Technology has always worked to change the way humans behave with one another. Historically, advances in metal-working of such materials like bronze, iron, and steel helped shape civilizations across the globe. Technological improvements to shipbuilding made voyages across the seas and around the world possible, opening up new worlds and trade pathways. Sometimes overlooked, the technological improvements to how people communicate and share information are just as crucial to understanding people and the structures within which they live. Our society has entered an electronic age, a time when it is easier and sometimes preferred to communicate through the Internet, wireless communications, and even virtual reality. With the advancement of instant information and communication from people across the globe, there has been a shift in the power of information. No longer are prime time news programs necessary, nor high profile reporters or spokespersons. Also, personal communication and interaction is involved in an observable evolution. Emotions are being lost and conversational topics themselves are becoming unnecessary due to the bombardment of facts. This paper will analyze both personal experience and popular opinion regarding the effects of technological advances, on both a large-scale level in media and government as well as more “micro” levels, such as personal information sharing. It will become clear that while technology is allowing our society unprecedented access to information, personal relationships are becoming a high price for this “macro-awareness”.

In recent years, the Internet has slowly become the prime source for information. News information started with newspapers, and then progressed to radio and television, so the use of the Internet was a natural advance. Sites such as Digg.com and YouTube.com are user-controlled sites, where the “common people” decide what is most important. Digg posts political items, technology news, and recreational sites, all of which are voted on and commented about by people whose only qualification is knowing how to use a computer. The same elements hold true for YouTube, the video sharing site. We now have a significant portion of our society getting news straight from the source: personal interviews, home videos of events, unedited eyewitness accounts, and so on. It has truly become a democracy of information. In fact, a big story several months ago broke on YouTube. John Kerry was giving a speech on a college campus, when a student in the audience became agitated and was promptly “tasered” by law enforcement. Given the nature of human reaction to words on a page versus video images, the public outcry was far greater that it would have been in the past. Literally hours after the incident, millions of people could watch the direct account and form their own opinion on the matter, a luxury not previously held by the general public. Couple this with the fact that it appears that the “victim” in the video deliberately stared the incident with hopes of gaining popularity via YouTube, and a clear picture is forming. While the events of that day seem tainted by this misuse of technology, there remains a certain element of liberty in websites such as this. This availability of information to the common people, without the use of a filter by corporations or a bias by reporters, has allowed a truer sense of freedom of information. Another comparison to this contrast can be seen in the Disney film, Newsies. The robber barons of the newspaper industry are able to control the news, and therefore public opinion, of various happenings, such as the newsboy strike. However, the commoners are able to print their own news, effectively getting the truth out, and completely bypassing the elite’s hold on information.

An additional facet to this information-sharing concept is the blog, a derivate of web log, an online personal entry. In the past, the interview was the most common tool the allowed the public a view into a celebrity, authority figure, or opinionated activist. Now, technology has provided a window into the psyche of people in the spotlight that is truly unique because it is their own words, in their own hand. National Public Radio recently did a story on the newly-developed blog of the director of Homeland Security. Normally a bureaucratic position, we were suddenly aware of his thoughts on policy, as well as his family life and personal activities. This concept is so new, that National Public Radio set up a phone interview with the director, asking him point blank if he did in fact write this blog himself. If he is to be believed, then this cutting-edge personal touch has added an authenticity and realistic element to how we see people outside our personal circles. The concept has spread beyond well-known figures, and anyone and everyone who has something to say is putting fingers-to-keyboard. Recent counts have the total number of blogs to be over 106 million. This proliferation of personal details and individuals’ information leads into the potentially negative aspects of instantaneous data.

There is no doubt that knowing details of events and happenings across the globe is a useful by-product of the Information Age. There is also no doubt that knowing how and why activists, political figures, business leaders, and even common people do the things they do is a valuable trait of the Information Age. However, the necessity of information begins to change when the “macro” focuses into the “micro” parts of our everyday lives. The people we see, our friends and family, are actually being hurt by this information saturation. To begin with, iPods are storage and playback devices for music, pictures, and video. They are able to hold upwards of 40,000 songs and hundreds of hours of video. However, this capacity to listen and watch at any time of your choosing means that you are switching focus from the outside world to a 2.5-inch LCD screen. Headphones are already inhibiting conversation, putting a stop to the natural interactions we have with the people around us. This voluntary exclusion to “the routine” was initially thought of as a positive, but we will soon see it as detrimental. We will no longer engage in conversation with co-workers and counterparts, choosing instead to insulate ourselves with this white noise. Our sense of community is breaking down, and we will lose those elements that make us feel a connection to things around us. Gone are the small-talk conversations that made up commutes, the polite nods and greetings in elevators, the talk of weather and gas prices while waiting in line. These elements are part of what make us human, the collective “moaning and groaning” that actually brings us together. Family car rides, famously depicted in movies such as “National Lampoon’s Family Vacation” are comical for the very reason that people can relate to the frustration and laughter associated with being stuffed into the family station wagon. We now look back on those times with fond memories, memories that will rapidly disappear as we lose focus on our surroundings. The little details that make our lives unique and special are being voluntarily edited out in favor immediate access to the hottest new music and the latest sitcoms, distractions that may alleviate the boredom at the time, but ultimately ruin our social structures.

