Internet community. But I’m conscious of the potential for unintended consequences.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.