THE CIRCLE: Is THIS What The Future Holds?

I could NOT put down THE CIRCLE!

What would happen if Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Paypal, Twitter, the United States government and every other entity that has a piece of your online presence were merged into one picture of you which you could not opt out of and would be harnessed for profit? That’s the premise in the delightfully chilling, modern-day Orwellian book, The Circle by Dave Eggers.

 

The Circle’s mottoes, instituted via methods akin to brainwashing, include “Sharing Is Caring,” “Secrets Are Lies,” and “Privacy Is Theft.”

Mae Holland is hired to work for this thinly-disguised version of Google. At first, it seems utopian as The Circle links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. Quickly, she finds herself “required” to attend company events, take surveys so companies can collect her “likes” and “dislikes” and post online to bump up her ratings in the Circle community. The Circle’s mottoes, instituted in methods akin to brainwashing, include “Sharing Is Caring,” “Secrets Are Lies,” and “Privacy Is Theft.”

Mae becomes part of The Circle’s movement toward “Completion” in which every piece of information about the individual, including those of one’s ancestors, is made available to the company. Will she lose her soul to this cult-like organization which is quickly gaining Internet supremacy?

The book is fascinating because every day this Dystopian reality looms larger.

  

It asks the reader to consider what the consequences are, good and bad, of further centralization of information services and social networking with the voluntary surrender of privacy spun in totalitarian terms as the ultimate act of honesty. Online, every thought, transaction, action and experience we have is stored by some corporation. The Circle resonates because this scenario is completely plausible as we actively give away our information (and that of our children).


Author Egger’s protagonist isn’t the brightest or most well-developed character. There were times that I truly did not like her. She submits to the forces of The Circle far too willingly without thought to the repercussions even as she feels a part of her resisting. Similarly, parts of the book are far too “preachy” – I get it. By being online, we, too, may be giving away part of our souls.
Still, I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! It is so thought-provoking, suspenseful, and creepy. At times, it made me consider shutting down my social media accounts while forcing me to question the positive value of having data on the Web – forever.

Is THE CIRCLE right? Is Privacy a form of theft because others cannot learn from our experiences?

Read it and see if The Circle doesn’t compel YOU to deeply consider your online presence!

 

Please note that this review first appeared on TheGeekParent.com.  

The Federal Shutdown & The Presidents Cup Streaker

I've become a fan of Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends), the website that lists the hottest topics people are looking up on my beloved Google.  Rather than looking at the front page of any web page or newspaper, all I have to do is pull up Google Trends and, bippity-boppity-boop, I can learn what's current in the minds of my fellow Web-savvy earthlings.  Today, apparently, it's The Presidents Cup Streaker with 100,000 searches.

So the Federal Government of the United States  has shut down - it is in chaos with more bickering going on on Capital Hill than my kids on the way to the dentist - but the focus in cyberspace is on some woman who streaked in front of Tiger Woods and other golf royalty at the Presidents Cup in Ohio?  WTF?!

I get it.  It's not every day that a woman wearing nothing but a thong and red, white and blue pasties runs at full tilt across the 18th hold of a golf tournament (Note:  she was NOT naked.  Aren't streakers supposed to be naked?!).  Plus, she was an attractive woman.  Would she have gotten so much press, I wonder, had she been hunchbacked, peg-legged, and homely?  According to Fox Sports (http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/streaker-presidents-cup-18th-hole-muirfield-dublin-ohio-tiger-woods-fred-couples-americans-beat-international-team-100613), the probably-chilly athlete apparently dodged security and avoided being taken into custody.  I have no doubt that she'll eventually step forward, appear on all of the major talk shows, and parlay her quick little track meet into a six-figure book deal.

But what does it say about the online community that one silly event upstaged a deeply troubled world power?  Are people just tired of hearing Obama and the other Stooges on in Washington bicker like an old, married couple?  Or are those of us who are affected by the Federal furloughs busy trying to survive while verbal diarrhea permeates the air in our nation's Capital?  Is the BS getting to be too much for us all?

I think so.  Because looking at the other topics at the top of the Google Trends list, I see that entertainers are hot (and I do consider professional athletes entertainers).  People are searching for info on Scarlett Johanson, the 49ers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, various overpaid athletes, and one former Disney princess.  Escapism prevails on the Web while the boobs in Washington play chicken with people's lives. 

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Update:  In the spirit of truth, this morning the aforementioned naked lady was replaced on Google Trends by searches for MLB (as in Major League Baseball) and the Oakland Raiders football.  Entertainment still reigns over substance. 


Thank you for reading!