The Banzai Chronicles

Internet drama is tired. I'm not even in any and it's still a monster turn-off for me. Much as I'm a lover of all the technological advances, that's something I can completely do with out. It occurs to me that, in my flesh-and-blood life, I almost never encounter the kind of over-the-top narcissistic spewing that I see online sometimes. That speaks highly of my friends, family, and workplace, no doubt, but I suspect the medium also creates and enables its own monstrosities.

Removing the faces and navigating a world of only text with an occasional image or sound changes all of the dynamics. Debates degenerate into arguments at an accelerated rate. We can be angsty or outraged or senseless without real consequence or even a need to back it up with anything tangible (though hyperlinks are appreciated). Everything that can be written can be published, without a second thought to whether it should be. We can be the kind of heroes we've always been in our heads: champions, lovers, geniuses, athletes, artists, politicos, celebrities, or tortured souls. And people can only require as much of us as we choose. It's a narcissist's dream, and we all have that narcissist within (I do, at any rate).

It's just good to give myself a reality check periodically.