The Cultural Control Gap

Let's step back in time 12 years.  It's the beginning of Web 2.0.  Blogs, wikis, social networking sites, video sharing sites, and other interactive webpages started coming into existence.  How old were you?  It's actually a really important question.  The older you were, the less likely it is you have since taken advantage of such sites.

That statement of course doesn't apply to everyone.  There are many older people who use Web 2.0, and there are many younger people who don't.  But I believe if you were under a certain age when the internet became more open, you are probably more open now.  We see it very commonly in society.  The younger generation shares more online than earlier generations.  It's because they grew up in a world where openness was prevalent.  Those who didn't grow up with the ability to share information so easily would probably be more wary of so much of their private life being broadcast in the public sphere.

This goes back to my tweethis.  Culture is reflected in and created by the technology we use.  Web 2.0 increased connectivity, participation, and openness, and the young people who grew up with it are so used to it, it's part of their way of thinking.  It has created their culture.  On the other hand, those who didn't grow up with this technology may shrink away from it, or try to exert more control.  They wish to protect themselves online, and they may put up more safeguards to prevent their information from being accessed.  The younger generation enjoys the openness and often doesn't see the danger in it.

In the end, we can have two extremes: those who share too much, and those who don't participate due to fear.  We also, of course, have those in the middle who have learned to connect while still sensibly controlling the amount of information shared.  This moderate middle is what we have to shoot for.  Our culture is rapidly becoming more and more open, and we need to participate in order to keep up with it.  However, if we don't keep a check on that openness, we will have problems down the line, personally and perhaps as a nation.  Control doesn't have to mean the absolute power of SOPA.  It's using your common sense about the information you share online.