10 Things About Technology You Need To Get Over In 2013

You've heard the complaints: our smartphones are really tracking devices, Google knows all our dirty secrets, your grandmother is now on Facebook (tagging you in embarrassing photos, no less), and soon print newspapers will cease to exist. There are others, sure. But guess what? It's 2013 and this is the world we live in now. And, in many ways, it's the world we asked for—one dictated by technology's constant innovation. It's time you finally accepted the reality of it all, because your dad isn't getting off Twitter anytime soon. Here, we present 10 Things About Technology You Need to Get Over in 2013.

When Facebook decided to rid of community voting in December, users were up in arms about the site's choice to do away with the democratic forum. In doing so, many became concerned about their voice being heard when it came to matters of privacy. The back-and-forth eventually died down, but we now live in an age where information on the Internet—whether on Twitter, Tumblr, or any social media site, for that matter—is often public information. No longer do we live in the age of the private citizen. We are all, in one way or another, public figures on the Interwebs.

Whether you want to accept it as truth or not, Google has has every e-mail you've ever sent or received on Gmail, knows every search you've ever made, holds a record of every telephone conversation you've had on Google Voice, knows every Google Alert you've created, and has your Google Calendar information for as long as you've used it. Translation: Google knows all your dark and dirty secrets.

Sometime around 2004, just as the world was coming around to MySpace (then only a year old), e-narcissism began to takes its hold on Internet culture. Today, in part thanks to social platforms like Twitter and Instagram, everyone is their own personal brand ambassador. On the Internet, you are a brand. It's that simple. Looking back, those classic MySpace bathroom selfies don't seem so bad now.

Signs you've become a slave to the machine: Constantly checking your phone for text messages, refreshing your Gmail every two minutes, perpetually checking your mentions on Twitter, so on and so forth. Our reliance on smartphones and email, not too mention our desire for newer, faster, and more advanced gadgets, has only contributed to our dependency on technology. Face it, we're addicted.

It's only a matter of time before all traditional formats converge to digital platforms, from books to CDs to newspapers. Soon, the days of reading the Sunday Times edition—fingertips smudged with ink—will be a distant memory. The rise of e-readers, tablets, and the iPad are just a precursor of what's to come. How we consume information will be entirely through online and mobile formats. To paraphrase rapper Lupe Fiasco: All digital everything.

It was only a matter of time: Your grandmother has a tumblr about her veggie garden, your crazy aunt constantly messages you on Facebook (about "this young singer Franky Ocean" no less), and your dad won't stop tweeting about all the embarassing moments during your "awkward teenage phase." No longer is social media and the Internet for the young and savvy. Just give in already and finally accept your mom's friend request.

There is a good chance that the girl you met online—whether on a Reddit message board or via Facebook—is not actually a girl, but instead an overweight, pizza-loving, 45-year-old man who lives at home with his mom. Just be careful who you poke.

When singer Whitney Houston passed in February 2012 the news broke on Twitter nearly 30 minutes before hitting mainstream media. The same goes for the 7.6 earthquake in the Philippines last year, Patrick Swayze's death in 2009, the unveiling of Google's Nexus One, and the Hudson River plane crash in New York City. Think what you will of Twitter, but it's become a fact of life: the micro-blogging site is now a source of breaking news.

Technology, by nature, is constantly evolving. There is always going to be a smarter smartphone, a thinner tablet, a new app, a bigger (and badder) TV, and a more advanced gaming system. This is the world we live in now. Embrace it.

The single best (and worst) thing about the Internet: We can be who we want. Who we are online is not necessarily our real, true self. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the recent Manti Te'o, fake dead girlfriend hoax. Whether the Notre Dame footballer was complicit in the ruse or not, one thing is clear: No one is quite who they say they are online.