The Human Cost of Social Conectivity

Privacy, as we once knew it, is over.

The values of privacy are sacred as the opportunities tied to living in public. Perhaps as valuable and sacred as privacy, we must also explore another human cost of social media…time.

In the end, we exchange time and privacy for exposure and attention.

In addition to time and privacy, we learn that the human cost of social media is also emotion. We indeed invest a bit of ourselves in each new connection and form of expression we publish. We say a bit about who we are in all we create and share. Our actions and words put the “me“ in social media and as time passes we construct a digital persona that reflects a vision of how we see ourselves and how we wish to be seen.

There’s a saying, “everything in moderation,” but it’s impossible to explore these new horizons with anything less than exuberance. This is our time and who we are online and in the real world is ours to define. But without ambition, desire, and focus, social media is a recipe for chaos. Through all of the distractions and fatigue, we must continually renew our focus to bring important goals to life based on our actions and words in each social network.

 

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Credits to Mr. Brian Solis in his book Engage