"The Lines Begin to Blur" - Just Like Nine Inch Nails Said

Lyrcis from the chorus of "The Lines Begin to Blur"

by Nine Inch Nails

“The more I stay in here

The more it's not so clear

The more I stay in here

The more I disappear

As far as I have gone

I knew what side I'm on

But now I'm not so sure

The line begins to blur”

     This week’s Strategic Communication and Emerging Media graduate course topics included blogging, citizen journalism, and digital democracy.  We were charged with reading all of the required articles, scholarly publications, and watching a number of applicable TedTalks.  After analyzing that information we were to select one topic and build a case to support our opinion.  Sounds much easier than it turned out to be for me.  After reading a couple of articles and watching a few TedTalks I was pretty sure I had the direction for this blog.  Then after a few more readings I changed course.  It was with great happiness that on the third pass I decidedly knew what I wanted to cover this week.  I want to look closer at when, “the lines begin to blur”.  More specifically I want to cover the “I” in blogging.  No, not the actual letter between the “g” and the “n”, but rather the blogger as an individual, and more specifically the self-identification of the blogger.

     In her (2001) TedTalk Mena Trott, considered by many to be one of the founders of the Blog Revolution, shared what her blogging experiences had meant to her over the years.  One point that she made specifically jumped out at me.  She said that blogs are a “record of who you are”.  This is a point where “the lines begin to blur”.  The lines between our private selves and our public selves, and the lines between our authentic self and our presented self.

     Another TedTalk that spoke to the blurred lines of self was Dr. Sherry Turkle’s “Connected, But Alone?” (2012).  Dr. Turkle received a joint doctorate in Personality Psychology and Sociology from Harvard University, and is often called “the Margaret Mead of digital culture."  As the director, and founder, of MIT’s Initiative on Technology and Self she has even been referred to as the “conscience for the tech world” by novelist Jonathan Franzen.  Her list of credentials is as deep as her research studies are wide.  In her viral TedTalk she shares that, “we’re finding so much of our identity lies in “connecting” with others using a gadget, but we are afraid to be alone; we don’t know who we really are because we can’t enjoy the solitude that comes with learning and developing our self-identity.”  It is precisely this paradox, this blurring of lines between private and public self, authentic and simulated self, self-awareness and self-promotion that I find most disheartening in the blogosphere of today’s digital culture.

     Dr. Turkle adds, “these little devices in our pockets are so psychologically powerful they change what we do and who we are.”  Our basic humanistic drive for social connection has been matched by technology’s speed and ease in delivering those quick digital connections.  Turkle argues and I share her perspective that constant connections never allow us to develop the “capacity for solitude, the ability to separate, to gather yourself.”  She goes on to add that “solitude is where you find yourself...”.  Solitude is all about self-knowledge, self-exploration, and learning the true identity of self.  So how does one go about incorporating solitude back into our lives?  Turkle doesn’t leave us wondering how to do it.  She shares some “first steps”.  She says, “start thinking of solitude as a good thing.  Make room for it.  Create sacred spaces at home…and at work.”  So it would seem:

   

     Dr. Turkle also discusses the online mentality of, “I share, therefore I am”.  Think about that for a moment…self-reflect on what that means to you.  Are we sharing because we need the validation of our online-self?  Does the online-self equate to our real-world self?  I fear it is here that the most blurring of the earlier-mentioned lines are occurring.  Discussing the blogger and online identity I’m reminded of the 1950s sociologist Erving Goffman’s Social Interaction Theory.  He introduced the human interaction approach that basically proposes we are living as if in a theatrical performance.  In our performance, our lives, we are presenting self.  This presentation is a person's efforts to create some specific impressions in the minds of others. This process is sometimes called "impression management", and it would appear to be demonstrated daily in the digital world.  

     Take for instance an excerpt from a blog post entitled, “When the “Struggle” Becomes Your Identity” by Danielle Racey of the Tiny Buddha blog:

 “Many people have either defined themselves—or been defined by others—from day one. Some people live their entire lives this way, without ever feeling the desire or a reason to change. But you? You’re a blank canvas now, in a world full of paint. This is your chance to start creating a version of you that feels right.”

     At first glance I think to myself, “Wow, this is inspirational and motivating.”  Then I take a pause and think “but wait, where is the call for self-awareness and to turn inward to create that “version of you that feels right.” 

    Don’t get me wrong, I love blogging, micro-blogging, uploading, connecting, and all of the other benefits provided by the digital world.  In fact, I can clearly see how blogging can have real therapeutic benefits.  What I’m not so fond of are the negative effects on self-awareness.  This personal journey of self-discovery called life is ours and ours alone.

     In the words of Sherry Turkle, “there's plenty of time for us to reconsider how we use it, how we build it. I'm not suggesting that we turn way from our devices, just that we develop a more self-aware relationship with them, with each other and with ourselves”.  She also notes that, “digital technology is still in its infancy, and there is ample time for us to reshape how we build it and use it.” 

Strategically Yours,

Autumn

 Works Cited:

Gurak, L.  and Antonijevic, S.  (2008).  “The Psychology of Blogging: You, Me, and Everyone in

Between.”  Retrieved on 8 February 2017 from https://smiljanaa.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/blogging1.pdf. 

Holloway, M.  (1998).  “Profile: An Ethnologist in Cyberspace”.  Retrieved on 8 February 2017 from

            https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-ethnologist-in-cyberspace/.

Jang, C.-Y. and Stephanone, M.  (2008).  “Writing for Friends and Family: The Interpersonal Nature 

            of Blogs”.  Retrieved on 7 February 2017 from              

            http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00389.x/pdf.

Racey, D.  (2016).  “When the Struggle Becomes Your Identity”.  Retrieved on 8 February 2017 from

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/struggle-becomes-identity

Trott, M. (2001).  “Meet the Founder of the Blog Revolution”.  Retrieved on 7 February 2017 from

            http://www.ted.com/talks/mena_trott_tours_her_blog_world.html.

Turkle, S. (2012).  “Connected, But Alone?”  Retrieved on 6 February 2017 from

http://www.ted.com/playlists/26/our_digital_lives.html.