crowd-sourced
Crowd-sourcing is definitely becoming more prevalent, especially with things like yelp or even uber where an individual can make a biased review without any reservations. This is rather sad when the past use of "experts' provided more reliable information.
“evidence of one’s ongoing existence.”
This was an interesting concept the explain why we feel the need update others on our lives so frequently. It is definitely linked to the "loneliness" mentioned earlier.
a crowd that today pleases itself by taking selfies while cheering a political candidate’s murderous fantasies.
I don't believe this is an accurate representation of how today's society deals with violent impulses; if it were, the crime rate would be significantly lower.
“is illusory;…we’re all more alone than ever.”
While it may be a trope, I still believe that this statement holds truth. In an age where swiping left and 10 second glimpses are enough to form an opinion of another person, we as a society seem to have lost the art of forming deeper connections. It is much easier to manufacture an insincere personality that gets likes than it is to face the reality that online connection doesn't compare to face to face interaction.
selfies, not selves
An important distinction to make.
ideal of the story for the ideal of the system
Not sure I understand the difference.
turns experiences from the material world that used to be densely physical…into frictionless, weightless, and fantastic abstractions.
This specifically reminds me of when people take photos of food because it almost negates the visceral joy one gets from dining out with others and compresses it into a few pixels. It doesn't quite capture the full experience of taste, smell, socialising, etc.
passive acceptance of interruption and eavesdropping
Poignant word choices.
Apple to make it possible to decrypt a terrorist’s iPhone
b/c slippery slope of where do we draw the line: what constitutes a potential terrorist? Who decides which information is private and public if it is all accessible? etc.
everyone wants to be spied on.
It's more that everyone wants to feel included and important rather than spied on.
digital immortality
An often perpetuated idea by individuals (usually adults) who constantly remind others (children) that the internet remembers and that everything on the internet is ALWAYS there.
flexibility reduces (in Pynchon’s words) both “temporal bandwidth” and “personal density” by weakening one’s commitments to the future, even trivial ones.
Flexibility does not equate flakiness,
extended online contact uninterrupted by work or play
This stood out to me since it is true that online contact often continues uninterrupted.
“Temporal disorganization” has always put different kinds of pressure on different social groups, and the culture of digital interruption places different kinds of stress on the interrupted (employees, children) and the intruders (managers, parents) leaving both unhappy, like Hegel’s mutually constrained slaves and masters.
// to my earlier note on "That era now came to an end".
more you dwell in the past and future, the thicker your bandwidth, the more solid your persona
I'm not sure I agree with this statement since it's easy to become too involved with what ifs or could have beens and forget about the present altogether. Perhaps I am misunderstanding this, but I don't quite understand how dwelling on past and future foster a solid persona.
newly accessible and offered for display
I believe that humans have always had an inherent desire to overshare; however, the introduction of new technology has allowed this to be spread over a greater audience as opposed to the more intimate group of loved ones that would have been privy to such information in the past.
That era now came to an end.
In my opinion, this is a highly subjective claim. There has been a recent push to turning off screens to unwind and attempts to maintain a "normal" work schedule where all business stops outside of the office. I think this endeavour to return to a less technologically involved time is primarily prevalent in the age range of 30-50 since this demographic is being pressured to spend quality family time. However, in the younger generations (ex. Millennials) there is still the overwhelming need to belong which breeds a stronger reliance on social media.