Despite the power of new communication and publishing technologies, I’ve generally used these platforms to share things with relatively small groups of friends, family, and coworkers.  I wanted to have some sort of privacy.  The problem with that is digital media doesn’t lend itself to limitations on distribution.  Plus, nobody has much control over what gets posted anyway.

Even for the most hardened defenders of privacy, choosing not to participate online is not really a choice at all since you won’t be present to manage or claim your digital self.  You are even worse off in this case.  If you’re going to participate in life, there will be content involving you in the public realm that other people will consume and distribute without your approval.

So, I’m over it.  I don’t think living a truly private life is possible and I’m not sure what there is to hide in any case.  But that’s not event the point. The value of broadly connecting to others by sharing your ideas and content massively outweighs any real or perceived risks.

That doesn’t mean I’ll be sharing my most private thoughts or wearing a SenseCam anytime soon.  This blog is a personal and interactive narrative that I hope will provide some context for the interconnected fragments of pictures, videos, people, conversations, events, and ideas around me.   It’s about claiming and owning a digital voice.  Having that sense of ownership over one’s digital presence is at the foundation of privacy and that’s my reason for this blog.  Maybe privacy isn’t dead after all.