Nicole is feeling status quo…

I was watching this documentary in my English class called Growing Up Online, and one of the parents in the film made a comment on how teens today are much more comfortable displaying private information to the public - especially online. One of the commentators speculated that this blurring of private and public life was occurring because of internet and computer use. Computers are something that we use in the privacy of our own homes however many people are now using the computer to explore the public space of the internet– basically being public and social in the privacy and isolation of your own home.

This blurring of private and public self expressions are evident in simple things such as people’s status on Facebook or their screen names on msn. Things people would never dream of telling other people face-to-face are instead posted on Facebook and other social networking applications for the world to see. Most people would answer the question “How are you today?” with an “I’m fine”, “I’m good”, “Not bad” and so on and so forth. It is a social norm and expectation that even if you are having a bad day, you don’t admit it to others unless they are your close friends. However on Facebook, these social boundaries seem to have been dissolved, and some people are not in the least bit hesitant to share their feelings (no matter how private) with the world.

I decided to take some status updates off of my Facebook news feed, and msn screen names to illustrate my point.

Some people decide to display their emotions on their proverbial sleeves:

• Jon is currently looking for a song lyric that cleverly disguises how he actually feels.
• Kate is wanting it all back
• Ashley shouldn't be so complicated, just touch me and then, just touch me again.
• Sarah is tasting the air you're breathing in.
  

Others insist on telling the world what they are doing every moment of the day:

• May is off to the Blarney Stone for an epic night.
• Janie is off to Van tomorrow morning bright and early...come to Capp College at 1pm to watch the girls play and/or 3pm to hanggggg.
• Tara really wants to put her pics up but can't find the connector.
  

Still others insist on displaying their inner emotions through song lyrics or witty one-liners on their msn display names:

• I sold my soul to Starbucks and all I got was this green apron
• life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage
• doesn’t really matter in this life we’re all the same – don’t worry I’m going to join you
• breathe so I can lock your breath away
• "Please stay, don't go away, the hardest thing is letting go of you..."
  
• no one cares. I learned that a while ago, and I accept it now.
  

It is pretty obvious that these teens don’t really grasp the concept that inside thoughts were meant to be kept inside. Or perhaps that was an old way of thinking, and this new public way of life is the trend brought to us by the post modernist views of the computer and Internet. Perhaps these changes brought to us by the revolutionary internet are causing us to change the definitions of the world around us. Maybe for the next generation, public and private lives will be defined much differently.