What is it that inspires people to live on the net? Are we now facing some new technological epidemic of exhibitionism that is triggered by webcams and fast net access? What inspires these people to share every little detail of their lives with total strangers on a daily, hourly and sometimes minute by minute basis? Is it sex? Money?

It seems the motivations behind all this net exhibitionism are as diversified as the people and places they come from.

Perhaps the most interesting example of living on the web can be found at www.WeLiveInPublic.com. WLIP is the brain child of Josh Hariss and his girlfriend Tanya Corrin . If Josh Hariss's name sounds familiar, it's because he is the founder of Psuedo.com and has a net worth estimated to be well over 30 million dollars. What he is doing in the 4,000sq/ft SoHo loft located in New York is extraordinary. He has literally wired his life and the life of Tanya for full public viewing. This social experiment is to last a total of 3 months.

As far as a motivation behind all this, here are the words of Josh Hariss:

"The We Live In Public Experiment archives our daily life at the dawn of a new era for man. Similar to the television show Big Brother, Tanya and I have placed cameras, microphones and phone taps all over our loft in order to capture the detailed moments of daily life. You can watch us fight, make love, eat meals and use the bathroom as well as see how our many guests react with this modern living style."

Here are a few of the questions they hope to answer:

Josh:
How will visitors to our loft react knowing that you are watching?
Will famous people use the guest bathroom?
Will sex be better with people watching?
Will living in public be better?
Can my relationship with Tanya hold up under your scrutiny?

Tanya:
Will I survive 3 months? (or will I freak out and move out)
Will my girlfriends still want to come over and hang out?
Will they use the guest toilet? (the one with the camera installed in the bowl)
Will Josh actually use the toilet on camera? (He's never even done this in front of me).
Will we ever forget (even for a minute) that you are watching?
Could I stop worrying about being objectified?
Could this experience inspire my work as a documentary filmmaker?
Will any of our friends want to put cameras in their houses?

This experiment has not gone unnoticed by the main stream media. I think what The New York Post has to say really sums up the general feelings:

"One of the city's strangest sons is about to make Andy Warhol's Factory look like another day at the office."
The New York Post

Most fascinating about the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC concept is the ability to chat live with others who are also looking in on the life of Josh and Tanya.