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05-09-2011 Science-fictiony "new" or "alternate" society books and movies have always captivated me. Not just flying cars, dystopias, everyone wearing black clothes, or post-apocalyptic wastelands. I was impressed when an author dug deep and gave thought to most minute details of these alternate worlds, when they could essentially take you through a day in the life of a character. George Orwell (1984) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) were heroes to me in that regard. It strikes me though, that we, today, are living in new society, one strikingly different than the one I grew up in. Our own Society 2.0 - where we are all way more connected than we used to be. This isn't exactly news; we often note advances in technology and their impact on society. These changes happen gradually, and it's interesting to look back over a longer time period and see the sum of these small innovation. More and more often, we refer to people and events in reference to when they happened with regard to the emergence and prevalence of the internet. The OJ chase, for example, happened "before the internet took off." Michael Jordan played "before social networking was huge." A series of events happened in my own life over the past week that drove home how different our lives are today than they were 5, 10, or 20 years ago. And none of them were my realizations that the internet is like a telescreen or that Apple was monitoring users' locations without their knowledge. Am I being slightly thin-skinned about my post being removed? Yes. Am I using my website as a soapbox to say that Imo's has some of the worst pizza our great nation has ever tasted? Hell yes! Details leaked before his address to the nation, but from where? Newspapers? Ha! TV? You're getting closer... No, most information came from Twitter, and *gasp*, it was actually correct! As much as websites like MSN.com and CNN.com and TV stations like CNN and Fox News are trusted and can operate in real-time, it was the living, breathing mass of population that is Twitter that floated around the information that OBL had been capped probably a good 30 minutes before the TV news outlets reported the same, and before the official speech from Obama. And your precious newspapers? Can we talk 'nail in the coffin' for a moment? I'm sorry to all the people who have worked in the newspaper business (and the overwhelming amount of internet columnists have) and bemoan the market-driven collapse-in-progress of newspapers, but they looked more antiquated than ever reporting this breaking news. This story broke around 10PM Central Time, which means that it took OVER ONE FULL DAY for any of the coverage to appear in newspapers. Gross. By the time these stories hit the presses, the shine was worn off like yesterday's newspaper ink from your fingertips. Life is different now, for all of us. FDR knew of the attacks on Pearl Harbor how long after they happened? Fast-forward about 70 years, to a time where our president was able to watch the take-down of OBL in real-time. That's like shit out of Patriot Games! So what do we do in this new society? First of all, be brave! This isn't exactly the Age of Holding Back. This is an age where people become famous on reality shows for doing nothing more than drinking, fighting, and hanging out. And it used to require building a web site or filling a message board for the average person to have their voice heard throughout the world. Now, anyone and everyone can have their own corner of the Facebook world. Everyone can join Twitter and post to their heart's content (140 characters at a time). If you want to broadcast your thoughts, go for it! If you want to seek out someone else's thoughts, it's easier than ever to do that too. Second, be cautious! The old guard who decry the fall of newspapers are kinda right on one issue - it's difficult finding journalistic integrity on the internet. (For now, we'll ignore all debates about yellow journalism, left-wing bias, and all other knocks newspapers have faced over the years.) News comes fast and furious. Internet news sites are rushing to be the first to break stories and/or post new details on developing issues. Sometimes they jump the gun. Intentionally or unintentionally, sometimes they will print items as fact that are unverified. Getting our news from the internet can thus be a double-edged sword. Finally, and most importantly, when it comes to matters of opinion, develop a thicker skin. Crikey, everyone is so quick to be offended these days. Stick to your guns, but respect if people have different opinions than you do, no matter how uninformed you find them to be. Or ignore them. There are people in every facet of the traditional media and social media that I disagree with 99% of the time. At best, I believe they twist facts and statistics; at worst, I believe they are self-serving, egotistical, blow-hard liars. So what do I do? Nothing. I ignore them. It makes life better and less stressful. There is a lot information out there in this Society 2.0. Find it, filter it, enjoy some, and ignore some. Have fun! -T You can now find me all over the web: Like Monster Cards on Facebook Twitter: http://twitter.com/monstercards |
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