ID tags

This evening I had an interesting conversation about how people are so insulated from others in the world physically that they create elaborate virtual personal identities. These may range in scale from their specialized mobile phone ringtone to websites or blogs painstakingly designed all about them, or their vanity car tags and stickers that scream “THIS IS ME!!” Have we all grown out of the practice of interfacing with humans? **(warning of approaching rant)** One of the more annoying things that drives me nuts is the instant messaging on phones that distracts many of the dear -22 crowd from doing the jobs they are being paid for, or driving down the road, or sitting in a room with extended family. Their thumbtyped conversation takes precendence over all these things. They do not need to be social physically because they are doing it within the safety zone of cyberspace. I feel like an old bitty saying these things, but it underscore the egocentric nature of some of the younger crowd that I know. I was the most recently annoyed when the LIFEGAURD at the pool was too busy typing on his mobile to watch the pool patrons he was being paid to oversee.

Some of the most successful things on the market these days are things that need to be customized to be used. The ipod is a good example of this. The medium is the message- literally. Of course Apple does a fantastic job branding it- and it is now ubiquitous as are the accessories that point out who you are- not just the playlist. (What does your carrier look like?) No one wants to look the same as their chum (if you ever physically see them- you see their “branding” via computer screen.) This is such a departure from the cookie-cutter uniformity of the 50’s and early 60’s. I make no judgment of this- only to note that this customization seems an attempt by individuals to answer the “who am I?” in a virtual and material way through customization or personalization. People can recreate who they are- through their STUFF. People still desire community- as shown through the massively multiplayer online games, the solidarity behind a brand (Mac vs. PC), or their connection to an organization. The thing is, there are few in my generation who would pledge allegiance to the civic or church organizations that my parent’s generation did. Is there a fear of looking to dorky, or campy or “do-goody?”

This tangent has a destination- namely is this generation valuing how they look on their myspace page more how they contribute positively in the physical world? Are the opinions of their online community more important to them then their contribution to society generally speaking? It is no mistake that I post this on a blog… It is the modern day soap box or diary. Indeed I chose a design that I felt was suitable to the image I wished to portray, I chose images to populate the site, it is an originally work and really no different than what I describe above. I really don’t care too much who views my musings. I will not derive my “self-worth” from how others respond (or don’t) to my posts. This is so because I know who I am in Christ and a blog is simply a more convenient, albeit less private form of a journal.