Look at Me!
So, did you delete your MySpace account last Wednesday?
Apparently, Wednesday was promoted as "International Delete Your MySpace Account Day". I'm not quite sure what the intent of this was, whether it was to protest the deficiencies of MySpace, to promote rival Facebook, or if this was supposed to be a larger social commentary. Whatever the case, I have a feeling the majority of profiles deleted on Wednesday were the usual Spyware/spambot profiles created to either hack people's accounts or promote X-rated webcams... as usual.
So I'll choose the social commentary angle on this "event", because I've seen and heard an increasing number of social commentators (fellow columnists, talk radio, etc.) saying that sites like MySpace and Facebook are creating a society of narcissistic people who are all about putting their lives online for the world to see. Here is just one such example. I would tend to disagree with this assessment.
I'm pretty well-versed on the social world that is the Internet, because I've had online content in some form or another for over a decade now. I'll admit that at first, back in college, it was cool to have something other people could look at; you put a counter on your page and you get excited when the "hits" start piling up. For the most part, though, I think it was about equity. It was the fact that anyone with access to a computer and the Internet could have their own page, same as any big corporation or celebrity or anyone. Those of us with a webpage of our own can say, "Hey, look at ExxonMobil's home page, they made $40 billion last quarter... that's nice, but I HAVE A PAGE TOO!"
In my case, the page I created soon became little more than a platform for this blog in its "pre-blog" form back in the early part of this decade, and I haven't done a damn thing to it in over 5 years. Since then, we've seen the rise of blogging of all kinds, and people keep both their personal journals or their rants against the world online, obviously intending for others to see it. I have a LiveJournal of my own, in addition to this blog, which itself is posted 2 different places, sometimes 3. Sure, I'd love for a lot of people to read this, but mostly I just expect friends and family to see it, and what's so narcissistic about that? The occasional comment from Japan is exciting, but I'm not expecting the fame that other bloggers have received.
Which brings me to MySpace, Facebook, and the primary reason why I (and most others, I believe) use the Internet socially. I found my way into MySpace 3 years ago, and created a Facebook page 5 months ago before I started grad school. Yes, MySpace has its problems, most notably the fact that they can't seem to stop any attention whore with a webcam from sending me a friend request. But they have a great setup for checking out music. Every band or singer, from the megafamous to the garage band trying to get a gig, has a MySpace page. Again, everyone's equal. Now, some people are true attention whores in that their aim seems to be getting as many "friends" as possible, the ones who post naughty pics of themselves thinking they can attract online affection, and it's those people who cause all of us to be painted with the broad brush of narcissism. Those particular people I really have no use for. All of my online friends are just that, friends, people I know, even the bands I add are ones I've met personally and seen perform, in clubs and bars from Maryland to Syracuse to Toronto. Same with Facebook.
And my primary reason for using these sites is to keep up with people I deem important in my life. That's been what I see as the major advance of our online world. Before the Internet, the more disciplined among us were able to keep up with friends from our past by writing letters or calling occasionally, but let's face it, for the most part, we weren't that good at it. Now, friends are on our Instant Messenger buddy lists, reachable anytime they are available. Or we can e-mail. Or we can add them on MySpace and Facebook and know immediately what is new in their lives by the things they post. Yes, we are saying, "Look at me" when we do this, but that's because our friends WANT to look. Let's remember the true wonder of the global village that has made it much easier to keep those who are important to us close by, no matter where they are.
And now, look at my Super Bowl prediction: Giants 31, Patriots 24
Apparently, Wednesday was promoted as "International Delete Your MySpace Account Day". I'm not quite sure what the intent of this was, whether it was to protest the deficiencies of MySpace, to promote rival Facebook, or if this was supposed to be a larger social commentary. Whatever the case, I have a feeling the majority of profiles deleted on Wednesday were the usual Spyware/spambot profiles created to either hack people's accounts or promote X-rated webcams... as usual.
So I'll choose the social commentary angle on this "event", because I've seen and heard an increasing number of social commentators (fellow columnists, talk radio, etc.) saying that sites like MySpace and Facebook are creating a society of narcissistic people who are all about putting their lives online for the world to see. Here is just one such example. I would tend to disagree with this assessment.
I'm pretty well-versed on the social world that is the Internet, because I've had online content in some form or another for over a decade now. I'll admit that at first, back in college, it was cool to have something other people could look at; you put a counter on your page and you get excited when the "hits" start piling up. For the most part, though, I think it was about equity. It was the fact that anyone with access to a computer and the Internet could have their own page, same as any big corporation or celebrity or anyone. Those of us with a webpage of our own can say, "Hey, look at ExxonMobil's home page, they made $40 billion last quarter... that's nice, but I HAVE A PAGE TOO!"
In my case, the page I created soon became little more than a platform for this blog in its "pre-blog" form back in the early part of this decade, and I haven't done a damn thing to it in over 5 years. Since then, we've seen the rise of blogging of all kinds, and people keep both their personal journals or their rants against the world online, obviously intending for others to see it. I have a LiveJournal of my own, in addition to this blog, which itself is posted 2 different places, sometimes 3. Sure, I'd love for a lot of people to read this, but mostly I just expect friends and family to see it, and what's so narcissistic about that? The occasional comment from Japan is exciting, but I'm not expecting the fame that other bloggers have received.
Which brings me to MySpace, Facebook, and the primary reason why I (and most others, I believe) use the Internet socially. I found my way into MySpace 3 years ago, and created a Facebook page 5 months ago before I started grad school. Yes, MySpace has its problems, most notably the fact that they can't seem to stop any attention whore with a webcam from sending me a friend request. But they have a great setup for checking out music. Every band or singer, from the megafamous to the garage band trying to get a gig, has a MySpace page. Again, everyone's equal. Now, some people are true attention whores in that their aim seems to be getting as many "friends" as possible, the ones who post naughty pics of themselves thinking they can attract online affection, and it's those people who cause all of us to be painted with the broad brush of narcissism. Those particular people I really have no use for. All of my online friends are just that, friends, people I know, even the bands I add are ones I've met personally and seen perform, in clubs and bars from Maryland to Syracuse to Toronto. Same with Facebook.
And my primary reason for using these sites is to keep up with people I deem important in my life. That's been what I see as the major advance of our online world. Before the Internet, the more disciplined among us were able to keep up with friends from our past by writing letters or calling occasionally, but let's face it, for the most part, we weren't that good at it. Now, friends are on our Instant Messenger buddy lists, reachable anytime they are available. Or we can e-mail. Or we can add them on MySpace and Facebook and know immediately what is new in their lives by the things they post. Yes, we are saying, "Look at me" when we do this, but that's because our friends WANT to look. Let's remember the true wonder of the global village that has made it much easier to keep those who are important to us close by, no matter where they are.
And now, look at my Super Bowl prediction: Giants 31, Patriots 24
posted by Dave | 1:41 PM
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