Virtually alone

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Or maybe it was just click, click.

Yesterday the New York Times offered its readers a glimpse into the cost we pay for living so much of our lives online -- and the picture is scary.

Fact is, when it comes to online privacy the Titanic is already going down -- and chances are reasonable that you are on it.

Have you ever posted drunken meanderings on Facebook or Twitter?

Exchanged sexually suggestive musings with someone not your spouse?

Complained about your boss?

Made some dumb choices about what you choose to post as links?

Not only do data aggregators know about your indiscretions, but so may the government and people where you work.

There are benefits, many benefits to having an online life. One of them is communication.

An email to one of my son's teachers was sent earlier this morning and promptly returned.

Bingo. Connection.

During my ex-husband's medical crises of last fall, I asked for prayer support -- and I know that I got it.

But the unpalatable fact is that we are being watched and that the observers do not have benign motives.

In the end, all of your Facebook friends can't protect you from the consequences of your confessions - or even spur of the moment ramblings.

Those we will face alone.

What's even more unsettling is the fact that we will never know what "they" know, what "they care" about knowing -- and how "they" choose to use what they know.

Feeling a bit paranoid by now?

Good. That was my slightly, slightly, rhetorical intention.