Comments on: musing on making things real

By: avi

avi — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:55:55 +0000

I failed to introduce a Wiki system to my company for this very reason: people don’t want their drafts to become public, let alone leave forever.

By: Ria

Ria — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:53:25 +0000

Not only does the “public performance” figure in when a couple breaks up, but while the relationship is in progress as well.

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been increasingly bugged by the fact that my long-distance boyfriend’s MySpace page still lists him as “single.” Now, I have no doubt in my mind that he loves me and is being faithful, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s just a case of him forgetting to change it or if it’s symptomiatic of some doubt or uncertianty on his part. And beyond that, the posessive side of me wants to publicly “stake my claim” so to speak. Advice from my friends has ranged from “you’re completely batshit crazy” to “this kind of thing is an important part of people’s identity these days- you have to talk about this!”

I settled for the middle ground of a funny, self-depricating email. But it kind of begs the question: what do you do when what you know of a person and how they present themselves online is vastly different?

By: River Watson

River Watson — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:26:55 +0000

wow. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of reading this blog. so interesting. so real. and I really do believe that now is the time for this kind of insight into how these kinds of “electronic media” influence people, particularly teenagers. people at the peak of their physical and psychological development, just learning to really communicate, suddenly have an entirely new and ever-evolving medium with which to color their worlds… I think this was more than a musing. heh. no pun intended.

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 12:51:35 +0000

I loved this blog. You’ve got some style and it’s pooring out of your ears. Keep it up!

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 12:49:25 +0000

Ok this phrase: “Have you ever found yourself not saying something that is on your mind because you’re afraid that if you say it, it will become real?” completely sums up how I feel 90% of the time. Not the best way to live but hey such is life. I loved the post….brilliant.

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 12:48:15 +0000

By: zephoria

zephoria — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:44:09 +0000

Joseph – of course this existed before… it’s just that the persistence of these communications mean that there are many more to delete.

Steve – i think that the relationships of younger folks are often more fraught with extremes than those of older folks who are simply burnt out and wary. I don’t think it’s so much about embarrassment as much as it is about beginnings and endings.

By: nightcleaner

nightcleaner — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 12:45:30 +0000

What if the so-called “public performance” is only a “rehearsal” and that we manage persistence not by erasing emails, comments, etc. but by erasing ourselves. That is, we shed identities, going from one to the next.

In this world we maintain identities in series or in parallel.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 12:44:53 +0000

In the past I know you’ve heavily followed children being charged as sex offenders for ridiculous things. I thought you might be interested in this link: Stupid Sex Crime

By: Jitendra

Jitendra — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:34:52 +0000

Brilliant post…I love your blog.

Another interesting example of public display of relationships is LinkedIn…At times I get a sense that I get invited to join a person’s contact list just because of the ego boost for the person from adding new contacts…Sort of like I am more popular then the rest of you…