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Orwell That Ends Well
This isn't the Information Age - it's the Too Much Information Age. Everyone is posting their diaries, dalliances, likes, and longings because they have an audience of "friends" who border on being voyeurs. Disconcertingly, there's no compulsion to participate in this apart from peer pressure, which is apparently a powerful motivator even well beyond one's high school years.
And this is precisely the genius of the Self-Surveilling Society in which we find ourselves: it taps into the psychology of our teen years (to know and be known) and exports it to the world writ large. In this lexicon, your friends become (as in high school) your style-setters, sounding boards, commiserators, gossip sources, reality checkers, and existential validators. If you do something and don't share it, did it really happen?
Today, your friends and acquaintances can "tag" you wherever you go. Photos from every social gathering will appear online almost instantaneously with your name attached to them (so please, dress nicely and try not to eat on camera). Someone you know can log your whereabouts and transmit them for others to see, ostensibly creating a record of your movement patterns. What you purchase, consume, read, and desire can all be compiled with your willing participation.
In those bygone days of a decade or so ago, this much information on an individual could only be obtained with a search warrant and/or through close (and costly) surveillance. To compel the disclosure of a person's diary (and thus innermost thoughts) required meeting a high legal standard. Continually monitoring one's location, getting their acquaintances to divulge information, and mapping out their circle of friends and allies was an exacting task of espionage.
Now it's all out there, sans warrant and with no KGB agents required. In just a few short years of going digital, the entire balance of privacy has been inverted from a matter of personal integrity to societal necessity. Our electronic communications are all fair game for prying eyes, the phones we use have tracking devices in them, and our financial purchases are logged and data-mined. Yet even these devices are old school, since now people want all of this information (and more) to be widely known.
The justifications for this trend are interesting in themselves. "Well, they know about everything we do anyway, so what's the difference?" "I have nothing to hide; my life is an open book." "At least now I can take some ownership of how my public profile looks." "It's all in good fun!" The overarching theme seems to be a combination of rationalization, resignation, and exhibitionism.
But there's another aspect to this phenomenon, and it's right out of high school: people want to be liked. Literally, now that your friends can validate your musings by digitally liking them, sharing them, and - most importantly - letting you know that they are paying attention to the minutia of your life. In this sense, everyone becomes a beacon of "news" unto themselves, and your "feed" will seamlessly integrate items ranging from the cost of war to the cost of dinner.
It's an ingenious methodology that fits the tenor of these egocentric times. The inexorable construction of the "rational individual" in Western society finds its fullest expression in the implications of social networking media. Using the data that is willingly provided, a marketing campaign is being launched right now just for you. You matter! You are the news of the day. You are a trendsetter and an opinion-shaper. You, my friends, are cool.
And in this, perhaps, lies a strange democratic potential of sorts. Why shouldn't the news and views supplied by Random Friend be equivalent to that from CNN? Celebrity gossip and reality TV are passé; now everyone's a celebrity and our lives are constantly being broadcast. Some folks use this platform to launch self-taught journalistic endeavors. Others create digital footprints that are an art form in themselves. A few stand out as masters of the pithy retort. Some are incredible news-sifters and media mavens. Given that the technology is still in its infancy, it may well be that we're witnessing a potential evolution of humankind.
Yet it still remains firmly within the box crafted by hegemonic forces. You can move about the cabin as much as you like (as long as we know where you are), and you can have the illusion of creative autonomy within its confines - but do not approach the walls or seek an exit. We can learn to enjoy our captivity because our friends are all there, and there's enough going on to keep us distracted for the foreseeable future. It may be a prison of sorts, but it's one we're choosing - and anyway, it's better than the alternative of being "free" but having no one notice.
So what if once in a while it gets a little stifling, or if it turns out that you like most of your friends better through the medium of a microchip than you do in real life. Does it really matter if stalkers, predators, or people in drab suits know your whereabouts at all times? Who cares if corporations know your habits and tastes better than you do? Your life is an open book and, at the end of the day, what matters most is that someone is reading it.
65 Comments so far
Show AllIt's the end of my first ever Ramadan here in sunny Oman. (That's the chilled place in between The Yemen and Dubai.) The six-day Eid holiday is upon us.
