Public vs. private

As I am finishing “Public Parts” by Jeff Jarvis I cannot help but wonder why the Internet is still so alien to many and we some of us feel so insecure? I am looking back at my last weekend in Moldova too. The park pictured above is located in the centre of Chişinău and it has a pretty good public wifi. Even though I am a geek myself after few years of living in the UK and struggle for a good wifi access in public places I actually found the image of that bench in the sunlight with free public wifi almost futuristic. Even though rationally thinking I know I should not. The web is yet another public place. It is said to be the next thing, the monster for some. For another great opportunity. For our kids simply another part of their reality. It is the extension of our lives and we need to start looking at it this way. I like many points made by Jarvis in his book and I really like his approach in talking about potential and not risks of publicly available information. Very often I myself have to help my friends and clients to demystify the web by questioning their irrational fears about technology. The web is OUR public bench and we should make the most of it! It is ours to take and to own, collectively. And once we are there what is the borderline of our online openness? Even here I agree with Jarvis that we need to think about the web as yet another PLACE, not so much different from a square or a park. “Sharing too much is sharing that what you know you will regret sharing”. Just like a bench in a park – “web is just a place filled with people”.

So let’s sit down and talk, share stories, mind the context and focus on how we build relationships through our stories, our honesty and openness.