Netlingo: Past, Present, and Future of Netspeak

Do often find yourself at a loss for words around kids these days? Are all those acronyms, abbreviations, and abominations confusing to you? Is the slang too weird and hip? Do you want to enhance your vocabulary with the latest info on the newest netspeak? Well, do I have the perfect site for you! The site is netlingo and, with this site’s help, you can leave your ignorance behind and become indistinguishable from the average web brat. So hop right in and sling some cyberslang. The web is your oyster, but you won’t crack it without the right words. So get on it. You might just need netlingo in order to decipher this post.

I really should be paid for those little adverts, but, alas, it’s only a labor of love. I just had to share netlingo with my readers on my own little corner of the net. If you didn’t quite grab what I was saying from the above advert, well, that’s my fault. For clarification, netlingo is a website dedicated to capturing, defining, and archiving past, present, and future cyberslang. If you ever cared to understand those ppl in the chatrooms, especially the chatrooms of the techy variety, you’ll need to use netlingo. Or you could just ask them what they mean, but that’ll make you look like a noob. And you can’t afford to look like a noob on the net. Yeah, I just used the word “noob”. Is that even used anymore? Back when I played MMOs in the early 2000s, you couldn’t go one day without being called a noob. Noob seems to have fallen into disuse, unfortunately, and only the old folks like me remember being called a noob. Oh how the times have changed.

That brings us to another great feature of netlingo. It archives the cyberslang of old. If you ever caught yourself wondering about the Internet of old, like yours truly, then just hop on over the netlingo. There are few better ways to understand the Internet’s past than by understanding the slang of the past. I never thought I’d run into the word “Netscape” again, but I just did give minutes ago, and I’ve regret it since.

Just giving netlingo a simple lookover is enough to rend me to shreds of nostalgia. All of those words which I never truly appreciated until they were dead and gone, like the word noob. The famous subset of cyberslang known as Leetspeak or, more properly, !337$p34k, once the hallmark of the annoying brat in a chatroom is now a lost art form. I can’t believe I miss leetspeak as much as I do. Perhaps I’m just a nostalgic fool lamenting the days when the English language was freely butchered, but, perhaps, there is something more to it. The leetspeek of old represented something about the net that I think has been forgotten. It represented the net itself. Leetspeak was only used on the Internet. It never left. And the net has become its grave. Leetspeak is now a dead language. Come to think of it. I haven’t seen it used at all in recent years. And I frequent forums where leetspeak would be welcome or, perhaps more accurately, tolerated. Even within the gaming community, leetspeak is struggling to stay afloat. Such a sad state of affairs. Good thing we have netlingo to archive the web’s past. When leetspeak finally falls out of use, a little piece of the Internet will have died with it.

If you’re new to the net, but you probably aren’t if you’re reading my blog, there is a section on netlingo documenting the Top 50 Newbie Terms Everyone Needs to Know. If you’re a net veteran, go on and test your knowledge of netspeak by reading through the list, if you’ve got the guts! I’ll admit there are some words in that list even I didn’t know. I’ve brought shame onto this blog, but I hope to correct this vicious wrong by brushing up on my netspeak by using netlingo!

Of course, it isn’t all fun and games at netlingo. Many of the archived words aren’t just slang (or maybe they are), they define both new and legacy applications, programs, systems, etc. It’s a serious trip to the past, back when 56kbps was enough to give you whiplash. And, like I said above, I never thought I’d here the word “Netscape” again. Even the word “legacy” has become legacy. I guess, in the end, we’re all doomed to become legacy. That is, if we’re lucky enough to become legacy. At least legacy is remembered and still used on occasion.

Much like Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary, netlingo is user-supported. So jump on over and add your own online jargon to the aggregate. Let others profit from your great stores of cyberspeak knowledge. You get to define the future of e-lingo with your own contributions. Give and gain alike. And, speaking of the future, as we’ve become increasingly more tech-oriented, netspeak has entered society’s general lexicon. Lol, lmao, brb, and afk are now used publicly, without fear of ostracism, in front of live people! It makes you wonder if netspeak will become the standard slang of years to come. It’s already integrated itself into the public lexicon and I don’t think its going to fade away any time soon. Technology is here to stay and so is the language of technology, netspeak. Okay, digression over.