I plan to avoid all electronic media whatsoever - no news feeds, no cynical blogs and comments, no information sharing, no strong opinions, no hate, no pain, no fear poured out carefully in the guise of rational, logical argument. No TV, no radio, no Facebook, no Infotainment. No advertorial disguised as lead news.
I plan to spend as much of that time underwater where I shall no doubt be horror-struck by the complete decline in fish species and the death of coral. But that's my own negativity creeping through.
I wish you all Ramadan Mubarak, and please don't burn any Qu'rans while I blow bubbles. I know it's legal, but it's so very uncouth.
Ma'salaama, fellow users of air.
Hi Frank - moved here to work on contract for 2 years, maybe more, in, yup, the media!! It's very chilled - like a cross between the Old Testament and Heathrow Terminal Five duty free lounge.
Cost of living is cheaper than say England and Europe for most things, and salaries are perhaps the same, but it is tax free. Petrol is insanely cheap (costs me under OR5 - five Omani Rials - to fill car tank from empty - the Rial is pegged at 2.58 against the dollar, so what's that - $12 to fill the tank of a saloon car). Imported designer goods are expensive. Electronics cheaper by a fair bit. Eating out - can have a fine, 3-course meal for OR15, exluding grog (alcohol), so that's about what $40 - I'm in the media game not maths!!
Very mountainous and rocky, unlike rest of the Gulf.
And to some other comment below me - the diving is better than the Red Sea - it ain't a zoo for a start.
Why - you thinking of moving here? Do - it's the right thing to do in the face of such irrational western hostility against the Muslim world!! And, did I say - it's tax free. Till the oil runs out anyway.
Petrol in OPEC contries has always been scandalously cheap. In the 1980's gasoline in Venezula was on the order of 0.30 Bs per liter, or the equivalent of about US$0.25 per gallon. Except for domestic aorfares, not much else was very cheap - comparable to living in the US if you were paid in US dollars.
Long as your not Female and have to wear a blanket all the time. I'm sure it's a blast.
>^^<
I keep telling my friends I'm disconnecting from this net, but then I wind back compulsively ON it, like now. I wish you happy snorkeling. AND next time you go online (I KNOW you will!) check out today's Democracy Now broadcast for 9/8 since there's a little story on 'guilt by Facebook association'. Think I'm gonna see if my local AA chapter has an internet addiction recovery thrust, and, if not, start one.
You know Leonard Cohen's "Democracy"?--- a few relevant lines for ya:
...and I'm neither left nor right
I'm just stayin home tonight
gettin' lost
in that hopeless little screen....
The coral reefs of the red sea are well-known. But I've never heard of reefs to go diving on in the gulf area. One would think with all the oil tankers passing through those straits nothing would be living there.
@Sabocat - OK - sorry to divert from Randall's excellent article. But hey, let's have some good news for a change?
Diving here? Excellent. Not a zoo like the Red Sea. The straits you mention are the Straits of Hormuz and they are round the corner and north from Muscat. Just across from Iran. Check the map. It's a Biblical bloody setting for sure. There's an Iranian girl in the office I work at. She's an absolute honey. Let's not go to war with these chaps. Really - start spreading the word. Iranians are pretty cool people, like most Arabs. Like most humans.
There is a lot of litter on the sea floor, but there are steps being taken to address that. Slowly of course, but I am exploiting my media position and diving obsession to alert people to it. And the Sultan here is man of vision - so he throws his weight and his wallet behind anything to do with tourism ethics.
But people still chuck crap overboard, probably from the Chinese tankers. I surfaced the other day and it must have looked like I had spent an hour at my favourite niece's garden barbecue instead of underwater - I surfaced with a baseball cap (designer motif!), a green Heineken can, a red Coke can, a plastic salad bowl and a large fishing hook. I had a sunburnt nose too from the day before, so I think people on the dive boat were like, WTF!!??
Cyclone Phet also destroyed a lot of coral which is a tragedy. Viz not great, but that's to do with monsoon season in India, I am told.
Best of all, you end up diving in tiny groups or just you and a buddy, which is particularly nice coz my 100th dive is coming up very soon, and we all know what that means! Nekked in the sea!
Again - sorry to detract from the important issues raised elsewhere on this page, but bugger it actually. Let's use this monster we created to start spinning some totally random pleasant thoughts for once.
Ma'salaama.
