The Privatization of Information and the Loss of Community

I recently began reading a book about how natural disasters tend to bond a community, removing social barriers that often don’t allow for collaboration across class and when put in an equalizing situation are able to be kinder and more collaborative, viewing each other as familiar instead of other. There was a concept introduced, the privatization of society, how media guides us more towards individualism and turns us into consumers. We learn to see each other as competition and thus should be feared in the social sense. There was a particular note about how we acquire information from media instead of each other.

This idea struck me as interesting due to the lengths I go to to not bother people with questions that I can Google. Living in the Information Age, I feel like I have a duty to find things on my own. It’s like I’m annoying people if I ask them a question that I could just as easily Google. I feel like I’m asking someone to labor for me, while I have the means to do it myself. I often endeavour to not ask questions that I can look up out of respect for everyone’s time, but am I barring myself from community? Am I losing the opportunity to learn from and with others, sharing knowledge and forging bonds?

In prior years, I felt I had a good system: commonly known facts, I would use digital tools to learn instead of asking stupid questions, but I would still need people to answer questions that are more subjective, personal, and opinionated. I could still communicate with people about anything about them or myself. I could still ask questions that there was no way to look up and the nature of those questions would be more personal. 

This passage did give me pause to ponder if I was losing out on opportunities to connect with the people around me. Oftentimes if an unfamiliar term comes up in conversation, I’m much more likely to look it up later (or during) instead of asking for a definition. Sure, I could ask the person what that means, or I can look it up and have technology do that work for me. With so much knowledge at my fingertips, I assume I would be viewed as a nuisance if I ask a question when I have the world available to me. But this has extended to personal details that may be available on social media. I could ask you when your birthday is, or I can look at your Facebook profile and find out myself. I recently looked up a friend on LinkedIn to see if she had a specific certification I’m interested in. For the record, I did reach out to her and ask, but only because I was certain she had this certification and it wasn’t listed on her profile. She, in fact, did not have it. 

My go-to move for information is to self-provision and only recently it’s occurred to me that maybe that isn’t the way to go. I still want to be cognizant of other’s energy, but I also think about how when people ask me for information, I am delighted to give it. I have another friend who asks for my opinion on what’s going on socially, politically, etc. She can ask anyone in the world, including the Internet, but it’s my thoughts that are valued. I love that she cares what’s on my mind and she loves whatever my take is. It creates a bond of friendship and allows us to learn from each other and take in new perspectives. 

I spend more time now looking for ways to connect through knowledge sharing. While I’m still instinctually trying to be mindful of people’s time and I still worry about wasting time for others, I am now seeking ways to connect and making more of an effort to ask the question if it can lead to stronger relationships. To live otherwise is to exist in a highly individual space that, while maybe secure, can be lonely and cold. We get through life together and while many things can bring us together, we must be mindful of what might keep us apart.