Vanished!

I read an article in Wired today about a writer who intentionally vanished for a month this year. It was a test, just to see if he could, in this digital age of ours.

I won't ruin the story for you, but it really got me thinking (again) about technology, communication, the future of our world and our relationship with it and each other. I've been a reluctant internet communicator over the years. First with email, then IM, then MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, etc. With each one of these steps, I've been hesitant about what I really gain from each one of them and constantly log in to to change the privacy settings. What is often comes to down to is this: it just doesn't feel good. Or real. The "it" being wrapped up in online communication and social networking.

At this point, I see the value in some of these tools, but they will never replace the real thing for me. I know most people would agree with me, but sometimes I really wonder when I see people constantly checking their Blackberrys, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I'll definitely be writing more about this topic. I think about it a lot.

In the meantime, check out the story in Wired. It's amazing. In a part of the world where people are getting carpal tunnel syndrome from using their cell phones too often, it's inspiring to read about a man willfully disappearing to see if it's still possible at this time in North America.

Photo credit: Wired.com