Me and My Computer

That's how I'm seeing myself these days...and that's not a bad thing necessarily. I have discovered the world of Face Book -- this on top of discovering the world of blogging. I have been able to link up with people from my past, have more personal contact with folks who have been commenting on OCICBW (Of Course I Could Be Wrong - see blog recommendations below), and have made contact with new folks. I even have named what it is I'm doing (more appropriate perhaps given the season) but I am cybernating. I have become somewhat of a hermit - my friend Leon calls me "a secular monastic." I choose not to have a television signal - I own a TV but it's a DVD monitor, nothing more. All of this cyber contact has expanded my human relating - not minimized it. At the same time, I can see just how addictive this can become and as my cyber friend Mimi (see Wounded Bird - blog recommendations) has discovered, for many folks it begins to be a substitute for real human contact. I think that's the subject of my post today, all this cyber stuff - good or bad? During the campaign I was particularly intrigued by the way the discussion boards and blogs all seemed to have a particular political bent. I started to wonder if this was healthy for us or was it actually contributing to the polarization in the country. We clustered in our little communities of like minds and hurled insults at the occasional "troll" who ventured into our discussion or blog. Are we further losing our ability to commune with folks with whom we often don't agree? Is it still dialogue if we're merely saying the same thing - preaching to the choir as it were or as on the Anglodeacons discussion board on Yahoo - do we have to avoid real discussion because otherwise it devolves into name calling and insults. And then there's FaceBook - I am thoroughly enjoying myself, but part of me (the cynical part) sees that all my opinions, likes, dislikes, and contacts are being carefully monitored and marketed to advertisers. My outspoken sister-in-law who is irritated with me for not participating in the family grab bag - shouted at me through my brother's cell phone when we were talking, "Oh sure, you're against the commercialism of Christmas and here you are participating on one of the biggest commercial things around..." (or something close to that) and she has a point. Perhaps FB is a metaphor for life in the United States - there is a lot of good that goes on here, but it's usually tied in to conspicuous consumption some how. I'm inclined to believe that the good that I am experiencing from Face Book outways the expanding electronic monitoring that more and more permeates our lives. I am healing long lost friendships, having conversations with folks who have existed more in the periphery of my social life over the years - friends of friends, siblings of friends - I feel more connected while I get to also be a hermit in the woods. I'm making friends with folks in the UK, Mexico, all over the US. It's really awesome. Perhaps as with many things we have to take the good with the bad - and just try to remain aware of the bad to keep it to a minimum.