‘WE’blog

I read a comment yesterday that made me think…

If a lot of internet action is about *minimising* personal risk (false screen names, not using a photo of self, talking about ideas but never the real life experiences which formed them, playing desperate games to save face in an argument) then what reward can we really expect?

Meaning, the more we put ourselves ‘out there’ the greater the payoff, and I find that very true. It is highly possible to portrait your self as being anyone but you. You can be as perfect as you can imagine, and you will be judged as such. But when it is time for feed back who gets that? 

Perhaps it is part of evolution? Maybe we have become so self aware that it is unbearable, and it is too easy to press ctrl+alt+delete to most things in life. Just 50 years ago most people (probably, it is an unqualified guess) would live and work in the same city most of their life. Which means, whatever you did, someone would remember it, because the real life social network was not easily changed.

Today you just delete your profile and make a new one with a different name. Small mistakes seem impossible to correct, because the alternative is too easy. 

I have seen some, who take their core values with them on the web. Those are the people who would rather give an apology for a bad behavior than recreate their profile, because they have invested something personal in it. I like that, I respect that. It shows, that some people still have the need for a deeper meaning, even though it is easier not to.

And I believe it pays off in many ways, especially when I think about how much time is spend on social networking and online communities.