THE MORE SOCIAL MEDIA GROWS THE MORE THE WORLD SHRINKS

As I look back over the last 12 years since I became a card carrying member of the previous century I must say I am surprised at how the world has shrunk. It seems that as technology and ways to connect with people grew it became a lot easier to know other parts of the world without real effort. The world became smaller and today it's as common to talk to someone in South Africa or Indonesia as it is the person next door. Social Media my dear friend you are one tricky whore for sure.

I don't subscribe to the ideas behind big brother simply because I refuse to live in fear. If someone wants to know about me they will know about me. When I look at my Facebook, Twitter, and Google I realize that Social Media is the kind of advent that was thought of in literary works such as 1984, Brave New World, and We. The familiarity with strangers that was thought of as something radical and impossible is normal today. A heightened and sometimes frightening level of communication that gives us unparalleled access into one another's lives is the norm.

The world is as small as it looks on television only now we don't really need to look at it in physical terms. Today we kill distance with the left click of the trusty mouse. I remember when computers were something of a luxury. Today a cell phone with net access, a laptop in a WiFi hotspot, and a social media account are all a necessity. Yes Social Media is growing and the world is shrinking, especially when you consider that a person's Social Media feeds can take them to places that they never expected.

The fact is that if you don't meet a person online you are not normal. If you don't make friends with someone that lives 8,000 miles away from you then you are considered socially awkward. A person's popularity and charisma is now defined as their "clout" and ability to land friends or followers. While this planet has an estimate of nearly 7 billion inhabitants it's not unreal to think that we are all connected in some six degrees of Kevin Bacon Social Media way.

We may not be living in the age of big brother but perhaps we are living in the age of second cousin. Yes it's true, this is in fact a very small world and it gets smaller every day.

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