The Internet is Still Scary?

Recently I had a discussion with someone about my research interests. It probably seems like a safe question to ask someone who is getting a PhD. Everyone at least knows that I have to write a a dissertation. So I went into my usual spiel:

"I am interested in how people talk about natural or man-made disasters on Twitter. It's interesting because the conversation is about one single event and yet, people say so much it doesn't seem like just one event. I am interested in the ethos people are trying to create when they communicate their 140 characters - whether it is authentic or performative based on an identity they are actively trying to create."

When I finished my most recent spiel, the person I was talking to said, "Cool." That is a pretty standard response because most people don't really care when they ask the question and they don't really care to learn anymore. They're just being polite.

But in addition to "cool," the most recent person went on to tell me that just doesn't resonate with him because he doesn't go online. He checks his email and Facebook, but he just doesn't "surf."

I say bullshit.

Now I realize that I love the internet a lot more than a lot of people. I depend on it, I live my life on it and I am making my future based on it. But saying that the internet is just not a part of someone's life? That's like the pseudo-intellectuals who say they never watch tv because it wastes time and doesn't really provide intellectual stimulation for them or whatever their myriad of excuses are.

I think it's bullshit and I don't trust them and I kind of don't think they are saying the whole truth.

When will studying communication on the internet be considered fully legit? When will just liking the internet become fully legit?

New dissertation topic?

Private Me? Public Me?

I wouldn't say that I am a critic of Clancy Ratliff and her blog, but I don't read it because she blends her personal and academic life together on it. I like to go to specific places to read about specific things and if I want to read about some interesting research or perspectives about the rhetoric field then I go to places that aren't peppered with stories about children or child-rearing. I have no problem with hearing about children or child-rearing, I just don't want to be surprised by it.

Therefore, I always thought I would keep my personal and professional thoughts separate, but now I know why it seems appealing to do a hybrid blog. It's not as time consuming. Now that I have this blog, I feel as though I am ignoring my personal blog and in order to update that blog, I have to go to the dashboard...and well it's not a lot of extra work, but just enough that something gets ignored.

But I don't want to write about the things I write about on my other blog. It's easy enough for anyone to find it, so I am not afraid of others reading it. But I want this space to be exclusively for school, as a place for me to think through ideas and research and come to terms with concepts in rhetoric and professional communication. I would like this to be an archive of the process of becoming an academic, of studying for comps, of writing my dissertation.

So, I guess I will continue to have to take a few extra minutes to talk about both my lives.