publicly private

One of my informants at one point said: "The Internet isn't more public that the world outside. Or I don't mind that a stranger who sits next to my table at a China-restaurant can listen to me talking to my friends."

Of course, the Internet is public in ways that the physical world isn't but my informant has a point and he reminded me of how annoying I find it that people criticise private telephone conversations on the bus, at a restaurant or wherever public. I have mentioned this before, but I now remembered it to be Kenneth Gergen's complaint. I ended up googling for my own name and "he says this thing" to find the post. It's kind of weird to remember part of a previously written sentence, yet mixing Gergen with Rule, isn't it.