I'm starting to lose count of the number of things I've subscribed to. It's very convenient to have access to lots of info aggregating tools and other applications on the web but you can end up with an awful lot of passwords and logins. After a while it's tempting to use the same one over and over again but that might not be a great idea.
There is a constant tradeoff between convenience and privacy and/or security. If you want to participate fully in the web 2.0 culture the pressure to forego certain rights or expectations increases steadily. For example you have to not mind too much who is accessing your content - pictures, posts, info. That's the whole point - it's a porous dynamic resource that is shared. It helps to have a trusting, optimistic nature. If you do, the rewards can be huge - extensive, vibrant online communities, a cornucopia of content and opportunities, and it's all free! These huge multibillion dollar websites just want you to join in and enjoy yourself. If you are concerned you can always read everything in full, turn up the privacy settings to the max, say no to all the unsolicited emails, not take unusual comments too seriously and never give your real name, but it gets to be a lot of work and the fun can drain away a bit.
There is also the question of personal investment. How much time and effort are you prepared to commit to your online life? It is certainly time consuming if nothing else and life is short. If you are going to pour hour after hour of your life into this environment it had better be important to you and in that sense, as lived experience, the virtual does become real.
Then there is the question of who is looking after your virtual world? I think the queen of darkness raised the question of all these .com's becoming the dubious custodians and owners of this vast archive of human experience, memory, culture and trivia. Who's storing all these exabytes and for how long? What happens when they collapse or just become passe? No matter, I'm sure we all have backup copies and print versions...
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