Actions Speak Louder Than Words

'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To the Galaxy' made the 'improbability drive famous, whereby every point of the universe was visited in an instant- thereby giving access to any given point of the universe that the driver may choose. In this fashion, the internet and digital media make the same thing possible, in a virtual sense, kind of an 'everywhen' of the digital dreaming.

'In order to be oriented, one must know how to leave. 'Man's feeling about being properly oriented in space runs deep. Such knowledge is ultimately linked to survival and sanity. To be disoriented is to be psychotic.' (-Wood, D et al. 'The Multiple truths of the Mappable World')

As this quote shows, knowing where you are and how you got there is crucial to mental well-being, and with (almost) every point of the virtual universe accessible at any given moment, orientation to the place one wants to be becomes extremely important. The 'sign-posts' must be read carefully- especially when downloading free software!

Not only is it important to know 'where' you are but also 'who' you are, and maybe even 'who' these other people are! Or does it?

With the growing dependence on the internet for social networking comes a raft of psychological filters; we can work out very quickly if someone is benign or malignant and if we have met them in another place and time. And often it's the fact that someone 'is' who they say are that makes their influence so damaging, especially when it comes to bullying in the school or workplace situation.

Mark Zuckerberg declares; "Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity" (qtd. in Kirkpatrick I99).-Mcneil, L. (2012)

But lack of integrity occurs anyway.

On the topic of narrative, I started a music review on my Facebook page this week. It's a narrative. If I said 'Such-and-such played at the pub on Saturday night' that would be a report, if I said '...they rocked the mother-fucking house down!!!' then that would be a narrative. It's a narrative.
But my identity came into question when I tried to create the page- I searched long and hard for the correct category out of those given and the closest I found was as a business or organisation. But after I had given the basic details of the 'business name' and address, the page froze. Eventually I realised it (Facebook) was checking the name against a real-world business register and wasn't going to find it. I re-entered the page as an arts/entertainment magazine and when I was asked if the magazine existed in the real-world or if it was fake, I ticked the 'fake' box. No problem. FNQ Music Mag is up and runnning!