the joy of quiet

During my 10 minute walk to class today, I noticed that I kept busy by looking through my iPhone. I was texting, on Facebook/Twitter, checking the weather...nonstop activity! I didn't give my brain a moment of free time to think, relax or just be.

The Joy of Quiet by Pico Iyer expands upon the importance of silence in one's life. Between all the social media and constant news I receive straight to my mobile device, I am always connected to the daily happenings not only in the United States but also within other countries. Iyer concludes that time away from technology has made an impact on his life, as he aspired to cut out these distractions by moving to rural Japan.

The "quiet" or silence that Iyer enjoys away from technology brings me to analyze the reaction many Internet sites have taken to SOPA. Sites such as Google, Wikipedia and Reddit have taken a "silent" approach to protesting the current anti-piracy bills today (Wednesday, January 18, 2012) on their pages. I have attached images of each site, as they appear today. Through Google's logo of the day, Wikipedia's backout and Reddit's message to the general public, these sites have taken a peaceful and, what I believe, quiet approach to the controversial bill.

The connection I made between both the article and the SOPA protest is that "quiet" is such an effective way to make a statement. Both in one's life or through rebellion, silence speaks measures.