Saturday 12 May 2012

Modern technologies and those inherent dangers

What is it about Facebook that people feel the need to write about everything that happens to them? I don't quite understand what the pull is to jot down some mystery, wrapped in a riddle, in order to demonstrate how terrible/great/awful/amazing/terrifying - you get it - life is on a minute by minute basis. So you get shoved in the queue at the bus stop. 'Fuck!' you write. 'Shoved in the line. How I hate commuting...' Does it make for interesting reading? Then there's the other type of howl. 'fuck fuck fuck fuck... i hate them all...' Right. So what brought that about then? Sometimes it's downright scary. 'I want to kill myself' was what I read the other day. This was displayed beneath the name of an old, good friend. However, when confronted by these words by his mother and his worried friends, he admitted that no, it wasn't he who wrote them and he threw himself at his computer, desperate to discover who would have done such a thing.

And Twitter. What is it about Twitter? Who really, really, really wants to know what music you are listening to at whatever hour of the day it is or what book you're stuck into? Doesn't anyone have a private life any more? I suppose that depends on what you call a 'private life.' I guess that can mean anything. It used to be the case that people had their own thoughts that they shared with their alter-ego in the knowledge that actually it's not terribly interesting to know what someone else is thinking at a particular time. Are we all so bereft of individuality that we have to be incessantly au courant with what those we are following are doing with their lives? It's puerile. It's infantile. It's pathetic and immature. Political, environmental and news is of some interest but whether someone is enjoying Brighton pier with their kids or having a tattoo is as boring as hell.

Addiction to the new technologies brings dangers too. We think that it works for us but there are times when we can't control the output of the pods and pads and macs and androids. Life, love and marriage are put in danger. It's all there for us to see but who pays attention? Messaging is now phone sex. Titillating tit-bits are sent into the ether. It's not necessarily the recipient who will view these either. Something to bear in mind for those who are unable to keep their fingers from the key pads. Put the phones away and think before you commit. What's in writing, in whatever form it takes, cannot be discarded and binned so easily. 

On to a lighter note: There was finally some sun today. It manifested itself from behind the clouds a number of times and it was a delight to see it glinting on the new leaves that have suddenly appeared on the once naked branches outside. It was good to take a walk without the need for inner linings and an umbrella or a hat. It's still only May. There's plenty of time for warmer rays. Hopefully not before these special long, spring days are too far behind us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

....yawn....

Anonymous said...

if you don't like it, you don't have to read it, let alone leave a comment... mo

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