By K. A. Laity
Much has been made of the internet in recent weeks as the golden-haired saviour of troubled nations, who use the magical power of Twitter and Facebook to foment revolution and declare freedom from the hierarchical powers of corrupt fascists dictators.
True enough: while it's overstating the case to call Tunisia and Egypt social media revolutions, there's no doubt that having these handy tools of communication helped keep people informed. Before we all start patting ourselves on the back, let's think about a couple of things: one, that we're all at risk of losing the net we take for granted. Once lawmakers heard it was possible to "turn off" the internet, every little black-hearted gnome was lining up to do find a way to do so.
More importantly, we need to remember that most of us will only see revolution from the safety of our armchairs—or more likely, I suppose, our desk chairs (if we see it at all). So we have a lot of time to waste and a raft of temptations. Like children left on their own with a box of matches, we're far more likely to get into trouble than to build a scale model of the Guggenheim. Much of the internet allows a kind of passive consumption that releases the inner Homer Simpson in us all. I always remember the "Soul Mate" episode where Marge tracks down her wandering husband by heading in the direction that Springfield slopes down and looking for something shiny.
We're attracted by things that are shiny or amusing or entertaining and free and we enjoy them because we always think there's no one's really looking. We need to get it into our heads that the internet does not go away. Job seekers, professionals, preachers, and of course, politicians, you need to learn this.
Like Rep. Chris Lee's Craigslist photo where he's showing off his 26th district flex. After this latest politicians-gone-wild revelation, we are going to have to think about changing the New York motto from Excelsior! to something more appropriate like Fututa sum hic! Either that or just learn to live with human failings—ha ha ha ha! Just kidding.
It's amazing that people can continue to believe that they're hiding or erasing things on the internet. You do know about the deep web, right? And the Wayback Machine? You might never use it yourself, but what happens if you piss off the wrong person? Considering how touchy some people are, that can be very easy to do. It's like a child hiding candy in the crack of the sofa: yes, it will be found and yes, it will likely make a mess.
But if you're snickering at the latest political casualty, have you tried Googling yourself? At some point in the semester, I always make my students in the New Media class do it. I don't suggest Googling themselves plus "naked" or "drugs" but they might want to consider such a thing. Especially before their employers, fiancé(es), or governing bodies of some stripe do. Who are you on the internet? Are you sure?
K. A. Laity writes so much that she had to create some pseudonyms to keep her colleagues from thoughts of murder. A tenured medievalist at a small liberal arts college, she mostly tries to find ways to avoid meetings in order to write more . Find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter to hear the latest news, reviews and excuses for why she hasn't done what you asked her to do last week.
Image via NYT & Gawker.