I couldn’t do justice to netlingo with just one post, but I did my best. I’ve given you just a taste of what is offered at netlingo.com. It’s a serious cornucopia of treasures, nostalgia, and bits of wisdom. Don’t be left in the dark, go forth and learn!

 

Seriously, I wasn’t paid for this post. Though, I wish I had been paid. I don’t do this for free, you know. Okay, I do do this for free. Free entertainment for the webcrawlers. Machines need love too.

Hiding in Plain Sight: Maintaining Anonymity through Disclosure

In I Wanna be Anonymous and I ain’t the Only One!!!, I listed some ways a person could remain fairly anonymous on the Internet. However, I failed to mention one of the most surefire ways to maintain your anonymity on the net. One of the best ways to maintain your anonymity on the net is to not be anonymous. I swear I haven’t lost my mind. Think about it. Is there anything more suspicious than someone not having any searchable information on the web? No social media, no birth date, no emails, no comments, nothing? It’s as though that person has something to hide and has completely scrubbed, or avoided putting any information on, the net. There are few things more alluring than a mystery so the anonymous man becomes an object of fascination and, thus, a target. So, how do you avoid becoming a target? Easy, avoid anonymity. Give out information, make yourself known. But, wait, doesn’t all of that fly in the face of anonymity? It does, in a way. But, in another way, it makes you less of a mystery. Therefore, less of a target.

Think about it this way. Imagine a rather convincing mask placed over a face. The mask is what the world sees. What the world doesn’t see, and ideally may not even know about, is the face underneath the mask. The mask is the distraction, it is the public sphere, which hides the real face underneath. While wearing the mask, the real face is free to act anonymously without becoming a target of suspicion, since all inquiry by the public is directed at the mask. The mask is the honeypot. The catch-all that attracts the flies, leaving the real face free from all interference and suspicion. Think of the mask as your public life, and the face underneath your mask as your private, anonymous life.

But how do you construct the mask? That’s easy. You can choose to give out inconsequential information about yourself when you create a social media profile or, ideally, give out misleading, false information. However, you should be careful when giving away false information because, if someone can verify the truth of the information, that person will be able to see through your lie. And the entire purpose of the mask is to avoid suspicion, not cause it.

I’ll explain my approach to constructing a false face, my mask. I have a social media profile on Facebook. I’ve had one for many years. I’ve given Facebook my name, my address, email, and my telephone number. Basically, I’ve given them all of the information anyone could find with a simple Google search of my name. The rest of my profile is made up of false interests, likes, beliefs, quotes, etc. Anyone who knows my full name can find my profile. It’s open to the public. However, the public can’t view my email, address, or phone number. They can only view my name, interests, occasional posts, etc. I had to make it somewhat convincing, so I didn’t give away all of my personal information to the public. I also have some “secret” accounts on other forums which act as honeypots for anyone who cares to do a bit of extra research on my activities.

By creating this mask, I’ve created a public persona that I can use at my own discretion to distract the public from my private, anonymous dealings. I’ve erected a lightning rod that catches the storm while leaving the building underneath intact.

You may have reservations about giving away some of your personal information to social media sites like Facebook. Keep in mind that you don’t have to give away your personal information. I chose to give away some of my personal information in order to create a more convincing mask that is harder to see through. Give away all the false information about yourself as you like, however, be sure that the name you use is your real name (remember the lightning rod) and that the other, false information you give away can’t be easily verified by outsiders.

When creating your mask, strike a balance between believability, credibility, and falsehood. Always keep in mind that any attacker who wants to make you a target will pick up any information they can on you, so construct a very misleading mask. At least, as misleading and convincing as you can.

Hatsune Miku Concerts: A Human from a Machine or Finding Humanity in Technology

Once again, I’m going to reference my favorite reoccurring motif: the reciprocal influence of technology and culture. To save my readers the pain, I’m not going to review this theme. If you’re new and would like an explanation of this theme, please visit the end section of this post. I wanted to keep this post short and simple by pointing to a cousin of my precious theme: the seamless melding of culture and technology. And, to be honest, I don’t think anything more completely or more beautifully expresses this melding than a Hatsune Miku concert. What’s more, the star attraction, Hatsune Miku, is human as far as the concert’s attendants are concerned.

