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The End of Solitude →
Many people thirst to be famous for different reasons. Whether it’s for the common purpose of popularity or attention, we all have that internal desire to be esteemed for something in a group of many. The question is what do you want to be famous for?
People, in general just want some place to belong, which there’s nothing wrong with because having approval and attention from others is nourishing, especially if it’s reciprocated from a community that you actively engage in. Amongst all these online social networks that surround us, “the great contemporary terror is anonymity.” William Deresiewicz published an interesting piece in the Chronicle Review about how solitude seems to be less of an option in todays culture:
The camera has created a culture of celebrity; the computer is creating a culture of connectivity. As the two technologies converge — broadband tipping the Web from text to image, social-networking sites spreading the mesh of interconnection ever wider — the two cultures betray a common impulse. Celebrity and connectivity are both ways of becoming known. This is what the contemporary self wants. It wants to be recognized, wants to be connected: It wants to be visible.
To this I completely agree. How many times have you been guilty of rushing to edit and upload photos to share on Flickr or in wanting to voice your thoughts on Twitter? Many times for me and I’m sure for you too. The case in not in saying that this is incorrect behavior but more in acknowledging how much technology has influenced us in wanting to be famous for something within our own social circle.
