Social Networking’s Next Level? I Think I’ll Pass

Lost in ever-loving, romantic thoughts, I used to think about writing a book about my life. For the longest time, I kept journals; not so much for my book’s fodder, but to work out what I had experienced daily, more as a way to keep myself honest with myself than anything else.

Journaling got me through quite a few rough spots along the way, to say the least. What it proved a thousand-fold is that the process of writing is integral to learning, to balance, to goal fitness and to staying sane in an insane world.

I haven’t thought about writing a book about my life in years. Thinking about it now, the same old question still is, “Just who would be interested in my life?” Sure, I have a lifetime of experiences that, if shared, would curl many a mothers’ hair, but would they be interesting enough for someone else to read cover to cover? Nah. At this point, I’d even have a hard time reading a book about my life.

Yet, I still write. Blogging, the process of writing specifically for others to read, has become the lens through which I am better able to pick and choose just what I share. Of course I hope it’s interesting! These short snippets of thoughts are a bit easier to take, beginning to end, than a book would be.

Ah, I’m keeping up with the times too. If I look back, it’s a continuation of half a century of history in the making. In my life, I’ve witnessed the advent of color TV, the integration of TV and telephone in every household. The Bic pen was invented (along with the advent of throw-away consumables), the toaster and the microwave. Component stereo systems brought almost live sounding music into homes and cable TV brought more of the world in front of our eyes. High quality communication became almost instantaneous. Then, personal computers became a reality, followed closely by the Internet, the first invention to reach adaptation levels in the least amount of time. While the railroad, radio and TV took well over 50 years to become common, the Internet took 5 years.

While everyone now seems to have email, a web site, a blog, a MySpace and Facebook account, there are still an estimated 44 percent of the American people lacking Internet access. The push is on to whittle down that number, and along with it will come even more changes.

At the top of the list is something called “Lifelogging.” Lifelogging is the brainchild of Gordon Bell’s MyLifeBits project. The idea is to wear a camera around your neck that will snap a photo every 20 seconds, effectively recording every minute of your daily life.

Oh my. I’m not sure I can wrap my head around this idea. Is this the future, starting tomorrow of what social networking will become? It could be, and though I’ve embraced tech advances all along, it’s going to take me awhile with this one.

Sure, I could give up my pen and pad while covering a story, as long as sound recording was included. I could go back and study interviews, to catch the things participating in that interview caused me to miss. It would sure help my memory!

At the same time, I can’t help but think it would be “Max Headroom” in real life. Once the network reaches every single person on Earth, the door is open for complete domination. Perhaps I’m just being a little paranoid here.

All of us will become the star of our own reality show.

I’ve got to chew on this awhile longer. I’m not too keen on giving up writing, and I insist that it is my brain that is my best feature. I’m not so sure broadcasting all the bumps I trip over would be such a good idea. No, I don’t think so. I may have kept up all these years, but it looks like I'll be falling behind the times now.