Thanks for the account of things there. When I worked in Venezuela oil field in the 1980's, I became a regular diver in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, which in those days was an incredibly unspoiled, laid back, and cheap place, and when when back in the US, some excellent diving spots off of West Palm Beach, Florida. Very clear water both places. The Palm Beach dives were fast drift dives right in the gulf stream in 70 to 140 feet of water (you needed to get in an eddy behind a ledge or rock to swim against the current Anchoring a boat a couple miles off of the beach was like anchoring a boat in the Niagara river below the falls - if you fell out, you would not be getting back in. One would think there would be efforts tap the shallow-water parts of the gulf stream as a clean energy source.
I moved northward and took up other pastimes (cave exploration then hang gliding). Haven't been diving since the late 80's.
I hear that Venezuela produces more heavy oil these days which is far more damaging to the environment but not as bad as tapping for coal. You mention about tapping into the shallow parts of the gulf-stream for clean energy sources but wouldn't that be an oxymoron? What clean energy source would you actually find there? I thought all "energy tapping" was destructive to the environment.
Excellent piece, in my opinion.
Whatever the draw is, it is lost on me.
Although i do post here fairly regularly.
Distraction of the masses while they get reamed by the corporate/government nexus. First it was the TV and inane sitcoms and commercials, the branding and ad campaigns. Then the computer came along and it took awhile to figure out how to make that into a distraction too. Social networks and twitter feeds with fans and friends. They need us to be dumb and distracted so that we wont rise up and demand justice. A corporate society that needs good consumers to purchase things they don't need---to frequent chain-shops and restaurants that are literally killing them with poisons that increase the profit margins.
Social media provides an opportunity for us to express our vanity in addition to all of the above.
Not to mention CD's comment board that keeps us old hippies too distracted to do anything slightly threatening to the corporate masters.
CD's comment board isn't all that bad. True, commenting can be tempting but compared to the number of comments one would find on most other sites, this one isn't so distracting. I find this site far more educational come to think of it. When I read through past and present comments, I find tons of information that I can use against typical status quo talking points and verbally force others to defend what they are saying or confess to repeating corporate media propaganda.
"CD's comment board isn't all that bad"
maxpayne, thanks for being positive. I agree with you that CD comments tend to be of relatively high quality, and can serve an educational purpose among other things.
In fact, in some cases (which I may identify in the future) the comments are superior to the articles that have triggered these comments. Yes, the CD blogs can be very educational.
I'll reiterate: I get more value from CD comments than from the articles commented on. Yep, I'm 56, no TV, a big reader, an artist, helpless, unsure where next month's rent is, yet here I am on the compooter.
I like CD comments for the erudition, the truth seeking, and, by and large, the civility.
Gratefully, Jack Chase
The conversations can be so broad and interesting, even when they are off topic. I am addicted to CD. The knowledge I gain depresses the hell out of me sometimes, but the posts on more popular "liberal" sites, fluffpo for instance, deliver me to the depths of dispair, for totally differant reasons. I can make it through about 25 comments...TOPS
Hell, I rush through the article so I can read the comments!
Yes maxpayne, this board is a good one. I learn a lot here. My point is that with the soft fascism we seem to have, knowledge, free speech and intelligence are all tolerated as long as they're limited to discussions on computer screens. If somehow these comments could morph into a general strike or a real movement that threatens, then I think they'd shut us down pretty fast. As long as all they do is distract those of us with subversive thoughts from doing anything else, I think these sites might actually be welcomed by the corporate masters.
"As long as all they do is distract those of us with subversive thoughts from doing anything else, I think these sites might actually be welcomed by the corporate masters"
I think of places like this board as more along the lines of 'incubator of ideas'. Corporate masters may like the idea of keeping us distracted, but I doubt they are thrilled about people being able to freely exchange ideas.
Just to give you a little example: recently I read a commentary here offering suggestions to fight the system, in our small and individual way (not as good as a large, organized effort, but still better than doing nothing). So one of the suggestions was to put your money in credit unions instead of banks, which I had not thought about, but now I will. His other ideas were also good, but those I already implement (basically following a low consumption lifestyle). So my point is that good ideas and good suggestions can spread like this, and I bet you that our corporate masters can't be too happy about that (at best the figure they can ignore the threat because of its scale, but it is still a negative for them, and the scale can grow).
