We are living-breathing-data-accumulating-beings. Fueled by technologically triggered gratification and smartphone induced accessibility, over-sharing the details of our lives is the societal norm. Perhaps it is an unconscious need for fulfillment, a pursuit for some kind of meaning in an increasingly digital world. Regardless, we end up generating an insurmountable amount of meaningless data that continues to increase at an exponential rate, further saturating the system with useless information… but I guess Big Brother is into that sort of thing.
Here they come, yeah here they come Out of the shadows.”
In light of recent media hype regarding surveillance, this track by Big Data hits the nail on the head. Big Data is a collaboration between Joywave‘s Daniel Armbruster and Alan Wilkis. “Dangerous” is the first single off their upcoming album titled 1.0, due for release September 24th. This badass electro-pop track is awesome; the lyrics are thought-provoking and its catchy enough to make an NSA official bop along.
How could they know, how could they know What I been thinking? But they’re right inside my head because they know Because they know, what I been hidin’ They’re right under my bed, they’re a troll.”
Such state-mandated voyeurism is nothing new, however; Ray Bradbury and Aldous Huxley among others saw it coming years ago. While it’s infuriating to know that big brosef’s been watching and there’s not much to be done about it, I’ve beginning to see it as quite comical. There comes a point when such privilege comes back to haunt you… TMI, dawg
We share pointless information with each other all the time. I can only wonder what percentage of internet traffic is related to ridiculous memes and videos of cute baby animals, etc… you know, what we spend the bulk of our time consuming on the world wide web. What are they going to do with that data? Ha ha. Do you really think it’s a good idea to share that video of a baby monkey riding a pig with the entire world? Actually, yes it is. The worst thing that could happen is I’ll end up with baby monkey ads all over my browser. Bring it.
Being cognizant of the amount of information / type of content we choose to share on the interwebz is important but it is even more crucial to think about the amount of time we are willing to spend stuck in a digital vortex, whiling away our hours in pursuit of instant gratification. Yeah, I’m sure it takes true artistic talent to choose the right filter when taking a photo of your ‘fun night out’ but C’MON. How about actually enjoying your time instead of outsourcing your enjoyment to the whole rest of the world who won’t even enjoy it anyway? Sometimes you just have to X out. Tabs, be gone. Delete delete delete. Take a break from your glowing rectangle and breathe.
And I’ve gotta get out of here, Keep on running Sink down, into the dark You understand, they got a plan for us.”
The internet began as a kind of shiny new toy; our collective infatuation with over-sharing the details of our lives seems an inevitable byproduct of its novelty. However, all things must pass and the whole thing is getting pretty predictable… not to mention dull. Too much is too much. Technology is a tool– are you going to use it or are you going to let it use you?
As the lyrics go, Big Brosef is finally “coming out from the shadows”. It is inevitable that greed comes back to haunt the system though, Bro– I hope you have a grand ole time with all this excess information. Enjoy our raw meaningless data. Have fun analyzing my bullshit. You can find me in the sunshine. JK, I’m turning off my phone.