For those readers who don’t know what a Hatsune Miku is, Hatsune Miku is a human-like animated character who’s voice is created using a sound synthesizing application. In this case, that application is known as Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3. More informally, Hatsune Miku herself (and others like her), are called vocaloids. On top of this synthesizing software, Piapro Studio and VSTi Plugin are used.

And now for the less technical part. Hatsune Miku has been known to put on concerts for legions of fans. Miku can attract fans like the best rock and pop stars. The concerts are set up like most other concerts. There’s the sound equipment, supporting musicians, lighting infrastructure, body guards, and, of course, legions of fans. And Miku is center stage, the star of the show. Just how does Miku “get up” on stage? She’s a projected onto a large Dilad screen (a semi-transparent, diffusive, polymer surface) anchored at the front of the stage. The 3D effect is caused by this projection.

This is rather old 3D technology, however, the effects are wonderful. What’s more wonderful is Miku, herself. Her movements are fluid, her voice is spectacular, and she has a ton of personality. Her fans love her as much as KISS fans love KISS. Her fans are fanatical, like all die-hard fans should be.

She’s human or more than human. Or, perhaps more accurately, an ideal human. A machine as an ideal human. Just another staple of our common future.

It’s so human for humans to find human qualities in everything. Throughout history, humans have claimed that the planets were calm, the weather was angry, and the earth pensive. It’s only reasonable that, now, in the computing age, humans should attribute human characteristics to computers. The computer is thinking, the computer is upset, the computer is angry, the computer is stupid, etc. I’ll be back to this in a minute.

Like I said before, these concerts are one of the most beautiful displays of the melding of technology and culture. However, there is more to this. Hatsune Miku is a program, a computer-generated image, a machine. But her fans don’t seem to care, they love her in spite of her mechanical origins. This is an oddity.

Concerts are one of the most human of events. For thousands of years, people have attended concerts to be entertained, to be inspired, and to be enlightened. Perhaps what made people love concerts was the humanity imbued within the concert. The human musician or actor was the one irreplaceable element within the concert. We’ve taken this for granted, yet, that human element we all love is present. I couldn’t imagine a classical opera enthusiast choosing a machine over a live, living, human vocalist. Even a machine as lovely as Hatsune Miku.

The fact that crowds of people would attend a Hatsune Miku concert to watch a projected image dance and sing reveals something about people’s acceptance of technology. Yes, most people love what technology offers: comfort, entertainment, life, etc. But the love usually ends there. Conversely, at a Hatsune Miku concert, people seem to wholly embrace the Miku machine. These people are willing to let a machine into their very personal, cultural lives. And at a concert, no less, one of the most human of all events where the human musician was the one, traditionally, indispensible element. People are almost intimate with Miku. Why is this?

I think the reason why Hatsune Miku is so loved, while being a machine, is that she is so human-like that it minimizes the machine's presence. Miku’s perceived humanity is able to bridge the gap between man and machine, making it easier for people to fully embrace the machine. Miku makes technology seem more human and, thus, more relatable for the average human. This allows technology to successfully replace the human performer without too much “culture” shock.

Remember when I spoke of humans attributing human characteristics to computers? Hatsune Miku makes it easy. Her movements are fluid, her voice is spectacular, and she has a ton of personality. I’m repeating myself now, but only to show how easy it is to give human qualities to the Miku machine. An animated character has successfully replaced a living pop-star for thousands of fans, and people welcome it! Says quite a lot about the acceptance of technology and human perception doesn’t it?

Now, the likes of Hatsune Miku concerts is a very new phenomenon and most people will still prefer to see the live, living musicians they love, myself included, but all great phenomenon have humble origins. We may see more of Miku, and others like her in the future as the costs of putting on such shows decreases. At the moment, the projectors are extremely costly, but humans have a way of making things they love happen. This isn’t the last we’ve seen of these animated characters. They are here to stay.

One of Hatsune Miku’s songs is titled “World Is Mine”. Oh how right she is.

