When it's all the rage

Social media has added a new chapter to our society. Within microseconds, we get connected with what appears to be the latest trends. Suddenly we too are in the know. Here's what's funny about that. For those of us who do not pay attention to these breaking trends, life goes on as if they didn't exist. And in reality, they don't. Not because we don't pay attention to them, but because they are microcosms rather than macrocosm. If you're standing next to a house on fire it might seem like the entire world's alerted: fire trucks racing in, police holding back crowds, anxious onlookers. Step back another block and all is calm and normal as if it didn't exist. Micro rather than macro. We like to feel connected. Maybe put more strongly, we need to be connected. The problem is this type of micro connection with hot spots feels like they are pervasive when, in all likelihood, they are little more than random sparks. Forums, social media, chain mail, internet gathering places, are all fine if taken with the understanding they are not representative of the whole, but only a small tasting when we nibble around the edges. Not to make a pun, but it's food for thought.