Class readings and the thoughts they have provoked.

The Technology Age, and our place among the systems we use is an interesting, if not mercurial evolution. I say among, not within, because I believe there to be a big difference. Seems to me that so many of the articles that we have been reading in class, from Robin Dunbar's You Gotta Have (150) Friends, to Peggy Orenstein's I Tweet, Therefore I Am, feel that they have to project this persona within these communities. My first thought on that is, don't we tend to do that in the physical world as well? How is it so different from social media? In everyday life you see people that are trying to project an image for all to see. The guy driving the new car is trying to show you his stature in his workplace. The guy, or girl dressed to the nines to draw attention to themselves showing their current trendiness is trying to fit into a society riddled with fashion awareness. Let's go deeper -- the wolf in sheep's clothing, a priest who projects the protection of the cloth, and yet hides sinister urges. How is this any different from the profiles you see among the site you belong too? Even the sinister lies you fear. I get that there is even more people, yet funneled into a more focused arena of this media, but an arena that you have control over. Shouldn't we be talking about how to assert the right and wrongs that we have learned in life and how to apply them in this alternate format that mirrors the physical world problems that we still face everyday? It is like the movie Tron... YOU are the USER people. Act like it, use your discretion, and above all remember, you are an individual in both the virtual and physical realms. The hardest thing to do in either world is be yourself.