Interstitiality

Privacy?

Michelle doesn't like blogs. She sees them as an invasion of privacy. I get her point. Still, I don't view blogs as online journals. Every form of discourse or communication has boundaries.

These boundaries help determine what is appropriate or inappropriate in terms of what is shared. We recognize these boundaries and protect them through policies, social contracts, and, sometimes, good ole fashioned shame ("Yo, Frank that's TMI!"). For example, if I go to see a therapist and share my deep pathologies, she is bound by a code of ethics and, in most cases, the law not to share this information with anyone else. Within such an environment, I would be less likely to censor myself in terms of what I say. The point, after all, is for me to work out what is going on inside of me. It would be totally inappropriate for me, however, to share such secrets in a church newsletter or from the pulpit (though I have seen some pastors try to air their own and other people's dirty laundry through veiled "messages from the pastor," but that's another story). Even within the context of friendship, I might not divulge my inner chambers in the same way as I did in the therapist's office. Within each context, things like appropriateness, confidentiality and intimacy change based on the social rules that govern the different types of communication.

One of the difficulties that I have found with blogging is that we are still "writing the rules," so to speak on what counts as appropriate and inappropriate social discourse. Often, we don't know if we have crossed a line until we cross it. Now, I'm sure that David Weinberger, AKMA, and other people who spend more time thinking about such things, have addressed this topic. I confess with much shame my ignorance on matters of blogging communities and the ethics of online discourse. I would guess, however, that one of the issues involved in this topic is the nature of community within the blogging medium.

Another topic that has caught my interest of late, which may or may not be related to the preceding discussion, is what I perceive (again a novice's perception) as an increasing exhibitionism and concurrent voyeurism within our culture. People like to show off more, and stranger yet, people like to watch. Reality TV has capitalized and may have generated some of the fervor around this trend within pop culture.

I suppose if blogging fits into the larger cultural wave described above, then it really is an invasion of privacy. As far as I can tell, however, within my limited space within blogaria, much more goes on in blogs than a simple sharing of what is happening in your life from day to day, hour to hour. If one desires to allow others this kind of access into their life--a sure sign of the exhibitionism/voyeurism within popular culture--a 24-hour web cam would probably suit you better. Blogs allow for people to reflect intelligently, humorously, spiritually, and mundanely on topics that interest them, including their everyday, ordinary life. As Heather's blog implies, "rambling is good for the soul." If she is right, then I should feel pretty good about now. Time to end this reflection.

Posted by Frank Yamada at February 12, 2004 02:54 PM