Your all going to absolutely abhor me for this post. I know that before hand, and i apologize for something you should never apologize for, and that is speaking my mind. But i am writing this knowing, about 90% of people who read this will be very mad at my opinion (even though most will agree with me deep down).
I look at people(specific person's identity to be concealed), instant messaging, going on myspace, and facebook, for HOURS. Every single day. And i wonder, why? This person, has literally been going back and forth between myspace and facebook for about 4 hours. Does it really strengthen your friendships? Do you even enjoy it anymore? Or do you just need it to feed this sick obsession, that burning inside you.
I use to have myspace and facebook but one day i realized, i am gaining absolutely nothing with time spent on these site's. Absolutely nothing is gained from an hour, except maybe some jealousy between other's plethora of interaction. It truly boggles me. And it has completely revolutionized the accessibility of stalking. They have it down to an art now. I am not going to get into that though.
Maybe i am just thinking myself in a hole, because people watch television (the lowest form of entertainment) which completely drives me crazy. Today, when i was in subway, there was some crap judge judy spin off show on and the judge gave this fiery emotional speech and the "audience/spectators" clapped and i thought "isn't this suppose to be a court room? Isn't the judge suppose to maintain order instead of evoking a disturbance?" Everything is backwards. Our society has retarded itself. We now have a hit video game that simulates bowling. "You hold the remote in your hand and then you move your hand just like your going bowling, it's great its just like bowling."
Am i going f ing crazy or something? Why don't you just go bowling???!!!! It is getting dangerously close to becoming a world lived completely without person to person interaction. Technology is amazing and i love the advances but there needs to be some discretion.
Back to television. First of all, American Idol, EVERY REALITY SHOW, all absolute crap. Can we as a society put up a little resistance to the man brain washing us a little. You know why britney spears was popular? Because the people (record people) who are really good at their jobs wanted her to be. The girl is completely fake in every aspect. That was an example to segue into why Reality Shows are popular only because big production/broadcasting companies want them to be. Apparently actors seem to be "too expensive." These reality shows cut that aspect out so they can make the millions without the hindrance of paying for quality acting. And sitcoms will put the fake laughter in so if you don't hear the joke you know to laugh.
Thank God for Cinema, thank God for Major Motion Pictures. I am eternally grateful for those people being artistic and daring. My heroes, taking chances, getting out of their comfort zone, trying things that they know everyone isn't going to like. No prepackaged laughter or conforming methods proven to be successful. I live for people like Ritchie, Tarantino, Aronofsky, Coppola, and Fincher. I highly doubt anyone (chris+bri not talkin 2u) knows who any of those guys except Quentin, but those are the guys getting it done. Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Four Rooms, Lock stock, Snatch, Seven, Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Pulp, KB1+2, Fight Club, the fountain, the grindhouse, zodiac.
So i am sorry for offending the Britney Spears, American Idol,top chef,top model, Judge Judy, Survivor, etc. fans. It is late, and i am pissed i couldn't fall asleep because of something i do not feel like discussing. Soo, do not take anything personal. You do what you love, and what makes you happy. F the rest, if you want to fly, fly. That was obviously a paraphrase. I do not want to even think about the grammar mistakes i just made and the abundance of areas where i did not clarify myself properly. My mind moves far to fast for my fingers, especially on rants. So do not hate me for smashing myspace and facebook, enjoy it, if you do. And escape if you still can.
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8 comments:
Phil, this video is so insightful. Thanks for sharing. In a couple of minutes it plays out themes that will run through 307 all semester. What do new kinds of relationships we establish through global connectedness mean? You seem to be saying they may not mean anything.
Your notions of media manipulation and what constitutes authentic "authorship" vs. an identity constructed to target a particular marketing niche is very important.
Now link your ideas to course readings...where do you bump up against Friedman for example?
What about the world Warlick envisions in his opening pp? Seems that this YouTube video is an example of what he's talking about, no?
It's critical to work with course content on your blog!
Phil,
That was by far the most hilarious blog I have read so far besides the fact that I agree with you.
Our texts have emphasized, as Will did in his pod-cast presentation, that students are on facebook and MySpace which is creating a huge learning enviorment. Most of us can 100% say that's not true!! We log on 10 times a day to those sites to see what our friends are doing and to look at pictures for the most part. I don't have MySpace and never intend to because not only do I want to avoid being stalked by people, but because I know it will not do anything to further my intelligence or education. So I definitly agree with you on that topic.
After I watched the video clip you posted I asked myself "ok...so what did I learn from that?" Sure it was funny, but it only proved that many people are using these tools for non-educational purposes. Like Richardson said in his text, we have to show our students how to protect themselves when they are using such advanced tools on the internet that will expose them to millions of people. I personally think that is one of the most difficult tasks we will come to terms with in a classroom.