Cybercation: An Umbrella Series

This is the first post in an umbrella series tritely titled Cybercation. Under this series, I’ll be creating miniseries focused on various subjects within the wonderful world of computing. The first series is titled “Basics of Computing” and another series is titled “Networks”. The subjects, and depth, will vary but I’ll focus on teaching mainly the basics (though I will likely dive into more advanced topics down the line). Since this blog is about the Internet, technology, and the future in general, I think this series will fit right in since all of the preceding are in our collective futures. And you wouldn’t mind learning a thing or two, would ya? But why am I introducing this series? I once considered myself to be one of those people who was sufficiently learned about computing. And it wasn’t until recently that I discovered just how little I knew. Indeed, there’s nothing quite like a good networking book that completely obliterates any misconceptions you may have about how much you know. So, if you are one of those people who believes, either rightly or wrongly, yourself to be a computer person, I invite you to take a look at this series. Even the most advanced of students will likely take something away from it. So, give it a go.

Another reason I wanted to do this series is that I believe the best way to learn something, or test/clarify your own knowledge, is to attempt to explain a concept to someone else, namely, a layman. I hope this series will both help me find weak points in my own knowledge and help me learn a thing or two.

I will be prefacing each article with a difficulty rating of either beginner, moderate, advanced, super advanced, and extreme. And don’t feel bad if you don’t immediately understand a “beginner” subject. Conversely, don’t think the “extreme” topics are too difficult to learn and don’t think immediately understanding an “extreme” topic makes you a genius (it just means I’m a genius for explaining the topic so well). All of these ratings are subjective to my own experience and to the topic itself, so take them with a grain of salt.

As an aside, I haven’t completely planned this series out, so I’ll likely bounce around between topics quite frequently. I don’t know where this series will go or for how long it will run, but I will put some effort into it. This umbrella series will likely lead to the creation of a ton of miniseries, but I’ll try to keep miniseries creation to a minimum, as tempting as it is to create new miniseries.

As I mentioned before, I haven’t completely planned out this series, so it will likely evolve over time as I decide to add extra features. I’ll be sure to keep my readers updated on new features I decide to add to the series. You can find listings of any new features in the posts under the “About Cybercation” tag.

So you want to learn how to be a Hacker? Don’t even try. Give up right now!

You heard me. Quit. Give up. Did you really believe that you could learn how to be a hacker? Do you know how many people want to learn how to hack? Did you know that 99% of them fail? Everyday, people claim they want to become hackers. They look for teachers, mentors, tutorials, etc. Those very same people fail after a week of effort. So, what chance do you have when all those people failed? Do you even know what it takes to be a hacker? You’ve got to be knowledgeable, analytical, creative, imaginative, industrious, and resourceful. On top of all that, you’ve got to be a genius. So, what chance do you have of becoming a hacker? Zilch. Zero. Nada. Give up. You’re just wasting your time.

Okay, now that I’ve had my fun, let’s look at making you into a hacker. But, wait, didn’t I just say you should just give up? Well, I did say that, but I was only venting my frustration. So many people endeavor to become hackers, yet 99% of them only last about a week before giving up. This makes me very suspicious when someone says they want to be a hacker. When someone says that, the one question that runs through my mind is, “Do they really want it? Or is this just another nobody who will give up at the first sign of trouble?” I think there are a number of reasons why someone would want to become a hacker and there are a number of reasons as to why he fails and gives up. First, let’s look at the reasons why someone would want to be a hacker.

Hacker’s are cool, as I’ve so thoroughly proven in my post Why We Love Hackers. Hackers are those deviant loners with mythical, mystical minds who dance on cables of electric fire! Seriously, with this belief running through the veins of society, who wouldn’t want to be a hacker? Hacking is glamorized by the media, namely Hollywood, as noted in The Hacker Mythos. Hacking is made to look more exciting than it actually is. This isn’t to say hacking isn’t exciting. I’m just trying to say that hacking isn’t what the media makes it out to be.

So, a person looks at what a hacker is or, more accurately, what a hacker seems to be, and says, “Boy, I would really like to be a hacker!” The only problem is that that person is relying on a glamorized, misleading perception of the hacker. So, when that person actually starts to learn about hacking, he will quickly lose interest, “Hey, this hacking stuff isn’t all that its cracked up to be. It’s tough and boring!” All of you folks who want to be hackers better get rid of any false notions about being a hacker, right here, right now. Hacking isn’t as glamorous as the media portrays it to be, but it can be great fun!

