Too much??

We all know that social media has inherently brought upon the concept of traditional social networks in the “real world,” connecting users to familiar and new people through mutual acquaintances and common interests. The very nature of social media encourages users to provide heaps of personal information. Blogs alone, reveal not only personal information but  chronicle intimacies of both the soul and flesh of the bloggers. It is a eminent that the internet provides a sense of anonymity, and the lack of such physical interaction provides a certain false sense of security. Bloggers have the liberty to tailor information to their readers, however it is also known that sharing too much information on blogs alone can be problematic as well. Constant flaming on their blogs, name calling by readers who barely even know them... etc.  A great example would be: Naomi Neo, a singaporean blogger who got lashed at for showing her sideboobs in pictures. She replies her readers in her personal blog, and with a video to back up whatever she said as well.

""Guys, just so you know our boob sizes differ with the kind of bras we wear. Get over it that our boobs don't look the same all the time. Just bcos it's diff, it doesn't mean it's fake. Stop being so ignorant. Thanks." 



A response video by Ben Matchap, a singaporean youtuber. He brought up pretty good points here!!



Have you ever wondered why bloggers engage in such adventures? From sharing their daily chronicles, to sharing their sponsorships, to talking about their love lives, to bringing their defamation "dramas" to a whole new level?? .. What are they expecting to gain from their public efforts? Having to blog with awareness that comes with a part of discourse?  Paul B. de Latt mentions about how blogging itself is a "journey of self- discovery and intellectual self reliance", a project that involves "self clarification and self - validation". He goes on saying that by sustaining writing about such events, thoughts and emotions of one's life, "one is able to discover and develop who one is"  also to " develop a community of sympathizers". Which I find is rather true, why bother putting up everything online when you know that there are surely gonna be haters about everything and anything that you do?

It can be understood that these bloggers are actually very much like exhibitionists, exposing intimate details of their life on purpose, also " correspondingly, their readers are engaged in voyeursim of a kind." Is this exhibitionism and voyeurism just a technological extension of what was happening before ever since the social media revolution? WIth the technological features of blogging, where the comment section could be hidden. Bloggers can decide, unobserved while being invisible behind their screens, whether or not to take up the invitation, example answering questions from fellow readers or accepting defamation from others. However, most of the time they choose not to.

It is evident that bloggers are typically exposing too many details of their lives, and their motives seems clear enough.  Why do they even take time to risk exposing themselves to publicly to the world at large? What is the gamble of "extimacy" on the scale of the net?  When is too much? Information overload? When does it cross the line of privacy and what can be said on the net? Paul explains further in the readings that "by externalizing one's intimate life through self dramatization, one may be more able to "grasp and re-internalize elements of one's inner life." Yeah, jotting down things on the diary would seem like a better idea, rather than sharing it with the world. Come on, the world already has enough problems of it's own. 

What do you think? I personally think it's because of the fact that most of them are just in it for the fame... not to be biased, there are people who actually do blogging as a full time job!

With the shifts in our paradigms over the past few years has affected the way we perceive and deal with platforms like these on the whole. The west and the east, a diversity of cultures,  all shifting with such speed that we can scarcely catch our breath, technology overtimes changes with us as well. Where Singapore is concerned about the freedom of speech, it's waving through glue. The scary truth is that even though we may not have time to adequately respond should any of these onslaughts escalating into catastrophic proportions - like cyber bullying and stuff.  I personally believe that technology doesnt only exist independently on it's own, but we are co- dependent instead.

Lesson here: Think before you write, we've all encountered bloggers who talk about themselves too much and moreover do it poorly. - Overly detailed descriptions of weekend brunches with their friends we dont know, posting overly exposed pictures of themselves, insessant selfies, lattes with hearts drawn in the foam, 10 pictures of what they wore on that particular day... etc.  I live in fear of being that blogger. 

Online diaries: Reflections on trust, privacy, and exhibitionism by Paul B. de Laat, 2014 [Online] Available at:http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/627/art%253A10.1007%252Fs10676-008-9155-9.pdf?auth66=1401407210_f1b6f2d309aacbc02b88e958381b82e1&ext=.pdf. [Accessed 28 May 2014].