Online Dating & Digital Intimacy

Now, after reading the title, was it more enticing than say a blog entry titled:

1. LOLCATZ
2. NEW DESIGN UPDATE
3. PERSONAL DRIVEL

Click here for the good stuff.

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Interesting Read from the New York Times about Digital Intimacy

Click text to read full.


"For many people — particularly anyone over the age of 30 — the idea of describing your blow-by-blow activities in such detail is absurd. Why would you subject your friends to your daily minutiae? And conversely, how much of their trivia can you absorb? The growth of ambient intimacy can seem like modern narcissism taken to a new, supermetabolic extreme — the ultimate expression of a generation of celebrity-addled youths who believe their every utterance is fascinating and ought to be shared with the world."

I particulary enjoy "who believe their every utterance is fascinating and ought to be shared with the world." Not just for its savory description of youth, but also because it's obviously resolute biased opinion of today's youth.

Also an awesome summarization and end.

"The act of stopping several times a day to observe what you’re feeling or thinking can become, after weeks and weeks, a sort of philosophical act. It’s like the Greek dictum to “know thyself,” or the therapeutic concept of mindfulness. (Indeed, the question that floats eternally at the top of Twitter’s Web site — “What are you doing?” — can come to seem existentially freighted. What are you doing?) Having an audience can make the self-reflection even more acute, since, as my interviewees noted, they’re trying to describe their activities in a way that is not only accurate but also interesting to others: the status update as a literary form.

Laura Fitton, the social-media consultant, argues that her constant status updating has made her “a happier person, a calmer person” because the process of, say, describing a horrid morning at work forces her to look at it objectively. “It drags you out of your own head,” she added. In an age of awareness, perhaps the person you see most clearly is yourself. "

There's much more in the 6 page article. Page 5 has some interesting tidbits.


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I am aware that blogging could be just as self centered as what the article in the New York Times portrays Twitter, and I believe it is, but in the beginning, and still today, I feel obligated to continue posting, mainly...

for my Father and Mother.

I know they read it, and be it that we do not communicate often over the phone, this is their main source for knowing what is occurring in my life.

Although a possible far stretch, I would venture to say that they have come to know more about the non adolescent child Jimmy, who used to spell his name with a 'y', within the last two years I have maintained this blog, than through my short visits to their home.

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It is somewhat odd to know that some 100+ people seem to check this blog on a daily basis, to know what I am creating, sometimes thinking.

It feels even more odd, when it is personal friends I see face to face. If I began to start speaking of something I have written about in my blog, I am sometimes given the look. The look that says, I'm not going to admit that I have read your blog, and let you tell this story.

It's a secret I feel is good to keep depending on the individual's personal preference, mainly because I don't want to know that you know what and how I think, which puts me in state of possible vulnerability.

Also to know that you are reading my blog presents a case where there would be an implicit notion of affection or interest, not romantically of course, but in general feelings are somewhat a difficult thing to share, unless you are already in an arrangement where it's acceptable.

For those that comment on my blog, these issues are non-existant.

Being that I am allowing myself to be vulnerable through the expression of mostly unfiltered thoughts usually not expressed to strangers, and the commenter having revealed at least some interest in engaging in an exchange of ideas or opinion, we are both on the same ground.

I feel that vulnerability through blogging is a great way to desensitize oneself to what others think. Through blogging, I allow myself for possible attacks on my personality or work, but more importantly since attacks are very rare, it allows me to feel some sort of confirmation of self worth, as just having ANY readers means that I have something that interests them, even if its just for an average 2 minutes of their day.

Even if my readership fell off, I feel like I would continue, for those two readers I know always keep up with my junk.

Thank you!
;j