Is society becoming a "network collective," where perception is selective? Selective, in that digital technology is rendering a version of reality that may not exactly be what that reality truly is.Douglas Rushkoff, in his masterpiece "Program Or Be Programmed: Ten Commands For A Digital Age." alludes to this when he contrasts the CD with an analog recording. He writes "...music played back on a CD format...showed that digitally recorded sound moved the air in a room significantly differently than analog recordings played through the same speakers."
People have always remarked how analog sound transmits some sort of undefinable "warmth" that can only be appreciated when you hear it.
The new connections we have include blogs and microblogs, supplemented by our "smart phones" which at least still are capable of carrying one human voice to another. Rushkoff also mentions that CONTACT not CONTENT, is the king that rules the digital frontier.
One of the more worthwhile blogs I've been reading a lot more lately is Orient Lodge, where blogger Aldon Hynes types "To me, technology and media are not bad in and of themselves. They are neutral. They can be used for good, or they can be used for bad. As I try to determine what makes for the good or bad use of technology or media, I come back to three key ideas. Engagement, connectivity, and creativity. Technology and media that encourages engagement, connectivity and creativity are, in my mind, technology and media that is being used for good. Technology and media that discourages engagement, connectivity and creativity are, for the most part, being used badly." ~ Aldon Hynes
This whole social networking concept has its roots in the original "blogger" platform! Thank goodness it has prevailed, despite many "experts" proclaiming constant crap, predicting the demise of the blog, first to the podcast (which thankfully never happened), then to the vlog (or video blog, which double-thankfully never happened), and most recently to the "lifestream," a concept that has also pretty much fizzled out. You might also toss Google "Wave" in there for good measure! Which brings us to the "niche" argument.
Is your blog or website all things to some people or some things to all people? I'd rather be in the latter category. There a few - very few - niche blogs that really take off. You have to know your stuff above and beyond the call of knowing your stuff to create and maintain a successful niche blog.
I left this as a comment on a Kansas City newspaper's review of Rushkoff's book:You might also want to check out "Constraints Inspire Creativity," elsewhere on this blog.
The Kinks old mantra "everybody's in showbiz" and of course the infamous "15 minutes of fame" have been extended to include everyone. The revolution has already been televised, blogged and tweeted. Mr. Rushkoff sums up our current state of affairs as an intelligent people somewhere in his book where he writes "Without the search engine we are lost." Programming? Nyet! Google? Our nipple! Mercy Me, Technology!
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December is on the way in, it's a very special time of year for me, both personally and digitally. My favorite months are September through early January. My birthday falls in October, and school traditionally begins in September. I started my first blog in November, and the time from Thanksgiving Day through January 1 I open my blog to guest posters, do a lot of reflective posting and publish my traditional "Hottest Blogging Babes" article, which originally began as a kind of joke, but has grown to acknowledge the talents and efforts of some of the blogosphere's more vocal ladybloggers.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT A GUEST BLOG POST please get in touch! It's an easy way to get a link back to your own blog, twitter and facebook accounts!
THANK-YOU, faithful readers and followers! Despite the hoopla surrounding twitter followers, facebook friends and Google connect, I know from my stat counter data there are about 55 of you who visit this humble weblog at least once a day (sometimes more). It's you guys that make up the backbone of my audience. I appreciate your regular visits, referrals and bookmarks!
To others visiting today, thank-you too! You are always welcome here!
Tags: media, Digital Frontier, social networking
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