The face the world would see.

Okay, so I must clarify. This post is going to be more of a rant. A fun rant, but a rant, nonetheless. So if you're not in the mood for this kind of thing, check out my previous posts. They're a little more straight-laced.

You know, I find it kind of ironic that the internet is both a great tool for exercising one's freedom of speech, and also a place where individuality is squashed.

Take, for example, my blog. On the one hand, I can say anything I'd like, and it becomes a piece of the puzzle that is the mind of Donovan Hill.
And yet, I don't have any pictures of myself up on the blog, so how do you REALLY KNOW that it's me writing the posts? This blog has both completed and stolen my identity.

It always cracks me up meeting someone in person, then after knowing them awhile, receiving texts/emails/comments from them. I look at their writings and think "That doesn't sound a THING like they did in real life! There's no way!"

When you're digital, it's a different game.
There is no emotion, unless there are emoticons:)
Everyone busts out the "LOLs," IDKs" and "IMOs."
They all write in short, fragmented thoughts that are both predictable and absolutely necessary.
And they panic if there's a lull in the "conversation."

There's an entire "inter-nettiquite" that I unknowingly impose upon everyone I talk to online. I know for me at least, if it takes someone more than a couple of minutes to respond to me, my mind begins to wander.

"Are they okay? Did I say something to offend them? What if they're showing my inane post to all their friends and laughing at me? AAGH, the suspense! I can't take it!!!"

Yet the "suspense" is completely self-inflicted. Because chances are, they're too busy "living" and interacting in "reality" to get back to me. How's that for irony?

...

I can't wait for 2010. A new beginning.

Just like every other decade, we're all going to look back at the 2000's and think "What were we thinking?"

- 24-hour news channels competing for RATINGS? explain to me how that's any different than a 24-hour soap opera?

- did anyone ACTUALLY think reality TV was a good idea?

- T9? What's that?

- so HOW exactly was facebook better than myspace? or was it really just time for a change?

- remember Twitter? Me neither.
...

I really feel like someday, this whole internet fad is going to crack.

People will rise above the faceless, nameless identities the internet has made us.
We're going to look back at the World Wide Web the way we now look back on Pong, Galaga and Moon Patrol.
It will be used more as a means of computing data and storing files and processing transactions. With very little room for "personality."
And yeah, it'll be fun to tap into every now and then. But spend ten hours a day online? Who has time for THAT?!?

Granted, this shift will be VERY gradual. People are still fascinated with the internet because it's quick, it's exhaustive, and it's becoming increasingly more thorough. And it's getting better all the time.

But for now, I'm stuck.
I'm limited by the words I write.
I'm limited by the pictures on my profile.
I'm limited by the things I enjoy. The people I admire. My dreams and aspirations.

Rather than expressing myself, I'm giving people a means to stereotype me. Reduce me to a set of likes/dislikes. To trivialize me. And dismiss me.
And that's a tough pill to swallow.

So, I guess I'd say these are the kinds of things that cross my mind as the evening rolls on. If you made it this far, I only hope you're encouraged by the fact that God is good. And even in a world of immediacy and hype, there's a hope for us that's bigger than the world, and all the problems therein.

And in that hope, there's a peace that passes all understanding. All expectations. And all facelessness.

Donovan