Tuesday, December 18, 2007 |
Whack a Murdoch
It's a fun game but also a VERY serious issue. Play and have fun but please go sign the petition as well....Labels: big media, fcc, murdoch, myspace, radio, television (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Saturday, August 11, 2007 | |
It's obvious that younger people are more involved in social networking but I don't think it's the issue of technology that most think it is. It was really the early 90's that interest in computers really started taking off. Granted, I was interested in the 80's but the 1990's brought computers into everyone's home. I was the last person in my group of friends to actually get a "real" computer and that happened in middle school. Is it possible that it has to do with emotional attachment and filling a void that was created by technology? The reason I left myspace a few months ago was simply because it is no longer what it was intended to be. People say it's a site to connect with people that you haven't seen in a while. When I first got my myspace account, that happened frequently but as time went on, it was obvious that it was drifting away from being that. Facebook, on the other hand, has a lot of ways to interact more but, more importantly, has important "social blocks" that help prevent it from becomming what myspace is now. For instance, there are no such things as "top friends" which means you don't have to pick favorites (which you are forced to do on myspace). You also have a lot more searching power on facebook but you are limited to who's profile you can actually view. You have to be a member of a network to see people's profiles in that network (unless they add you). You are able to search for anyone using very specific criteria but it blocks the ability to just randomly search for people and add them as your friends. Essentially, on facebook you have to know what you are looking for, where on mypsace you don't. So what is the big deal about whether you are able to search for someone based on random criteria? Well, in almost all cases those random searches are for the purpose of filling a void that isn't being met in real life. So many people are hiding behind their computers now and they are not experiencing what life is really about. Technology is an amazing tool that allows us to connect with and keep in touch with people around the globe but at the same time, it is taking the focus of what friendship and relationships are all about. Giving someone "a hug" online will never be able to take the place of giving someone a real-life hug. We try to push the experiences that technology can give us and we create "features" that pull us away from what life was meant to be. SMS messages, email, instant messages.... we are tied to this network 24 hours a day because it's now not only on our computers but it's on our phones and other mobile devices. We are now even ordering pizza online to avoid having to talk to someone on the phone... think about it.... we're using technology to pull us away from a technology that took us away from physical interaction. Yes, phones did that. Instead of having to go to your friend's house and have a conversation you could now talk to them even though they were across town. Now that technology is progressing, telephone calls are too personal for us. Maybe this has a lot to do with why the online pornography business is booming.... we don't want to have to deal with relationships anymore so we see millions and millions of people turning to pornography which attempts to give sexual satisfaction without the ties of a relationship -- or even a friendship. I am as guilty as the next person with all of this but I have slowly been realizing a lot of what I was stuck inside. The irony of the situation is that I lived in 3 different apartment complexes during the time I lived in Northern VA and out of all of that I met only one neighbor at only one of those. That's more than 2 years of living next door to hundreds of people and I met one. Now I live in the mountains where there are only 2 other houses visible from my house and in only a few months I know them both. Think about it -- where is technology at? It's in the cities... the higher the population is, the more technology is available. Where I live, I consider it a blessing that I can get a cable modem but in NoVA, you have countless options for getting faster internet connections and a lot less to do outside of the apartment or house. I love going to Shenandoah National Park because it helps me realize how much more there is outside of cyberspace. I realized how much I had been missing by being 100% embedded in technology and going to the park cuts me away from technology all together. To me, it is a blessing to not have cell phone coverage while I'm in the park -- it forces me to realize more about what the world is. What changed for the class of 2001? I think it's probably the generation that really started losing touch of the importance of spending time together and how important other people were to our lives. There is nothing wrong with the fact that more and more people are using social networks or using cell phones or any other kind of technology. I use technology all the time and it is a huge part of my life but I'm slowly realizing that it's not the use of technology, but the motive of using that technology, that is important. Labels: facebook, myspace, social networking, society, web 2.0 (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 |
A while ago a friend and I were talking about both of us just deleting our myspace accounts but that person has decided not to.... over the last couple of days I have realized that my reason for not wanting to be part of it any more was not dependant on that person. Actually, I have found a lot more out about real life and I like it a lot better. When you cancel your myspace account, they want you to fill in a box with comments on why you are deleting your account. Here is what I wrote: There are two points to the reason for me canceling. The first reason is because the site is a technical nightmare. It's overwhelming flash content will tax even the most advanced computers and the focus of myspace seems to be add new features to compete with possible competitors rather than making sure what they already have works. There is seemingly no spam protection inside of the site it's self. While it's true that you can disable email notifications I can't log in to the site without seeing spam comments or messages. Oh, and the "Unexpected error has occured" has become more than expected. The second reason is the attitude of people on the site. I have seen entirely too many friendships and relationships destroyed because of jealousy. Myspace.com seems to be the greatest collection of petty and self-centered people..... or maybe it's just that everyone on myspace knows how to use the site so well but they can't understand how to use "real-life" and there is a reliance upon how many people are on your friend's list because they don't understand what it means to have real friends and it's the only way they can close the gap. No matter what the reason, the idea of social networking (and especially myspace's paticular style) is harmful to society in the long run. While I believe that a lot of good can and has happened on the site, I don't believe that most people have the idea of making it that way so this is my decission not to be a part of this any longer. Labels: internet, myspace, social networking (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Friday, June 08, 2007 |
Tell me all about your favorite bands How they're super-indie-neo-hardcore Tell me all about your favorite hobbies And the way you love sunsets Well who doesn't? Still I'd like the chance to really see If what you say is true and has integrity Cause I could know everything about you And still know nothing at all I know that it's wrong to form an opinion on only what I see But in my defense it's really hard to know When MySpace is the only thing that you ever show So it seems you've got a lot of friends How many of them know you Or even care if you're alive or dead? When was the last time you were honest Instead of posting blogs of fake emotions? Still I'd like the chance to really see If what you say is true and has integrity Cause I could know everything about you And still know nothing at all I know that it's wrong to form an opinion on only what I see But in my defense it's really hard to know When MySpace is the only thing that you ever show When you finally resurface to the point of finding purpose We'll begin to see just who you are I know that it's wrong to form an opinion on only what I see But in my defense it's really hard to know When MySpace is the only thing that you ever show "MySpace" by Eleventyseven Labels: eleventyseven, lyrics, myspace (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 |
So as if their server couldn't handle what they were doing or our computers being able to handle viewing a myspace profile they add more flash! Wait, it would be cool if we can make this move and make this make this sound and ... oh oh, we can do this and this and this and this and ... OOPS... why is everything crashing!? Why do people not stay on our site for a long time? Ok.... /rant (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Friday, April 13, 2007 |
Oh.. and a message to the jerks who are now making flash ads that have sound - you won't see me buying anything from you anytime soon. Actually, when an ad starts making crazy sounds the first thing I click is my "go home" button to get away from that page and shut the speakers up as quickly as possible... /rant (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Monday, February 05, 2007 |
Labels: askaninja, censorship, myspace, net neutrality (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
(C)2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved
BibleBoy's Blog by Bob K Mertz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
