The rise of disposable media
Over the last couple of years I’ve come to realize that I many times regret something that I’ve posted on Facebook or Twitter. It’s not that it had in anyway been inappropriate, but rather, I’ve felt that once I’ve posted something, a few minutes or a couple of hours later, it has no longer been relevant. It could have been something that had a certain context just at a particular time, but that after some time have ceased to have any relevance for anybody whatsoever, including myself. Now, you might say, that I could obviously delete something that I don’t want to be out there. However, sometimes thats not practical and sometimes it keeps you back from posting anything at all.
The more I have been thinking about this idea of disposable media, I’ve come to realize that current conversations over social networks does not at all reflect normal conversations between people, and here’s why:
When you sit and chat with a couple of friends at a cafe, restaurant or bar etc, there is no permanent record of what you say. True, your friends might be witnesses to what you say, perhaps even passersby. However, at most, bits and pieces of the conversation might turn in to gossip and hearsay but there is where it stops. There’s no permanent record. On social networks this is obviously not true. Anything you express or write will have a permanent record. That is a pretty scary thought when you think about it. So for the record. Somethings just should not be on the record.
I’ve suggested a couple of times to & on Twitter to have a disposable posting feature. Something that will self destruct in a couple of minutes time. Same thing on Facebook and Instagram. I actually think this can become a popular feature.
As a matter of fact, the sudden success of Snapchat might just be explained by the fact that it is disposable. It seems like in this age of over exposure of our private lives, perhaps people are getting weary about the long trail of record left behind of something that was supposed to be private and intimate from the outset?
Will this give rise to a sea of new applications and features? Perhaps we are seeing the rise of disposable media? After all, if you want a back-up of a perished post you can always call the NSA.
Originally published at netjacobsson.com.
