TED and Kevin

Kevin Kelly.  I had to Google him to find out who he was - I guess that shows that I don't read "Wired" magazine.  Of course he popped right up - a sure sign that he is well-known, at least in the world of computers.

I listened to his talk twice while polishing silver.  (Silver plate is my home business and my creative outlet, but that's another post.)  I found it very interesting that he kept humanizing the internet - comparing it to body parts (the human brain), giving it God-like powers, etc.  Truly a very human reaction to a machine.  I also found it revealing that he missed one very important point - as much as you might like to humanize the internet (or computers in general), you still can't take it with you when you die.

I found his explanation of the semantic web fascinating - of course, I think that the data-to-data links have been going on for quite a while, by now.  Personally I find it quite annoying that Google collects data about my website usage and tailors my search results based on that; and Facebook drives me crazy with its constant linking of data - trying to tell me who my best friends are based on how often I read their posts.  What if I'm a stalker?  No computer, or group thereof, can ever read the nuances of human emotion.

However, I am not a native-born digital user.  I remember paper and flashcards.  My children do not.  The entire reason that I got on Facebook, years ago, was that my foster daughter (E) simply does not communicate long-distance on anything else.  The best - and sometimes only - way to keep up with her was to read her constant Facebook posts.

My kids are very comfortable with letting the internet drive their friendships, create links between them and their likes and dislikes, and having all of their personal data spread everywhere.  E has hundreds of friends on Facebook, and over 600 photos of herself.  I'm not nearly as comfortable with that level of transparency - I'd like to say "older and wiser", but actually, it's probably more like just "older".  My other daughter, J, is younger, and doesn't have a Facebook account yet - she's pushing for one - but she still has a lot of data about herself all over the digital world.  So does my son.  All of them have grown up with their images, their thoughts, and their details known to the internet.  This was only intensified by the fact that when we lived in India, they stood out a lot locally, and were often featured in the local press because of their race.  (White, Kazak, and Tamil, respectively.)

Recently, we had a family conversation about the dangers of sexting.  My sister had ordered some books for the children's library she runs, and one of them was on this topic.  It was really interesting to me, because as my sister said, somehow it never occurred to us to take photos of our naked selves when we were teenagers - polaroids just didn't cut it.  (At this point in life, nude photos of ourselves would be more interesting to medical professionals than anyone else. :)  The ability to instantly flash one's photo around the world is addicting; a much different feeling than handing a polaroid around the classroom.  What I didn't know was that even if a minor takes the photo of themselves in the nude, it is still considered child pornography, and can be legally prosecuted.  So, overall, a terrible idea - apt to go wildly wrong very quickly.  I'm thankful to say that my kids agreed.  (Whew!)

So, I think that like it or not, libraries are going to have to get used to this digital mindset, or they won't be able to find customers (patrons) amongst the younger population.  On the other hand, they must protect themselves, as institutions, from the illegal usage of their computer resources.  It's going to be a fine line.

Teresa