It gets a little deep during this week’s Overflow podcast. We end up touching upon the metaphysical aspects of putting our lives out there on social networks, and whether or not that is a “good thing”.
The impetus for this discussion was the funeral this week of my younger cousin Elizabeth, after we lost her to breast cancer. The funeral brought my family together from around the country with the shocking revelation that life has gone on and we have not done a very good job of keeping in touch. Children have been born and aged without all of us having a sense of what is happening in the family on a consistent basis.
I shared my belief that had everyone participated in social networks to a greater degree, we could have had a more connected life experience. More importantly, I felt guilt and remorse upon finding out that Elizabeth had attempted to write a blog and I had not been aware nor shared in her experiences through reading and commenting.
Taking this thought to another level, I am starting to envision the “science fiction” concept of a mind meld between the brain and the network happening. Here is our life on these networks in a chronological order, with all of the various interconnected mediums carrying our personal histories.
Although you may not be touching the true essence of the person, these social platforms may be the closest we have to living forever.
To attempt a bit of a connection to business in this heady discussion, it must be considered that as we all start to live our lives constantly connected, there will be times where an uneven balance may occur regarding how much information is known. It may be a disadvantage from a negotiation perspective if this imbalance occurs. Ethically there will be challenges in terms of right and wrong uses of this personal information.
Businesses will have to understand that their employees will be sharing the good and the bad of everyday life within the walls of the organization, so they better be buttoned up and provide a quality work environment or they will find more difficulties with customers as well as recruits.
Is this all a good thing?
From a personal privacy perspective, living with a totally connected stream available, searchable and viewable forever will have ramifications that generations will have to adopt and live with.
The benefits however outweigh this privacy issue as we are able to maintain more information about ancestry, heritage and personal relationships that are currently hindered by distance.
Relationships will no longer be masked and guarded as everyone’s life trajectory will be accessible, so those skeletons will no longer have much weight and we can get right down to connectedness based upon the true nature of the individual.
The opening and closing theme for the Overflow Podcast is called The Information Age, by Anthony Fiumano and you can find it at the Podsafe Music Network.
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