In this era of social networking, facilitated by Facebook, Twitter and those ubiquitous smart phones, a large segment of our society has become a human swarm, communicating via emails, tweets, texting, instant messaging and online comments. Spurred on by friends, journalists, broadcasters, sports commentators and a host of media celebrities, many of us have become accustomed to sharing our lives and thoughts with the internet universe and, unfortunately, often rely on those connections to feed our self esteem.
While social networking surely has its advantages and while many participants are able to balance this activity with their family, educational and employment obligations, others seem to be obsessed with these communication technologies, putting their privacy and personal welfare at risk. Of course, as we often learn or experience firsthand, this obsession may lead to accidents and injuries, the result of constant distractions from the almighty cell phone. In addition, this devotion to group communication seems to encourage ritualistic group behavior, a phenomenon most evident at college sporting events.
This cultural trend imposes other risks and harmful effects as well. Solitude, creativity and personal independence are all victims of the human swarm, which places group participation and cooperation above individual freedom. Many argue that open communication and the expression of opinion foster social progress; while this may be true, I suggest that the demands of the swarm and the mining of data by those who control it may outweigh those benefits.
