Personal Revelations

By MB Consort

There is no doubt the internet is a valuable tool. Instant access to information, personal communication, business and finance (among many) etc, provide an ease of lifestyle.

But the internet, in many ways, is a seductive lure when it comes to personal revelations: Relationships, family, births, deaths, wedding and funerals are seemingly mundane when compared to the more intimate and nasty details revealed before an uncaring (or thrill seeking) audience, via a receptive screen that holds no emotion or opinion to the data entered. How odd this screen is considered a “friend” in its own right. Personal identity and validation is redefined through the written word and response received. Ivan Pavlov and his studies of classical conditioning would have had a hey-day with the internet generation and the conditioned response to ‘Notifications’ and ‘Likes’. The new age of approval.

But ultimately, what is the reason some people feel the need to reveal the most intimate details (real or not) of their lives to an audience on the internet? Perhaps a false sense of safety and security? Imagined anonymity and control? Pure hype and attention-seeking? In terms of privacy, surely, somewhere, there has to be a line drawn that, if nothing else, maintains a decorum of courtesy or respect for not only the self, but of those you choose to have in your life. Nasty on-line breakups and a play by play of last night’s sex can be about as respected as the back pages of The National Enquirer. Are you sure you want the general public to know “everything” about your life? But more importantly, can you control whose hands it ends up in, and what is done with it?
No.
Declare wisely.