Phil, I agree that it's important to consider both the positive and negative side effects of technology when we study it. We have already seen many of the benefits from technology, especially its use in the classroom. However, you bring up good points when you talk about people going on MySpace and Facebook for hours, accomplishing nothing (except maybe stalking others and feeling bad about themselves). For the most part, these sites feature the personal profiles of people, and they have no educational benefit. Many people use them purely for social interactions. However, they are not all bad.
MySpace and Facebook have a personal blog feature, kind of like a less complicated version of what we are doing here. They are a great way to connect with classmates for academic (or personal) reasons. Also - I love that MySpace has a tab for artist pages. My friend writes and sings some songs, and he has his own artist page through MySpace! I think that that is great.
Overall, bad usually accompanies good. We have to consider both sides of every argument, though.
I agree with some of what you say. I am very against facebook and myspace. I refuse to conform and the only reason I have a "myspace" out there is because my room mate knew my aversion towards it and did it as a joke.ha. ha.(<-sarcasm)
I also am not a fan of half of those tv shows that you named, but on the other hand I guess you gotta just understand that to each his own, right? I mean we all have different interests and opinions on EVERYTHING. One thing I want to make clear is that I respect you for putting out your opinion. See ya on Wed.
Hey Phil,
I think you know where I stand on this issue already. I believe your thoughts are authentic, and when we are most emotional, I think we make the most sense and show our true insights. I am glad you said what you did, because for a while I thought I was alone. I don't like these "cyber areas" like myspace. they truly bother me.
when i found out my brother put up an account because a friend had thought it would be funny, I went ape on him. i explained the risks associated with it. he is only 15...and a great kid...this could be potentially hazardous because i know his friends are immature, many times stupid, and careless. i worry when these other kids in the world don't have their big sister to watch over them.
Phil. I understand where you come from, yet I am indeed afflicted with the facebook (myspace, not so much). But the thing is that it has become so embedded into my routine every day that I can't quit it. I am sure I could ween myself off of it, but there is some good that comes from it. Although for the most part, Facebook is just a glorified popularity contest where (even I) people feel envious of those who have more friends than they do, where you can observe (hell, stalk) people from a distance without even know. But there is some good that can come of it. I think about how many people I've been able to keep in touch with and the social interaction that comes from it, especially in a world where I only see these people on my computer, not in real life.
As for reality television, I couldn't agree more. I think it's the bane of television, there is nothing more depressing than watching some snotty brats pout and whine their way to getting a Porsche on their 16th birthday or watching potentially respectable businesspeople have to live in a tent just for ten minutes of fame. I think that television has had it's chance to become an influential medium for a good cause, such as education (A side note; I don't know if you watch 24 but you really should. The topics they touch upon, such as dealing with social liberties and terrorism really hits close to home especially in our tempestuous political climate regardless of your view on the war). But yeah, I hate reality TV, except for Rob and Big, but that's different cause you can tell they really appreciate each other's friendship.
By the way, I know every director on your list, the only movies I haven't seen are Virgin Suicides and the Fountain (the latter two haven't been released yet). QT is my favorite director, I even kinda like Jackie Browne. But just know, you aren't alone out here Phil. You'd be suprised how many people agree with some, if not all of your opinions.
wow! sometimes I think this world is too embedded in the mire of technology and this fast paced world we live in because we are afraid to stop and just be--and actually find out who that person really is. I feel like all this technology is a distraction from our real lives. What are we running from? or is everyone running toward something and I am being left in the dust (or choking on the wires and electronic waves of the future)? hmmmmm....sometimes I wonder what all the hype is really about.
You make plenty of sense. I have often found myself shaking my head over the waste of time that occurs with some of the internet and televison viewing I have seen. In fact, I have found television so annoying that I haven't had cable since 1994, and believe me I haven't missed television one iota. I admit I do see some programs when I visit my dad, "sister", and friends, but for the most part I don't expose myself to very much television. I found that I had better things to do with my time.
As for the internet, I do have a Facebook site, but I don't have to check it everyday. When I first got the site though, I found myself almost obsessing over it. I would go on for hours. I remember my daughter (20 at the time) saying "Oh no, mom don't become one of those people obsessed with facebook." At the time I just laughed at her, but then, over a short period of time, I suddenly realized that if I didn't change my habits I was well on my way to becoming an "internet junkie." It was a thought I abhorred. I really dislike becoming a slave to anything and this was just what the internet was doing to me.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is an echo of what Savanna said in her post to you. The internet and techonology have their bad points, yet they also have their good points. I believe that we need to pay attention to what our students are doing/learning from the internet. They need to understand the difference between logging on for the heck of it and logging on for actual educational and constructive use.
I could go on and on for hours about how much I hate what television and the internet can do to a person when used unwisely, but I can also go on and on about how both forms can be used as tools to promote understanding, awareness, foster communications, . . ., and you get the ideal. I guess when it comes right down to it, we have to approach technology with that proverbial grain of salt.
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