This is an older post that didn't make it on MobileBehavior's blog, yet. It's raw and unpolished, but meant to inspire thought. Enjoi.

Are we really in control? A typical question asked by futurists, when considering the aging human-computer relationship. Today in its own right, is a milestone in this relationship, as search engines (our portal to all things online) struck deals with Twitter and Facebook, leading social media services. It is the age of the status update and the dawn of social search as we all begin to feed the Internet with our everyday doings. Social media is melding our collective society with the Internet through ever more mobile gadgets and screens. While we very willingly adopt these new behaviors, is there something deeper, in disguise?

Little over a year ago, Susan Blackmore presented the idea of a teme. A spin-off of the now popular term meme, or ideas that replicate themselves from brain to brain like a virus. It's a way of looking at how culture spreads. With the Internet comes a slew of examples: Techmeme, Urlesque, and most recently Balloon Boy. The teme, Blackmore defined as a new kind of meme that is spread through technology. Technology as an organism. It is an abstract way of thinking, that is spun deep into modern folklore and pop culture. Cyberpunk hit series the Matrix, or Asimov's series immediately come to mind. Ridiculous right? Well, the laws of robotics are real. Is technology on to us, and using our social behaviors against us?

Enter the app economy, fired up by a slew of very cool and very powerful mobile devices. We continually bring up the benefits brought with being ever connected via these. They are fun! Check in on Foursquare, tag a friend on Flickr, or tweet about whatever it is you're doing. We're being social and we're constantly connected. Like traditional media, in consuming we feel in control, or part of the bigger picture. We are participating in both the marketplace of ideas, and the global economy. Speed, convenience, and improvement are key elements to this equation. Everything is good, or is it?

The rise of internet addiction rehabilitation is one negative sign. The Chinese punishing internet cafe usage another [physical punishment was just banned]. It could be looked at as conservative, but there's obviously something at work here. As we feed the machine our personal information, physical location, feelings, and thoughts what is beginning to happen? Corporations are already observing and ad agencies using behavioral targeting. Are we mowing the grass because we want to, or the grass wants us to (it spreads seeds)? Or both? While we are accepting our reliance on our tools, we do need to step back for a minute and observe.

Slow Food is a movement that rejects the continual momentum of the modern economic system to enjoy life as it was. With slow data, we turn off our devices and enjoy face to face interaction, running through the rain [cheesy but true], and walking the dog. Uninterrupted. It is often a moment we only glimpse with a power outage, no bars (thanks AT&T ; ), or moving into a new apartment not yet connected. It feels good and is a wake up call, a splash of cold water. Unplugged, and unwired, we are in control.