Active Purpose in the Digital World in Conjunction with "The Things They Carried"

In reading "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, I've noticed a connection to something we discussed in class in conjunction with "Consume, Create, and Connect." We discussed the importance of having a specific, active purpose in our internet-use, rather than mere passive consuming. It seems that being active on the internet and driven by a purpose actually creates more of a meaningful identity for the user. The reason we get overwhelmed with too much information on the internet is because we are being passive.

I have found a similar pattern in "The Things They Carried." O'Brien describes the extreme lack of purpose in the march of the Vietnam soldiers within the text saying, "They moved like mules. By daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost. They marched for the sake of the march" This think this describes well how many people use the internet. They simply surf the net aimlessly; "they surf for the sake of the surf," instead of actually actively contributing to it, because they don't have a purpose.

Furthermore, because the war itself doesn't seem to provide a specific purpose for the soldiers, they begin to redefine necessities and priorities, discarding more vital supplies like rations and weapons, and instead  carry more trivial things. These miscellaneous items do establish a sort of identity for each of the characters, just as the sites we consume from the internet provide a sort of identity for us. But it isn't until the main character, Lieutenant Cross finds a contributing, active form of purpose, rather than being merely passive that he actually makes progress and establishes a real identity for himself. Likewise, it's not until we find a purpose and actively contribute to the digital world that our online identity actually takes on real meaning.

These are just some brewing thoughts I've had in reading and re-reading "The Things They Carried," which I would like to develop and fine-tune further.