Okay, but what about those people who don’t have a false notion about what it means to be a hacker? Why do they fail? That’s an easy one. They fail because they try to learn everything there is to know about hacking in a time period of five minutes. I’m exaggerating, of course. But, it’s true. Most people try to learn all they can in a week’s time. They learn a lot, but, eventually, they get overwhelmed and they burn out. These people are too damn impatient. They want the goods right here, right now. Hacking is an art and the entirety of that art can’t really be learned over the course of a week, month, or even a year. It takes time. Lots of it, It takes patience, persistence, perseverance, and practice. The best advice I can give a beginner on this issue is to take it one day at a time. Learn a little every day, one step at a time. You’ll get there, be patient with yourself.

Are there any more reasons why people fail to become hackers? Yes, there’s plenty. Another reason why most people fail is that they don’t know where to start. Hacking is a large field and there is much to know. So knowing where to begin is a tough issue. I’m no hacker, but I know a lot about hackers and computing. Whenever someone asks me where they should begin, I tell them to begin with their own computer. Learn everything about it. How it runs, its functions, components, its design. Then, learn about networks. Learn how computers talk to one another. Learn about network design, functionality, components, rinse/repeat. After you’ve done all the following (which is A LOT of learning), you’ll have a good idea as to what it takes to be a hacker.

Would you like to know another reason why most people give up? They underestimate the difficulty of the work. They tuck tail and run at the first sign of a struggle. They figure, “This is really tough. I don’t get it. I guess I’m not cut out to be a hacker.” Oh how wrong they are. They forget that learning, no matter who you are, is a struggle. Even the best hackers struggle. The thing that separates the hackers from the nobodies is that the hackers persist in the struggle. They don’t give in or give up. It’s all about the struggle. Remember that, and take your time. Again, be patient.

Most people fail because they’ve made a combination of the above mistakes: they have a false notion of what it means to be a hacker, they underestimate the work, don’t know where to start, and try to learn it all in one day. Hopefully this post helps dispel some of the misconceptions about being a hacker and encourages those would-be hackers to continue in their journey. And it’s one hell of a journey, so enjoy it. Kick back and hack to your heart’s content!

Metablogging

This is more for me than it is for my readers, but I felt that my readers would benefit from this too, especially if some my readers are fellow bloggers. 

Since I’m nearly thirty posts into this blog, I thought I’d take some time to reflect on this blog, my writing style, and the challenges I face when writing on this blog. I’ll also give you a bit of info about me, too.
 

Cybermantics, The Blog

 

First, this blog. This blog is written with the purpose of celebrating my love of technology and my love of culture. I often intermix the two when writing to showcase just how technology influences culture, and the inverse, how culture influences technology. Before this blog, I was a fan of social commentary. This blog is the result of me combining my love of social commentary with my, more recent, love of technology.

I have a rather unfortunate habit of starting things and never finishing them. Over the years, I’ve learned to be a bit more patient with myself and my endeavors. My posting goal is to upload a post at no greater than five day intervals. I know I won’t always achieve this goal. I don’t believe in pushing myself to write and post every single day because I know, if I do, I’ll burn myself out. And that’s no fun. This isn’t a “for-profit” blog (despite the “donate” button). It’s a for-fun blog. If I’m not having fun, then why would I post? 

Writing Style 

 

I’m still fairly new to writing social commentary, and writing in general, so I constantly face challenges when writing about worthy subjects. I had one blog prior to this one. That blog was on a completely different subject matter though, so the transition to writing about technology was difficult to make since I also did a lot of social commentary on my previous blog. Though I’ve been writing for a little over a couple years, I’m still trying to find my writing style. I opt for a mixture of formal and informal, question and answer styles. I don’t mind being serious from time to time, and I love to be silly and facetious. 

