Its been a long time since I’ve actively used this blog. But I’m still here. Most of my non-work related online time is spent on facebook. I’ve changed a lot of my views over the years and there is a tendency to remove old content that I’ve created that I no longer believe or agree with. I’ve decided not to do that.
We don’t get to erase our past. We don’t get to undo our actions. Even if I could remove the posts and facebook updates and emails and IMs and  text messages that I’ve sent over the years, I can’t undo the impact I’ve had on people with those communications. I’m not suggesting that any of my prior communications require apologizes however I have changed and evolved my thinking on politics, social issues, and even my faith (still Christian).
I believe those changes are typical of the human experience. As we age, we find ourselves examining our assumptions and our thoughts from our youth. The one reflection I have been rolling over in my mind lately is how the digital age has made the documentation of those changes common place for many more people than ever before.
I believe more people interact on social sites like facebook than previously kept journals or diaries. And having those thoughts made public, interactive even – impacts the content creator’s thoughts in a way a personal diary never could have. What impact does that have on us?
Its been said that youth is wasted on the young. Anyone my age certainly begins to understand that phrase in ways we never could in our twenty’s. Our experiences shape us and now due to social media, our inner thoughts are no longer alone, but joined with hundreds, thousands, even millions of others. Can social media have a disruptive effect on the natural process of acquiring wisdom through time and experience?
And when I say disruptive – I don’t mean it negatively (or positively). If you change the course of a river, that is disruptive to the natural order, but depending on that change, the results could be fantastic or tragic.
Has social media changed you? Have you ever deleted content you created because you no longer think as you did when you created it?