Too Much Information
Our private lives are becoming increasingly more public. Despite efforts to maintain our privacy, our personal information is becoming ever more available to one and all. And much of it is our own doing. Those of us who write newsletters or columns often share personal details of our lives; bloggers and vloggers keep subscribers up to date with their observations and philosophies and there seems to be no detail too insignificant for the countless tweeters out there on the Interwebz.
We 'friend' others on Facebook; network on LinkedIn; share photos on Flickr; talents and causes on YouTube; interests on Pinterest; and seek life mates on, well, Lifemates and other dating registries. We are in constant communication with others by mobile phones, think nothing of having intimate conversations within earshot of strangers and texting is ever-present.
Our inbox is filled with podcasts, RSS feeds, news and information from global sources. With iPods and iPads, Kindles and Kobos, we carry music and books wherever we go, rarely having a minute to just stare into space with nothing but our imagination to occupy us. Marshall McLuhan's message, made famous by Timothy Leary to "Turn on, tune in, drop out" seems prescient.
Our appetite for acquiring and sharing information seems insatiable and I wondered why. Is it about quenching our thirst for knowing and understanding the world around us? Is it about using that knowledge and understanding to make the world a better place? Are we looking to connect to people we know as well as to those we would never have known if not through the amazing links that the Internet provides us? Or is there some other reason?
When does sharing information become sharing 'too much information?' Do we need to document our every move and thought? While keeping a personal journal in the past may have been helpful in maintaining a diet, for example, is documenting what we ate for breakfast that important to the world at large? Is sharing intimate details about our lives helpful to others or do we do it to justify our behaviours, to seek community, to gain acceptance? Or is it something other than that?
I would love to know your thoughts and experience with acquiring and sharing information. Have you reached your saturation point? Is it information overload for you? Or are you hungry for more?
P.S. I realized after I sent out my last newsletter, that I had omitted Bérénice Bejo’s name as one of the three silent actors nominated for the Academy Awards last month. Sorry about that.
Barbara Fish, M.Ed.
Personal and Career Counsellor
416 498-1352
barbara@barbarafish.com
www.barbarafish.com
"Helping Your Life Work"
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