"In 1991, R.E.M released their seventh studio album, Out of Time, featuring the instant classic 'Losing My Religion'” In the song, Michael Stipe alternatively sings 'I've said too much' and 'I haven't said enough.' This tense relationship between undersharing (not saying 'enough') and oversharing (saying 'too much') is typical of one of the dominant forms of contemporary social life: online social networks. Social media users who might crave some offline time and a quantum of digital silence are nevertheless constantly, even relentlessly, encouraged to 'speak' online as much as possible. We are talking too much, to too many people, all the time.
"As Ian Bogost explains, constant online chatter is 'in the tech giants' best interest.' Internet companies have a distinctive name for this persistent urge to interact - they call it 'engagement.' Metrics used by these platforms to encourage interaction among users ('likes,' 'shares') are the index of a new social 'virtue:' online popularity."
In a recent commentary, writer/scholar Daniel Esparza reflected on how contemporary online life is all about non-stop communication (although we are not meant to talk that much) and on how fasting from "'likes' can indeed help us give to the software what belongs to the software, and to people what belongs to people."
To access Mr. Esparza's complete post, please visit:
Aleteia: Daniel Esparza: We are all talking too much, to too many people, all the time (15 FEB 22)
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