The Collective

I just came to the realization that the longer you are a part of the Internet, the more you integrate into it.

Let me explain, I'm not just talking about you picking up various terminologies ("I personally believe...") or using Internet slang (Noob, 1337, etc.), I'm talking about becoming part of the Internet, part of the collective. You began to start thinking of the Internet as more of a entity you are a part of, instead of a collection of random computers, people and lolcats.

I realized this when I found a page I liked in Stumbleupon and didn't thumb it up with the thought running through my head, "This is at the far extremes of what I like, so I won't thumb it up because the likely-hood of someone who likes what I like, liking that is slim." I then stumbled on to another site before I got hit with, "But you liked it, so you should have thumbed it up." "No, someone else who gets most of their pages from my likes might not like it, and their day might be ruined." And so on and so forth.

I know that is a bit of an extreme example, but it demonstrates how you began to become more of a part of the collective.

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