Hi Higgs--I would say the first distraction was sports. An interesting work supporting that view is Judas in the Jockey Club. Historians have noted how the "contests" made for public consumption at the Collesium in Rome and smaller ones constructed elsewhere within the Roman Empire served the elite while mollifying the masses. All electronic technology serves to further atomize society and its social relations, and the "social networking" devices and sites are worst of all as the author notes. I own a cell phone for emergencies only and have no desire to learn how to text.
I don't think Orwell had any idea that the public would brainwash itself through electronic media--only Totalitarian States would desire a public so conditioned. I don't think he was aware of what people like Bernays were trying to accomplish for corporations AND outwardly Liberal-Democratic governments. He was certainly aware of certain nation's Propaganda and Indoctrination Systems, but I don't think he ever imagined a citizenry enslaving itself to the degree that US culture has.
I don't think that Orwell was necesarily thinking entirely of totalitarian states when he was writing 1984, he may have very well have been familiar with Bernays theories and was looking at trends in his own society. The telescreens, newspeak, and memory-holing were incredibly accurate predictions.
That's very possible. I was also considering his lesser known essays and the very few letters of his I've read when I wrote. It would also seem that Europe in general took the warnings presented by his books far more seriously than by readers in the USA.
One other observation: All forms of modern communication decrease the need for human intraction and thus lower the opportunities for increasing civil interaction between people that serves to advance understanding and civil behavior while decreasing the potential for acts of barbarism. Yes, there are appropriate uses for telephones, televisions, and computers, just as there are for radiation; but like radiation, they all have unseen and often unnoticed side effects that are potentially fatal.
"All electronic technology serves to further atomize society and its social relations, and the "social networking" devices and sites are worst of all as the author notes."
Yes. Though I do enjoy conversing with so many of you folks here on the CD. I know some see this as a distraction, or a diversion from other more productive activities- I find the mental stimulation just too damn interesting. And like many others have pointed out, the caliber of posters here is so good I usually learn more from the posts than the articles.
I got a facebook account for political organizing purposes, but the thing is annoyingly captivating- a total timesuck. I have a few "friends", some of whom I have never met that post interesting articles and links, but I find myself constantly disappointed by the shallow, mundane and juvenile crap that some of my old friends (people who I actually know) post on facebook. And the comments that people post regarding politics, and issues of the day are more assinine than what you find on Huffpo.
Reading and writing here is usually an exercise in critical thinking and writing. I don't debate the way I once did and choose the articles I read and comment upon somewhat carefully because a lot of time and effort is required to do so properly. There are pros and cons with almost any technology, especially those promoted by uncivilized corporations and their allied government, so a person must always be wary and able to employ counter-measures to keep the barbarians at bay.
George Orwell would be impressed I am sure. Good insight into this mess we are in.
The tragic irony of this is the age factor. The young, who have the greatest stake in a livable future, are particularly lost in Facebook World. Instead of fomenting revolution, they text in caps.
OMG!!!!!!!
Good article. The newspeak-language of "1984" is _exactly_ what the infantile terminology of the things in Facebook sounds like.
Double-plus good!
Wall of friend - dislike!
Facebook is as alarmingly close to 'The Matrix' as anything in 'real life' could get.
All day I watch humans sit in cubicles with their faces a few inches away from a screen. They ride home on mass transit systems, their faces glued to slightly smaller screens on mobile phones or iPads, 'ear buds' jammed into their orifices. Then they get home and return to another bigger screen.
Daily life is increasingly being lived in nonphysical virtuality, where we are invited to 'tag,' 'hug,' 'give a flower to' or 'poke' someone, or where _ this one is truly creepy _ we tend a 'farm.'
Thus we're engaged in nonstop consumption, buying entertainment from folks who package our preferences and sell them _ using the proceeds so their children can tag each other on real lawns, so they themselves can physically hug attractive people half their ages, later give them flowers, and grow real tomatoes. Guess who is really getting 'poked.'
Yes, the "poke" feature is positively bizarre; what exactly is it? I didn't know about the virtual hugs and flowers.
But what does "tend a farm" mean???
It's a Facebook game where you tend a virtual 'farm,' growing plants, raising animals online _ 'feeding' them, etc.