Challenges

 

Some of the challenges I face are staying on topic (both staying in tune with the blog’s purpose and staying in tune to a particular post’s theme), formatting, clunky writing, consistent formatting, paragraph transitions, tagging my posts, and organizing the content of my posts. Perhaps the biggest of these challenges is staying on topic while keeping my post content reasonably organized. I’ve been known to branch off into irrelevant (or relevant, yet out of place) rants and ideas, but, I suppose that’s part of the fun and full-part of the blogging experience. 

One of the more irritating challenges I face while writing is figuring out how to end a post. It’s irritating to start off so strong, yet finish so weakly.
I’ve also been trying to strike a balance between simplicity and complexity. Most of my posts are rather short and simple, and thusly, read rather clunky. I’m a fan of concise posts. I’ve yet to figure out how to make my posts concise and readable!

Finally, a particularly irritating challenge for me as of late is knowing when to stop writing. Sometimes, I can keep writing, writing, writing forever. I’ll spend tons of time making a post the most perfect it can possibly be, and it’s difficult for me to know just when to stop. This is another reason why I set the goal of making one post at least every five days. When that five days is up, I post what I got no matter the quality. Usually the quality is more than sufficient.
And then there are times when I feel that I posted something prematurely, so then I worry about that. ARGH!!! Why is something like blogging so stressful! 

Signing Off

 

All of the subjects I write about are worthy of discussion (some worthier than others), which is why I write about them. I can only hope that my writing ability does sufficient justice to the topics I write about. One of my longer term goals for this blog is to post consistently for the length of a year. I’m happy to say that I’m over two months into that goal. I’ve got a long way to go and I don’t know if I’ll make it. But, if I don’t make it, I’ll put in a heroic effort before failing.

Some quirks and facts about my style/posts/posting habits:

• I don’t like to make more than one post a day since, when I do, my blogging template “runs” the posts together and makes it seem like two posts are one giant post
• I have a rather irritating habit of using the word “that” too much in my posts. I hope to change that…dammit!
• I try to put in at least one hour of writing, per day. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s good to have goals
• I use the words “machine” and “computer” / “articles” and “posts” / “conscious” and “ghost” interchangeably
• I can’t figure out which font size I prefer
• I’m terrible at citing my image sources. I would like for my readers to know that none of the images used belong to me.
• I don’t usually make corrections to my past posts because, when I re-upload the post after the correction is performed, it screws with all the links that linked to that post. I’ve decided let past imperfections become beauty marks.

Cyberpunk Society and Our Society: Present and Future Drugs

I’m drunk and I want to make a drunken post on, what is currently, a Monday night. Living the dream right here. That may sound sarcastic, but there are few things I love more than drunken writing. Anyway, as I’ve probed my mind for things to talk about, in my drunken stupor, it has occurred to me that I rarely touch upon drug use. Come to think of it, have I ever even mentioned drug use? I can’t think of a single instance in which I remarked on it. The fact that my blog was inspired by Cyberpunk fiction, and the fact that drug use is rampant in said fiction, makes it glaringly clear that something is missing from my blog discussions. How could I have neglected such a thing? After all, cyberpunk is “high-tech; low-life” and all low-lives have one thing in common, they like drugs. When your life is in the gutter, what better way to find that shred of happiness than through either biological augmentation or the bottle? It is a sin for this blog to exist while not having a single post about drug use, namely, the future of drug use. And that’s what I want to talk about here, the drugs of our present and our future, and the drugs that reflect our lives and our culture. But what do I mean when I say “the drugs that reflect our lives and our culture”? Let me explain.

Mainstream drugs reflect mainstream cultural issues and challenges. The primary drugs in use reflect the era. They are both a consequence and cause of the era or, more accurately, the culture of the era. The 60’s and 70’s, the era of free love, mysticism, and music, had LSD, marijuana, and Mescaline. The 80’s, the era of parties, late nights, and disco, had cocaine and amphetamines. The 90’s, the era of seeming hopeless and despair, had heroin.

And what are the drugs of the new millennium? Necessarily, these drugs must reflect the issues, culture, and challenges of the new millennium. These drugs are marijuana, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and Adderall (cocaine, too, makes the occasional appearance). Is it any coincidence that over half of these drugs are stimulants? Is anyone really surprised?