Yet another tool for information sharing is the cell phone and its capacity for text messaging. It can be a useful form of communication, but only when procuring the bare essentials. There is no capacity for emotion, and even vocabulary and grammar are starting to suffer with the shortened, rapid-fire phrases. Shortcuts such as “u” (you), “lol” (laughing out loud) and “ttyl” (talk to you later) are becoming commonplace, standardized phrasing, a kind of heartless habit to friends and loved ones. Most of the time, a person who claims to “lol” is, in reality, not laughing, but probably busy multitasking with their iPod or Internet. Conversation has evolved into an empty ritual, where feeling and emotion is lost, replaced with “emoticons” like , which further standardize communication. There is a new language being established, and vital parts of our humanity are being lost in the translation. We will soon start to miss out on the little things in life that are truly appreciated. I have often heard of long-married couples fondly remarking on the “quirks” that make their partner special to them. This same concept can be applied to loved ones, friends, and even acquaintances that we talk with solely through impersonal mediums such as texting. We are giving up our own “quirks” that make us who we are, forgoing our own special details that we bring to a relationship, all for the quickening of information sharing. Who knows how many relationships will forever remain undiscovered because we cannot truly know and appreciate someone through the computerized interactions of technologies today.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, is the popularity of online social-networking sites, such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com. Facebook was created by a college student looking to organize his friends and rate the physical appearance of his female counterparts. In recent years, the website has evolved into a class of communication and information by itself, with millions of users worldwide. Profiles of users can contain activities, interests, favorite music and movies, personal quotes, religious and political leanings, and even your relationship status. In essence, all of the information that makes up a person can be on display, so that a friend of a friend can potentially know all about you, even though they are in fact a stranger. Beyond information, the site’s capacity for photo-sharing, event listing, and group creation work to keep everyone up to date on your daily life, vacations, and current activities. There are two personal experiences that highlight these phenomena. First, my hair has been steadily growing for some time, and can now by tied in a pony tail. It is a wholly new look, so much so that I would expect a comment from friends and family not seen in months. However, after meeting with several friends now living across the country, not a single one mentioned my long hair, and the only reason was because they had been well informed due to the ever-updating Facebook photos. The second example that shows how personal information is detailed constantly is my recent car accident. I totaled my car on my morning commute, and put the photos of the car wreck on to my profile. I no longer have to explain the damage, describe the accident, or talk about my injuries, as the whole report of the occurrence is in a virtual news-feed, readily available to all of my friends. We will begin to hear crickets at social events, awkward bursts of conversations that end abruptly. “Did you hear about…” will be cut off with responses like “Yes, I saw that online, you can read about my thoughts on the comments section”. We are turning into a society of automatons, a society where laughter is becoming obsolete, as stories and experiences are usually regarded as not quite as funny the second time around. People are wasting their emotions on themselves, silently typing a “lol”, squandering the pleasure of sharing the information face-to-face.

Now, what does this abundance of personal information ultimately mean? The kind of social relationships formed when a person could know all about you before having seen you in real life is worth consideration. The social art of small-talk or “catching up” with new acquaintances and old friends just simply is not necessary any longer. This is making living in the present and planning for the future the only worthwhile states of mind. With everything being constantly archived, there seems to be a quickening pace of activity, a persistent searching for what is around the corner. The only nostalgic looks into past experience are done at a solitary computer station, the glowing screen detailing your friends’ lives and information as coldly and efficiently as possible. The sociological path before us seems forked. We can choose to continue down the ever-increasing information path, gaining a complete view of the macro-social aspects of life while losing whatever truly personal and direct forms of communication we once had. Or, as some people are beginning to predict, we will face a “digital backlash”, a conscious effort to close online accounts in favor of traditional Q & A, revitalize handmade invitations to replace standard event information, and start anew casual face-to-face meetings instead of instant messages. I, for one, cannot help but see the benefit to relearning the micro-details of my life, even if an awareness of worldwide information is lost in the process.