"Technology and I"

I'm hesitant to write,
And yet, I'd rather write,
Perhaps to "right"...

I was a teenager as PC's stormed our households, and I was in my 20's as Usenet blossomed.. The web was born.. And in my 30's, blogging and social networks exploded onto the digital scene.

So, in some ways, I am a pioneer who rode the digital wave and saw society transform. No, I did not have a computer in my crib, like today's youth... So I can yearn for old-fashioned live interactions, and that can make me squirrelly.

I may not be as savvy as some techies today, able to network your office in a night. Yet, I've interacted with BBS's, Usenet, HTML, blogs, Facebook, and more over the years... These interactions have carried me through some tough times.

It's really easy for me to get raw and uncut, to treat these forums as a public diary, to just "try to be real". It's easy for me to "punch a computer", when frustrated, as I don't normally see that spill back into my real life.

However, I need to remember there are people on the other side of the screen, some of whom are true friends in real life. And I must remember my time at Cingular Wireless, when I had to weather the irate abusive customers on the other end of customer service.

So, even though the filter may be weak, and it may be easy to "punch the computer", or "flame on"... Others will take note, and others will be affected.

More dangerous, still, is that this may still build up as an acceptable practice in my mind... And then what's to prevent me from carrying such outbursts into real life, and "railing at the crowds"..?

Also... I write about outbursts, rages, and such; yet I don't think that's the only way I interact here. It may be the one noticed more, though...