The 'poke' bit is just weird _ I'm not even sure what it is supposed to mean. You can click on a link to 'poke' one of your 'friends,' and subsequently their own account informs them that they've been 'poked' _ not a verb I'm entirely comfortable with using with just anyone.
Good thoughts, Zell, and well-expressed, except for the last paragraph. The kids of the wealthy are also addicted to Facebook and gaming and all of the other distracting, dumbed-down detritus of our Electronic Age, so you won't catch them out on the lawn playing, and their housekeeper/nanny is buying frozen vegetables at the supermarket for their dinner, the kind grown from genetically-modified seeds, when she isn't stuffing them with fast food to keep them quiet. While the moneyed aristocracy may occasionally put fresh flowers to wilt on the table, even the rich can't escape from the all-encompassing 'matrix' of crap Corporate America has created.
No it's not. It's the too much ME age.
Monkeys entranced by shiny things with glittery lights, buttons and beepy noises.
One result is that there's no space in your head for your own thoughts...if you're still capable of having thoughts of your own.
"... it still remains firmly within the box crafted by hegemonic forces." Sooo true! In a menu-driven world, someone has already made all teh acceptable choices for you.
Great article!!
Everyone should pay attention to the work of the EFF:
http://www.eff.org/
They monitor the neo-cons at facebook to see what they are up to. And if you have a facebook account, get rid of it immediately. The founders are hardcore neo-cons that are in bed with intelligence agencies. The CIAs venture capitalist firm, In-Q-Tel, is a major investor.
The same is true of Google, minus the neo-cons. Their founders are just idiots who are now in bed with intelligence agencies.
Innocence or guilt is not about what you do, it is about how many $$$$$ or 'political connections' you have.
malatesta, thanks for this info. I went to the site and was too impatient to do the research. Are you sure? I've always thought FB, etc., were more than banal. In our profit driven world Nothing is free and everything comes at a price. Being on FB costs more than I realized, yet I'm not surprised.
Thanks again, Jack
has anyone seen the comments to this article on commondreams' facebook page? those people totally missed the point.
Dear shadowdancer;
This is the BEST post you've ever written. Thank you!
Orwell was not so smart;he missed the Patriot Act by a couple of decades.Vladimir Lenin is the only man that could have written the Patriot Act well in advance of 911. Just happened that the PNAC patriots had this huge act on hand for the planned black flag operation known as 911. The end of America for all and forever as wee the people will not demand a truthful inquest. Farewell Bill of Rights; it was a great illusion, our democracy salutes a void of truth stars and stripes. Das vedanya comrades!
"Vladimir Lenin is the only man that could have written the Patriot Act well in advance of 911..."
I think you have to study your Lenin a bit more. Perhaps you mean Stalin?
It's not that 'people want to be liked,' though there is that.
The truth is, life is lonely and most people generally suck. 'Social media' helps alleviate the loneliness, like a cat or dog might 'in the old days,' while hiding most of the reasons people generally suck 'in real life,' making them at least tolerable.
I say if 'social media' keeps most of the suck people off the streets and locked inside 'the cabin,' then it's working perfectly.
Oh, for a really decent EMP pulse...
Non Serviam - I will not serve.
Or an asteroid half the size of the moon.
"Cinderella in 2013"
from stardust
I went to sleep the other night
and woke in different land.
A sound ,machine built in the wall
played patriotic band.
And all day long and through the night
my brain, it marched in step,
and muscles overloaded too,
in North Korea crept!
Then I awoke-- a horrible dream!
And went outside to play.
But in the night, a war had come,
my friends were blown away!
A giant hole in the ground,
I peered down deep to see,
a big sign at the bottom said,
MEMORY HOLE...he, he.
The wall screen in my house it yelled
"What are you doing there?"
"Get back inside and hide yourself,
there's terror EVERYWHERE!"
"But I'm the only one that's here,
that makes no sense to me."
Then up a tank rolled and it stopped,
"YOU seem to disagree."
2 robots grabbed me by the arms,
I really tried to flee.
The wall screen calling out commands,
there was no hope for me.
So now I'm in a little box
my face against a cage.
2 rats are grinning from inside,
and yet, I feel no rage.
For when I saw the MEMORY HOLE,
2 rats were almost dead.
I saved them then and now they're here,
they won't bite on my head!
