MySpace, You're Crampin My Style

So lately I've been thinking a lot about how we, as a human race, are going to progress in the future and whether or not we will stay as connected as we are today. It seems to me that there are certain trends that come and go with people and I'm curious to see if Facebook is going to be one of those fads. Granted, Facebook has been around for nearly 8 years but are we ever going to be without it anymore? Are people just going to be over it the way they were with MySpace? I think it might happen.

I really think that there has to be something else that will come along that will take everyone away from Facebook and no one will be that interested in it anymore. When you look back to sites that we used when were were in high school like Melodramatic, Myspace, and God knows what else, the moment we started hearing about Facebook we just got up and left without really even thinking about it. Thats kind of a messed up thing to do to someone but I don't think anyone can really blame us. Its almost looking at it as if we were customers at a coffee shop. We go there everyday and that is the cool place to be after school or a football game or something; everyone you know goes there to hang out. And the coffee is good, not great, but thats not really the reason why you go. You go because its a social interaction and lets face it, its cool to hang out there. But what if we just picked up and left one day to go to another shop down the street? That coffee shop we used to hang out at relied on our business to stay open, and now its shutting down.

To me, I'd feel kind of bad leaving without any remorse or overall reason. The only real reason why we left was because everyone else left; it was the cool thing to do. People were somewhat happy with MySpace simply because they didn't know any better. But the moment a bigger cooler site comes along everyone packs their bags and leaves. Now I'm not saying its wrong, but if I'd be pretty damn annoyed if I'm Tom, the creator of MySpace.

Grandma, I'm Sorry But We Can't Be Facebook Friends

I'm not totally sure what constitutes a digital native and/or a digitial immigrant but I would say that there are large populations of both and only one group is getting smaller. This idea of digital immigrants is dying with social sites such as facebook and twitter so much that my goddamn grandma has a facebook. Now whoever thought my grandma, a chain smoking cancer survivor from the 1950s with a bark that stings like a big ole gulp of Tabasco, would be on her computer 4 hours a day poking other grandpas in town and kicking some serious ass on Farmville? If you say you thought that would happen, I'll chop my own foot off.

So this new age has to be doing something to spark this new craze for people to practically leap onto their computers, even those who barely know how to use a microwave like my parents. This digital space that we see all around us and don't even think about anymore is something more to the older generation. Something that is ripped straight out of an aldus huxtable novel and scared the day lights out of them when they told ghost stories around the camp fire of talking machines and artificial intelligence.

So these digital immigrants are becoming more accustomed and tech savvy everyday because we make it apart of our lives. When you think about how new the Internet is, it's staggering. The Internet is nearly 25 years old and look at how quickly we have put our entire lives into it (literally- bank accounts, photo albums, our romantic endeavors, etc). 25 years after the first car was made it was still a pretty shitty car in our eyes, where as now cars practically drive themselves. 100 years from now our grandchildren will be at a loss for words knowing that we were born with the Internet next to us. Now maybe it's not wrapped up in a pink blanket with a hospital bracelet and a tag on it's wrist that reads "It's A Girl!". But I'm growing up with the Internet and this new digital frontier. As much as I haven't explored the nooks and crannies around every corner on the web, I would say that I'm a native or at least I'm just not ok with someone calling me an immigrant to my own computer. I fucking belong here.

Democracy and Blogging

In the grand scheme of things, democratic thought is one of the most revolutionary ideas in modern history. The first amendment alone bares the weight of a country and suggests that no one is perfect (except for that one guy with the sandals and the beard); everyone subject to another's opinion. American government, democratic to the very bone, so arrogantly reinforces the "gift" that we have been so graciously been given to us by our trustworthy patriotic fathers, called freedom of speech. But let's make no mistake, no man gives me the freedom to speak my mind. It is solely some higher power that provides me with a soul that has given me the privelidge to speak my mind. I think about the world of blogging and how democratic society simply does not kill us or throw us in jail when we say what we think.I For that, I'd like to say thanks a bunch.

But blogging in a democratic world is not only our right but it is our civil duty to push the boundaries of others and challenge the world. At least that's what my momma told me. We already have the freedom to say whatever we want when we want and only god can take that away from me. And at the same time don't let your government tell you that they are giving you something you already own. Cause that's a fucked sense of privilege.

God Gave Me A Voice Because He Wanted Me To Speak

There's a lot anyone could say about themselves. Some more than others. And certainly I understand that I enjoy hearing the echoes of my own voice but that beside the point, I am not only forced to speak about myself I am delightfully encouraged. Encouraged by what the 'World of Warcraft' nerds call a "Noob" to the profession of teaching. Evelyn McDonnoll is just a small glass of water with a badass tattoo on her left arm and you know that when she puts the pen to the paper her words come like fire. Comparatively, we are trivial commas in her illustrious narrative that she's been piecing together since she picked up the pen but here is my attempt to turn that comma into a sentence.

When someone says explain who you are I take a look at who is asking me that question and if they actually know how to answer that about themselves. Its a hard thing to really put together. I know who I was and I have an idea about how I got here which might seem like a more appropriate answer. My parents named me Michael after my grandfather who's life dream was to start his own newspaper in the boonies of Wisconsin. Being the guy that he was, he didn't let anything get in the way of that. He built his own house and lived off of the Green Bay Packers, playing his tuba at the local pub (even though he was never invited to), and the small newspaper that he loved. I know that really has nothing to do with me but at the same time it has everything to do with me. My mother grew up watching a man love the simple things in life and living out his dream. I've grown up trying to fit into that same impression.

So fast forward to this class and I've got to admit that I came in here with a blank slate (or at least one that was full and fell in the snow). I'm interested in saying things. Usually things that lead to something else and that doesn't always end up being the case but thats the intention. In the back of my mind I want to stop the superficial banality that takes over the film school promising fame, money, and artistic treasures. But I'm not always certain that I should live in that world. Journalism to me is a way of saying what you want to say about issues that you want to talk about or nonetheless people should know about. Communication is at its peak in the history of us and yet at times it seems likes its dying in certain areas (as emo as that sounds). I bring a voice and a pen and I think thats all I really can say. Do I hope that I learn the craft of journalism? Sure I do, but I'd rather spark a waning intensity and bring it back to life. I want it to be so alive that I dance. So lets fuckin' dance.