"Overshare" by Justin Hall, a Discussion IAM 2500-002

            In class, we watched a documentary called “Overshare” created and featuring Justin Hall, a blogger who shared almost every single moment of his life during the early years of the internet. There were many moments that stuck out to me like the questionable fashion and hairstyle choices, the topics which he discussed on his blog, and the consequences of blogging his whole life on the internet. 

When Hall was discussing his blogging with his mom it demonstrated Merton’s “unintended consequences”. His mom mentioned how at family functions many family members would not feel comfortable talking or being around him because they did not want to have their conversations in his blog. Although Justin meant well this alienation was an “unintended consequence” he faced early on in his blogging career. 

At the climax of the movie, Justin discusses his health issues on his blog, loses his job, and other issues. This displays Kranzberg's first law, that we discuss in class about how technology is neither good nor evil, but not neutral either. I think despite Hall trying to be consistent and feeding his audience, there is an unintentional evil behind it. 

He faces backlash, he is ostracized, and feels like he has no other choice but to post a mental breakdown because of this. The technology that Hall utilized created the environment that Kranzberg talks about when he is discussing his first law. Even though technology has no mind of its own, humans do, and with that creates an environment we have to face the consequences of, good or bad. 

Technology has created a larger domain for us to try new things and explore more. Hall was one of the first few people to experiment with it, but with experimentation comes repercussions no one can prepare anyone for, especially during that time period where everything was up for grabs.