Pens Were Once Made Of Feathers

 There is an old quote that calls television the 'Vast Wasteland'.

 

"When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland." Newton Norman Minow.

 

This is probably more true today then back when Mr. Minow said it back in 1961. (I wonder if he came up with the brilliant thought during a 3 hour tour?). I think my cable provider comes with about 12 stations I actually watch and 200 that will never see even a brief flick of static on my SONY. I wonder if there are stations that are never watched by anyone, or is there someone out there actually watching the gem channel right now?

 

But if television is a wasteland, what of the Internet? 'Vast' is nowhere near descriptive enough for what the Internet provides. For the Gilligan's Island Theme Song search I just did, there were 149,000 hits on google!   Mind-boggling. Mind-Googling.

I pulled these statistics off a search on Yahoo. Certainly not scientific, but I think probably the accuracy is less important than the sheer possibility of it all:

• Total number of YouTube videos -- over 120,000,000
• Number of videos uploaded per day -- about 200,000
• Time required to see all the videos -- over 600 years
• Number of videos watched daily -- over 200,000,000
• Amount of content uploaded every minute -- 13 hours

The Internet is beyond comprehension to me. This post will soon be swallowed up into the mammoth infinity like one tiny krill digested by a blue whale swimming in any one of all the oceans in all the possible worlds (imaginative and real).

Social Networks were the rage. In my circle they may still be, but I am aged and behind the times, my daughter tells me of newer Internet rages way beyond my ability to comprehend. But Social Networks are the subject here, since it effects me and troubles me and gives me cause to ponder.

I have joined and left and joined and left and rejoined Facebook. At this point I removed 90% of my 'Friends' and left mostly family and some friends that I worried that I might offend. I encouraged the others to go to this blog instead, since I can be more 'me' here and less a part of the machine. If you were of the group I deleted as Friends, let me apologize. I welcome all Friends yet pander none in my own vanity. At this point, there is just a very few left, when once there were near 70 or 80. I see some people, some Friends on Facebook with hundreds, even thousands of Friends. Gathered like badges of honor, like a contest of who can log the most Friends. I could never dare to be even competitive in that honor.

Of those left, those few I dared not delete...my heart is troubled. Recently, a feud among some family on Facebook has caused some mean and angry postings. Among some other Friends, there are occasionally jaw dropping personal revelations that I'd prefer to not hear, not read. At times embarrassing, or personal, or angry, cast into this extendedgigantic galaxy of bits and bytes. And of what duration? Is something, once posted on FaceBook permanent, backed up on servers, indelible and irreversible like carvings in stone? Are these the Chauvet Cave paintings our ancestors will someday read?

And can I even point my finger at my family and Friend, cast a first stone with what I myself have posted here and on Facebook and elsewhere on the Internet?

Facebook, Social Media in general, allows us to carve our instant and fleeting thoughts as a gospel of our soul. This momentary gospel suddenly achieves a shelflife and an instant audience, becomes a permanent record. Words can hurt, and the written word stings worse then those that are spoken. Thoughts have a short shelf life, spoken thoughts last longer, written thoughts on Social Media can be everlasting, perhaps more lasting than any of us truly intend.

I don't believe in censorship. Free Thought and Free Speech are part of my American Heritage, and I will stand up for those rights proudly. But does every thought need a voice? Is every thought worthy of a post? Does every post require a decision of 'Like' or 'Unlike'?  Just because the 'pen is mightier then the sword' it does not mean we need to wield our pens like swords...I remember when pens were quills made of feather  as were the wings of a dove.

Cheers, nca