Anonymity, a bargain at twice the price

Anonymity.

Blogs, boards and call-in radio depend on it.

No one willingly puts their real name out there for fear of identity theft.

In my case, it isn't theft I am concerned about. It's laughter.

Few people know that this is "me" on this page. Fewer still care.

But that isn't the point.

REALLY. As a society and as individuals, we have become WAY too comfortable with the idea that we can hide behind our online lives.

Because we HAVE become comfortable with our electronic communication, that face to face stuff has suffered. The ad on tv where the family all emails and text messages each other for dinner time used to be funny.

It isn't anymore.

I actually emailed a picture to my hubby who was 5 feet away from me with his laptop whirring away.

Nothing remotely anonymous about it, but there I was flinging this photograph OF OUR SON, no less, to him as he sat there absorbed in whatever he was doing.

When did this descent into madness happen?

Then, there are the public manners, private behavior issues that the internet and all of the digital friends it has bring into our lives.

We would never think of walking up to someone and spitting directly into their face while we looked at them.

So, how did we get an easy familiarity with doing it online?

I have to believe that it all comes down to that secrecy that we stupidly believe we have when we are online. We are about as invisible as a 3 year old who covers THEIR eyes and says "You can't see me!"

I can become anonymous by simply closing my blinds and picking up a book. I can be anonymous by letting the dude in traffic get in the line in front of me instead of showing him my skills in finger gestures. I can be anonymous by just letting go of the disconnected part of my life that is the digital divide.

My only concern is how long it will take me to do ANY of the above . . .