Web2.0 and Social Networking will be most likely regarded as one of the largest advancements in human communication. 50 years ago, it would be absurd to think that with a small handheld device, you could send pixels of information to someone else and carry on a conversation with someone who is in Japan while you're in Canada. Yet millions of texts are sent everyday.
The popular hipster mocking blog Hipster Runoff recently wrote a massive entry about Kanye West's famous interuption of Taylor Swift at MTV's VMAs. Carles, the man behind Hipster Runoff titled the entry " It takes a socially transcendent moment to remind us what makes life worth living. Kanye West is a valuable member of society." The blog is a joke, and generally touches on topics that are 'culturally relevant' and about 'branding yourself'. It serves as mockery of those who try so hard to make themself culturally relevant and unique, only caring about becoming eFamous.
The thing about Carles' post is that although it is a joke, it does touch on some truthful points. I remember being on facebook on Sunday, and seeing my newsfeed flood with status updates regarding Kanye West's actions and everybodies opinion on it. Kanye West instantly became a trending topic on Twitter, and Youtube was being overloaded with videos of that event. As that happened, social networking served as a tool for us to express opinions on something we thought was worth 'talking about'.
Social Networking has become such a staple part of society, it's weird to think about a time where it didn't exist. Facebook has a userbase bigger than most countries have people. Web2.0 has allowed us to constantly be in contact with eachother whenever we want, and for however long we want. Blogs let us express our opinion and can share it an audience that isn't restricted to a local community yet to the world wide web. Microblogging allows us to 'tweet' about things as they happen.
Michael Jackson's death became old news almost 24 hours later. It was known worldwide that the 'king of pop' was dead, and even if you lived under a rock, your Iphone 3gs probably got reception under there as you noticed your newsfeed being swamped with updates of the death.
I could write about this all day, but I won't. However I know for a fact I shall resume the topic of Social Networking another day as it has changed society and our culture so much.
In closing, I ask you guys what your lives would be like without the use of Facebook, Youtube, Myspace(lol), Twitter, Blogging Websites, and the internet all together.
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I was really happy that you chose to write about this. It is a topic that pretty much everyone can relate to. Things like facebook&Twitter have become so popular and commonly used, it is overwhelming at times!I liked the tone of this piece. It is straight forward and very informative but also includes an underlying tone of sarcasm at points. My life would be very different without facebook. I use it all of the time and most importantly I use it to keep intouch with my sister! I love it and have ended up relying on it quite a bit
ReplyDeleteIt's a great topic to discuss Van, however, I have to say for me, (being much older than you guys!), it isn't so "weird" to imagine life without it. It was kind of nice not to be on call 24 hours a day!
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