dog tags
Skepticism for whom you meet online can be healthy. People can lie easier from behind the computer screen. Talking or typing a reply to an avatar or username need not be committal. I oft find it more trivial and less raw than a face to face conversation with steady eye contact.
Part of me wonders what happened to the world of nicknames, gamer tags, and handles. When did social media become so unimaginative? Every virtual actor contributes to a production larger than anyone can ever comprehend. Yet, connecting the dots is now vogue. The fringe complains that the mainstream erodes playful mystique. It's what made the net a great escape, they say.
You are yourself like your channels and others' distinct impressions of you. Every job, hobby, and interest has its own persona waiting to adopt a name, attitude, and a compelling story. People distinguish your current self as unique to everyone else. You follow suit with everyone else. Lift your foot off the pedal so the rigidity of work can catch up to the shapelessness of play.
It's not my right to strip the humanity from people connecting the dots. That is, when they're showcasing their real selves and not some deceptive façade. There's boundless room for dance between the lines in virtual space. Use it to showcase your beautiful imperfect qualities. Too many people focus on minimizing blemishes and maximizing vanity.
It falls on deaf ears. Worse, platforms themselves incentivize vanity to maximize attention. Who knows what kind of information is being gathered and logged about you every single day? Participation isn't necessary. Profiling occurs by other means. Worst case, the souls you know will defy your attempts to own your presence. They'll do this without so much as a care in the world. Then, they'll ridicule you for trying to separate your reality from technology.
Sometimes, I wish for the trail of bread crumbs to disappear.
What happens when they start to disappear? Worse, what happens when they all disappear without so much as a notice? Either splintering can occur from your perspective or from others' perspectives.
Remember the last time you started at an inactive list of friends or contacts. People move on from groups, hobbies, and others like the wind scatters seeds. Many of us are bystanders who don't reach out to each other. Why do we let our past relationships atrophy into nothingness?
Remember the last time you noticed a blog you subscribed to stopped posting. Series end, writers run out of motivation, and other priorities in life call. There's more to say about anything than anyone will get to, but it can feel the opposite of that at times.
Remember the last time you stumbled upon a neglected website. Webmasters disappear or otherwise no longer update their sites. Their work sits on the Internet, waiting for a good samaritan to pick up the slack, if any.
Remember those you enjoyed playing games and other pastimes with. Last online months ago. Years ago. Decades ago. You wonder what they have done with their lives. What happened to them? Are they succeeding in life while having fun along the way?
Sometimes, I wish for the trail of bread crumbs to reappear.