Digitization of identity

I was just thinking of something quite interesting while I was surfing some internet networking sites. With the advent of technology, people are increasingly sharing their thoughts online. The frequency and intimacy of thoughts appears to manifest more and at a higher level through these sites. I think I'm guilty of that as well.

With technology easing us into a culture of globalization, where everyone seems to be a click away, there seems to be a revelation of the state of loneliness in our society as well. When we use networking tools like Facebook sometimes, are we not also using such platforms as a sounding board for our thoughts? Definitely having said that, I'm not saying that everyone that uses such gadgets are lonely people or in the midst of a particular crisis. What I'm saying rather is that the unintended function of such sites are quite obvious. For example, when someone is going through something tough, and that individual post something, in a few moments, comments will come in asking what is wrong, comforting that person. The internet becomes a form of sanctuary. It becomes a place to seek solace and comforting words in an otherwise fast paced society. In an age where permanence is no longer a lasting phenomenon, what the internet does is to capture a screenshot of an emotional state. Like Facebook, as you look at the live feed...it allows your experiences, your thoughts to generate significance on a constructed space known as the web. Significance is a state in which everyone pursues at some level. Networking sites such as Facebook and blogs allow and entertain such pursuits. Everyone becomes an actor in such exchange. Everyone plays a role, portrays a certain image in these sites. Your identity becomes shaped by those twits, those wall posts and comments. In fact these become individualization tools. These sites become a virtual mirror in which we appraise ourselves.

I think sometimes we even use these platforms for our thought processes. We post something and  the comments aid in negotiating our thinking processes. I guess there is something good and something bad in the midst of all these. I believe that whether we like it or not, there should still be a separation and a line to be drawn between our private thought lives and other less intimate details. We need a time that we can withdraw from the world which encompass the virtual one in decision makings.

I also feel that everything that we see online is rather interpretative. They are fragments of a larger picture. Like what the term connotes..."information-sharing" basically implies that. Most of what we see online are bits and pieces of a larger perspective. Well having said all these...I'm feeling the irony of what I'm doing now.