Message in a Bottle.......

I tend to be a very OPEN person in the INTERNET sphere. I don't hold back much. Not that I am not concerned about security, privacy or whatnot. I AM concerned. I don't try and "friend" every single thing that comes my way... On FB I only have "friended" folks I actually KNOW (with a few exceptions of "famous" individuals) and I "friend" or "Like" many groups, businesses etc.

but if I don't actually KNOW a person.. I won't friend them.

I used to have a LIVE JOURNAL account.. same thing.. but I shut that down to just posting privately mainly as a personal journal.. with few exceptions.

I go back and forth on FB.. from shutting down.. to opening up to my friends.

Sometimes it is personal blogs.. but more often than not I share information, podcasts, websites, stories etc...

I recently posted a blog called STRUGGLING and kind of was surprised that it reached 2nd on Evolver's blogs... getting several "groks".

For me.. this was reminiscent of "Message in a Bottle"... when we cry out into the darkness and hear that many others too, are crying out into the "darkness" only to find that there ARE others that are sharing similar experiences.

I have been listening to a current radio discussion on privacy and how internet social network groups are changing the landscape. The discussion frustrates me. On one hand.. I am concerned about privacy. ... on the other hand.. I am like "well don't be stupid and friend everyone"... and then on another.. I am like.. if you are cautious... blogging to "community" can be rewarding.. an opportunity to connect with the world at large.

I realise that the world is a much more dangerous and scary and cynical place. I have found that I probably have alienated MORE people after a while. I get VERY little comment on anything I post on FB.. (in comparison to others). I find internally this is causing me grief and depression. My ego is shattered after a while to find that someone posting some idiotic post gets 25 comments... while my more thought provoking post gets 0.

It is definatly an excercise in self reflection.. how you present yourself to the world. It is like holding up some mirror to yourself.... forcing you to maybe look at how others maybe see you. (some folks perhaps are totally dense and cannot see anything... )

Evolver is a VERY open community, anyone can see ANY post .. and I wonder if Evolver should be more concerned about privacy and have more of an ability to allow folks to select who they want to see what.. but then... I wonder if that would defeat the purpose of this site?...

I have commented before that I believe that Evolver has probably been infiltrated by disinformation and people who are lurking to "spy" on Evolver members (due to the controversial nature of many Evolver posts).

I pretty much have held to the adage of having the "courage of your convictions".. but more and more I feel like I can no longer TRUST the world at large.. (not that I was some naive fluffy person that originally did).. but that I had believed it was important to speak out publically and stand up for what you believe in... now.. I feel that the internet really HAS become a wasteland .. a difficult dangerous place to journey.. where one does not know who is speaking truth.. and who is lying and ready to destroy you..

I do not wish to become paranoid.. as I believe it is vital in these coming years to speak out more.. to "fight the good fight".. to connect ... perhaps this is an evolution ... (at least for me)....

We could be facing the entire downfall of the Internet anyway.. if the electrical grid goes down.. solar flares.. a world wide hacker espionage incident...

Just another very PUBLIC post ...

thanks