LiveJournal / MySpace as Life
Last Friday I spent a few hours with angel_electric, who was here in LA from Toronto for a few days. It was fun to see her, and while we got to do some shopping (but not enough mischief alas) and I showed around, a little, more time would have been good. But at least there was time, and it’s good to see that with LJ / MySpace real friends can be made and experiences can be shared both here and out in the big bad world.
I look forward to seeing angel_electric again, as I know more fun and stimulating conversation will ensure, but note that I expect to see more of you, my LJ friends as time goes by, as personally I enjoy the brewing of ideas and concepts and all the crazy paths and concepts a conversation explores while talking with friends in person. You have been warned.
I’m finding the evolution of LJ, MySpace and the like quite interesting insofar that as terrible as a lot of it is, there is at the same time the opportunity to make real friends, which too my surprise (after being dragged onto LJ by devilsdarling who I met on Myspace) is something that’s happening. Less often that one would like, there being so few decent people out there, but at least it is happening, and it’s a way to improve the chances of actually meeting the worthwhile people who inhabit the fridges of normality.
We’re obviously at the very beginning of something here that will have profound sociological effects as far as interaction in general goes.
I’ve been long skeptical and derisive of the whole AOL vibe, with opinions like “suck” being the sum total of
so much intellect online.
Things are happening though, subtly at first, but it’s obviously that the way that we interact and relate is changing. It’s going to be interesting to see where it leads.
In the early days of television there were all kinds of learned discourse as to what the implications would be, but predictions didn’t include major changes that actually happened, like African nomadic tribesmen giving up their ways in order to stay in one place and catch up on soaps on TV.
Similar things will happen here, but which things I don’t think we’re in a position to predict.
One thing of note is that the whole “grass-roots” system is expanding and enfolding/mutating in ways that again will have profound impacts. People can now share and spread information, including the political kind themselves, and while much of it is untrue and biased, then so is everything in the corporate media. Perhaps there is a way past all the bullshit after all ?
Anyway, I’ve been online for the last nine years and have always resisted things like chat-rooms and these half -assed networking things, but with LJ and MySpace (in particular) and my steady addiction to instant messaging, I’m making real friends and communicating. And that can only be a good thing.
I look forward to seeing angel_electric again, as I know more fun and stimulating conversation will ensure, but note that I expect to see more of you, my LJ friends as time goes by, as personally I enjoy the brewing of ideas and concepts and all the crazy paths and concepts a conversation explores while talking with friends in person. You have been warned.
I’m finding the evolution of LJ, MySpace and the like quite interesting insofar that as terrible as a lot of it is, there is at the same time the opportunity to make real friends, which too my surprise (after being dragged onto LJ by devilsdarling who I met on Myspace) is something that’s happening. Less often that one would like, there being so few decent people out there, but at least it is happening, and it’s a way to improve the chances of actually meeting the worthwhile people who inhabit the fridges of normality.
We’re obviously at the very beginning of something here that will have profound sociological effects as far as interaction in general goes.
I’ve been long skeptical and derisive of the whole AOL vibe, with opinions like “suck” being the sum total of
so much intellect online.
Things are happening though, subtly at first, but it’s obviously that the way that we interact and relate is changing. It’s going to be interesting to see where it leads.
In the early days of television there were all kinds of learned discourse as to what the implications would be, but predictions didn’t include major changes that actually happened, like African nomadic tribesmen giving up their ways in order to stay in one place and catch up on soaps on TV.
Similar things will happen here, but which things I don’t think we’re in a position to predict.
One thing of note is that the whole “grass-roots” system is expanding and enfolding/mutating in ways that again will have profound impacts. People can now share and spread information, including the political kind themselves, and while much of it is untrue and biased, then so is everything in the corporate media. Perhaps there is a way past all the bullshit after all ?
Anyway, I’ve been online for the last nine years and have always resisted things like chat-rooms and these half -assed networking things, but with LJ and MySpace (in particular) and my steady addiction to instant messaging, I’m making real friends and communicating. And that can only be a good thing.