It seems every few weeks we are greeted with a “shocking” and salacious report about college students using stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse. Again, why are we so surprised? I think the better question is, why do people pretend to be so surprised? Stunningly enough, people who are put into a vice, day-in and day-out, look for a means to cope with that vice. Either they drown their worries in booze and party or, alternatively, they endeavor to beat their overscheduled lives by taking heavy-stimulants. The drugs we use reflect the culture we live in. And those drugs go on to shape our culture.

The modern era is a rush. Everyone rushes to get somewhere for some reason and for some end, only to find the final end in the ground. Humans are bombarded with information as never before in the history of the world. We’re overstimulated. We need to ingest booze or other depressants just to slow down for a moment of recovery. Our poor minds, in order to not overload, need to erect filters. Indeed, even with these filters, our minds are filled to burst with information. Never before have humans had so much information crammed into their heads, yet, the average person has so little control over that information.

Where am I going with all this? I’m about to introduce another, completely legal and widely distributed, drug offered in our present, by our media and our technology. That drug is information. A recent study suggested that people would rather stimulate themselves with electric shock than be left alone with their own thoughts. People would rather inflict pain on themselves than be disconnected from the world of information. They need the stimulation even if that stimulation is a painful electric shock, such is the degree of their addiction to information. Do the results of this study support my idea of information being the drug of the future? If there is still doubt, let’s take a look at the beast itself, social media.

Literally billions of people enjoy the fruits of social media websites and forums. Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Tumblr, Flickr, Youtube, Instagram, and, yes, even Blogger. And don’t forget all those “news” sites, magazines, “studies”, surveys, and articles that get linked to those social media sites. And all those comment sections and share “buttons” and up-votes/down-votes. All spreading, spreading, spreading. Sharing…sharing…sharing. Sharing…what? You guessed it, information! Did you get your information fix today by reading this post? Don’t shy away from it. Embrace it. Own up to it. I’ve got no problem admitting I have an addiction to information. It’s the drug of the future. Presented in a way no other drug has ever been distributed, virally by electric fire! Flashing images, gripping sounds, byte-size quotes to thesis-size rants. Information is intoxicating. And it’s all at our finger-tips, provided you have a computer of some sort. You can get your information fix at, pretty much, any time; just like the gentlemen in the image above.

I’ve said that the drugs society uses both reflect and reinforce mainstream culture. The information drug is the perfect supporting example of this claim. Our culture is all about that information. It’s all about being in-the-know. Being privy. Being knowledgeable. Being hip and savvy. So it isn’t shocking that information has become our go-to drug. And, for the second part of my claim, how does the information drug shape our culture? The information drug creates the addiction, an addiction which must be satisfied. How is it satisfied? More information is created, produced, and distributed. Yes, another vicious cycle. Our culture created the information drug and the information drug created more need for the information drug within the culture, which creates more sources of information. There are so many vicious cycles in this future of ours. How appropriate that most cyberpunk fiction takes place in dystopian societies. We have our own cyberpunk dystopian society filled with a drugged-out populace looking for their next information fix.

You may say the information drug isn’t unique to the 21st century; people have been craving the information drug since, at least, the 50s: the television era. This is true. In fact, the information drug has been on the market for at least as long as humans have existed. People have always craved information in one form or another. What makes the 21st century unique is that humanity now has the capacity to overload itself with the information drug, to form a serious addiction, and to propagate that addiction to no end.

Is there any hope for us information-riddled addicts? I think there is some hope even for the most craven and depraved of addicts. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The best way to beat information addiction is to never become an addict. But what about those billions who are already addicted? If they are going to beat their addiction, they need to come to terms with the fact that they don’t need to be up-to-date on the latest news, “study”, gossip, or information. They need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and just let go.

It’s important to note that some people are more addicted than others. I’m addicted, but not nearly to the degree as the average teenage girl or the average Facebook user. I don’t seek help for my addiction because I can control it within reason. I even enjoy my addiction, as far as an addiction can be enjoyed. I understand that I am the one in charge of my life and I accept responsibility for my addiction.

In our society, this addiction can’t really be avoided, but it can be easily controlled with a little intelligence and a little willpower. So, the one question that remains is, “Will you accept responsibility for your own addiction?”

 

Thank you for choosing this blog to satisfy your information cravings.

Information: Please Learn Responsibly.