And mammal into mammal mind,
we thought we'd have some fun.
So screaming, screaming, I went on,
they thought that I was done.
Then out upon an old scrap heap,
they threw us three away,
and got into their tank again
for city far away.
I laid quite still, till they were gone
then laughed out loud to see.
The outdoor life, which they despised,
was now a home for me!
No sound machines, no wall screeens, no,
just creatures and the skies.
My 2 new friends, the rats were here
with tiny raised high fives!
But I escaped, I know there's more,
perhaps from CD space!
We'll build a country all brand new,
with talking FACE TO FACE!***
Stardust, Thank-you for the poem; it was lovely, especially your friends the rats.
I've never seen Facebook, or MySpace, and I don't even know if my cellphone (my only phone) has a Twitter function. But I have 6 chickens, a dog and three cats and three acres of exurbia I'm trying to permaculture into an edible forest. So your poem really struck the right chords for me.
The reason for the cell phone is because my work entails night driving on some pretty lonely country roads. Last winter I had a wonderful gift; over a dozen deer grazing in the moonlight in a snowy field not twenty feet away from me. I was almost late for work I sat so long just staring at them. God gave us such a beautiful world, when will we remember to be grateful?
Dear 3645:
Thank you, I had pet rats when I was growing up and they are so smart. I laughed when I read 1984 and found that Winston Smith was afraid of rats! How could that be? Although, I did read The Jungle, and those city rats are big and very different.
You sound like you live in a wonderful space. I have 3 cats and 2 strays, plus a few skunks live under my house. When the Angeles Forest burned last year, tons of new birds came to the feeder, and once during this same time, some bees were swarming around a tree, so I suppose they were looking for a new non-burned home.
If I leave the back door open the skunks will try to sneak into the kitchen for some cat food. They are very polite though, and when I say, "No' they leave the kitchen. They haven't sprayed me yet, and I do love them because they eat the snails in the garden.
It is a beautiful world in Nature, and if people would take the time, all kinds of wonderful beings will share their lives with you! You won't find them on Facebook!
Wow! As usual I admire your passion everyone. But I find you more alarming than reassuring I'm afraid. First of all using a digital format to bitch about digital formats is absurd, and would seem to miss the rather clear fact that this medium can be used for positive change. But to call it all a meaningless distraction is to implement yourselves in the process. And that too is sadly a regular feature to the comments on CD: self implication through absurdity. While there may be good information in these posts, it is told through such a lens of paranoia that I sometimes think I'm on a right-wing website. Also, food for thought, what is so immature about people using facebook to stay in contact with those who are physically distant? I rather think of it as a miracle of the modern age and as usual it is all in how you choose to use (or not use) the technology. Such cynicism as displayed by most of you may be sexy, but our reality is much more complex. Why must our side be as rabid as theirs? A mellow man sighs. . .
Good points.
Back 100 years ago or so, with the advent of newspapers for the working class, snooty people complained about "everyone having their head buried in a newspaper" instead of "doing more important things" and predicted dire consequences for the society.
Throughout history, whenever working class people are all getting together and doing something, from "paganistic" celebrations of Christmas in Puritan England, or the tradition of "frivolous" weekly square dances in rural towns, or attending "vulgar" entertainment (like Shakespeare or much opera in their day, later vaudeville), or putting up the Maypole, or gathering in the pub for a game of darts, there have always been snooty aristocratic apologists for the ruling class getting their noses all bent out of shape and lecturing us about the decline of civilization.
"Good grief, if we teach the commoners to read all they will do all day is sit around reading trashy popular fiction!"
Yes, we should all be doing more serious things - toiling in the fields from dawn 'til dusk for our masters, or for those too lazy for that and fortunate enough to escape it, becoming an academic and writing apologies for the master and attacks on the working class people.
Come on, get productive you lazy frivolous peasants! How is master going to live in the style to which he has become accustomed if you people slack off?
The capitalists ought to pay us for facebooking. We are holding the social fabric together by doing it - as contemptuous and condescending as the better people may be about that - and without that they would not have a society to prey on.
But they won't do that, because they know there is a danger to them in the social networking. The revolution may not be televised, but it most certainly will be facebooked.
Very true & well-said. 'the revolution may not be televised, but it most certainly will be facebooked'
these tools increase our power