Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Internet Is Gozar the Destructor (tip o' the hat to Ghostbusters)

Internet communication, so often driven by emotion, lasts forever. You get an email, you fire back. No analysis, no time for reflection, no time for deep thought.

“News” pours out in real time without any assurance that it’s “true” or “factual”, and the response is instantaneous. At the same time it stands there as an unchangeable record and people take umbrage, cut you out of their lives, blacklist you, hate you, excommunicate you without the possibility of parole. There is no appeal to reason possible because they, too, are in the grip of emotion, staring at those black markings against whiteboard, devoid of context.

Laws are passed, people fired, reputations ruined, a body of work down the drain with one click of the mouse. An emotionally-driven technology demolishes culture, wit and hard work like a chain saw through butter. Fact free nation. Whoever screams loudest is the victor.

No comments: