Cyberspatial vertigo (n.)
The unpleasant lurch that one experiences in the
pit of one's stomach upon realising that information made freely available
through the Internet (web site, blog, etc.) may have unintended and potentially
disastrous consequences (emotional distress, estrangement or, in extreme cases,
losing one's job or indeed life) should it be read by a member of one's
immediate family, boss, teacher, spouse, work colleagues,
etc.
Often characterised by a rapid mental scanning of
all pertinent information in order to calculate whether it is likely to offend,
upset or alienate the person you are talking to who has just said ‘I had a
look at your web site the other day…’ whilst simultaneously
attempting to determine whether they have read, understood and/or forwarded
copies to the relevant
authorities.
[My only personal experience of this to date was when I realised that I had inadvertently announced my intention to quit my job and study at university before discussing it first with my employers. Sorry about that Leigh, if you're reading this! On realising this, I hastily deleted all references to my personal web site from the company Intranet and made amends at the earliest opportunity. Oh, and there was another time when I went to see one of my university lecturers. Yes, well, OK it's happened a few times now… — Ed.]
Cf. ‘virtual freefall’ in which the individual gains a new sense of purpose and identity from exposing their innermost thoughts and personal idiosyncrasies in a public forum. Also known as open source living.
[My only personal experience of this to date was when I realised that I had inadvertently announced my intention to quit my job and study at university before discussing it first with my employers. Sorry about that Leigh, if you're reading this! On realising this, I hastily deleted all references to my personal web site from the company Intranet and made amends at the earliest opportunity. Oh, and there was another time when I went to see one of my university lecturers. Yes, well, OK it's happened a few times now… — Ed.]
Cf. ‘virtual freefall’ in which the individual gains a new sense of purpose and identity from exposing their innermost thoughts and personal idiosyncrasies in a public forum. Also known as open source living.
Posted on Sunday - April 24, 2005 at 07:51 PM
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Published On: Sep 07, 2007 08:02 AM
