The Internets control your Life

As my first post in a very long time, in what should be a very self-centered and egotistical rant, I would like to point your attention to something bigger than me, something bigger than you, something so catastrophic that to live without it seems nearly impossible- the Internet. (however, if you would like to read some year old musings of Colleen Brogan, access her blog from freshman year of college here.) The holy invisible web in the sky that watches our every move and lets us watch others, too, if we know the right tools to use. For example, perhaps you are reading this because you were looking just for me and found this shoddy piece of writing. Perhaps you were just Stumbling along and did not know what you would come across--or, by the very nature of Stumble, you did not want to know where you were headed. In any case, the very nature of Internet networking made it possible for you to be here, now, reading this. So when Zachary McCune attempted on June 25, 2008 to live for 24 hours as though the Internet did not exist, he was doing it not just to test his personal willpower (or the patience of his employers) but to prove how indispensible the Internet has become for up-to-the-minute communication, language, and universal knowledge.

Not wishing to steal any of Zack's spotlight (but only hoping to brighten it) I created a facebook group on June 25th at 11:35am and invited all of my friends (and Zack's) who I thought would be interested in supporting his resourceful journey, and perhaps holding a little competition to see who could get in touch with him the fastest (obviously, without the Internet) and in the most creative fashion. I attached a link to Z's website and his personal, webcasted statement about the big day--little did I know that this small attempt to rally support would prove interesting points about social networking.

At 12:30 nobody was in the facebook group, other than myself. 1:46 proved the same...and 2:30, and 3:45, and 4:24, 4:25, 4:26.2, 4:26.4....yes I was checking that often. And obviously the 60-odd people I invited were not. What does this say about social networking and collaboration through facebook? Where groups "cheesy" and poorly advertised? Should I have made it an event instead? Were my friends off doing far better things than me?

In a last-ditch attempt before heading to work, I facebook messaged 6 of my best friends, and begged them on life and friendship to join the group so that at least, when Zack came out of his digital hibernation, he would not see me, his single fan, parked awkwardly solo in what should have been his voracious digital welcoming committee.

By the next day, Noe Web Day (the facebook group) had blossomed in to 9 members, and Zack seemed grateful (he's so considerate in that way) of the tiny success I had in the span of his 24 hour analog hibernation. It's strange to think of how long it took to reach friends, even through the internet--I had expected a response within an hour, not 7. I had expected one flag with the tags "cyberculture /Zack Mccune/ Harvard" to attract attention immediately--and it is no knock at all to Zack that it didn't, but only the presentation form was flawed, and that immediacy through the Internet requires diligence and at times luck (if only people checked facebook as often as I did!). Perhaps people do "live" on the Internet and "constantly" check their e-mail, but don't want to exactly reveal that they do, and therefore do not commit to groups and respond to e-mails rapidly because they do not want to let others know how much time they spend online.

Or perhaps, that's just what I keep telling myself so I don't feel bad when I have to beg people to join a facebook group.