Here and there

From Stayconscious

[edit] And yet, the internet is not really here...

Maybe the experience of being 'on the internet' is too intimate for us to believe that what we say is really 'out there', where everyone can see. When we write that rude email, or type that unfortunate blog comment, or spout forth on the the facts (or unfacts) of the matter (as we see them)... well, it's like talking to yourself, isn't it?

[edit] ... because it is there

Or perhaps the internet seems too 'ethereal', invisible, or impermanent to entertain the possibility that words might hang around in the virtual air for quite a while (and without being updated, either). And that misconceived web page rant is simply a bit of digital detritus: it's no more than a few heated words in the pub.

[edit] ... or possibly nowhere

And that digital air of anonymity (the downside of open access) means it doesn't matter anyway.

But it's words whichever way you read it. And words can cause just as much damage as sticks and stones.