...it annoys me that:
People like Kerry O'Brien of The 7.30 Report deem it necessary to splash "OMG TEH INTARWEBS ARE TEH EBIL!" types of stories on the news. Mum says it has stuff to do with them not understanding internet culture and the teenagers who use it, and them wanting to understand it. Internet-savvy teens and people in their 20's, 30's and 40's who are internet savvy do not seem to have the same issues that people of an older generation do when it comes to the internet.
It's not on the air until tomorrow evening, but even so, the thought of older generations blaming the internet culture for emerging societal trends and so-called evils makes me annoyed. They don't understand it, and I think that, more than anything else, leads us to more misunderstanding as the internet culture can be an absolutely great thing in many circumstances. However, having said that, there are some pretty nasty things on the net out there. That doesn't mean that sites like myspace or vampirefreaks should be portrayed as evils for what their content is. Xanga, Deadjournal, blogspot, etc, are all reputable on some level or another, and while I don't agree with some of the things that are posted on these sites and even on livejournal, it's not fair that the media should vilify such an outpost for creativity and incoherent rantings and ravings of teenagers and drama-whores.
Emo, Goth, and Punk styled lives are not necessarily brought upon by internet culture and subculture, they are also often a direct choice of the person influenced by friends into certain music genres. The goth movement, for instance, is definitely not evil, and yet Emo and other subcultures in life are portrayed as "bad" or "evil" simply for being different from the societal norm. Yes, the goth scene is huge on livejournal, and one of the people on my friends' list is a goth, but it's also huge in real life; a society that doesn't conform is thus seen as "strange" and "weird" and those who condemn things simply without understanding them are narrow-minded bigots.
Like I said to viginti_duo, I may not agree with their choice or their lifestyle, but I will defend their right to chose that lifestyle for themselves. With the emergence of much anti-Islam sentiments, I found that I had to defend the Muslims to my Uncle Anthony and Pa, given that they didn't know people who were Muslim, and only relied upon what the extremists made of it. I've known many people who are Muslim, and they're not evil people; far from it, and thus I do not agree with what my grandfather and uncle say, and tried to defend [the Muslims] them to my grandfather and uncle.
In other news, I may have ulcerations in my stomach. Joyous.
It's not on the air until tomorrow evening, but even so, the thought of older generations blaming the internet culture for emerging societal trends and so-called evils makes me annoyed. They don't understand it, and I think that, more than anything else, leads us to more misunderstanding as the internet culture can be an absolutely great thing in many circumstances. However, having said that, there are some pretty nasty things on the net out there. That doesn't mean that sites like myspace or vampirefreaks should be portrayed as evils for what their content is. Xanga, Deadjournal, blogspot, etc, are all reputable on some level or another, and while I don't agree with some of the things that are posted on these sites and even on livejournal, it's not fair that the media should vilify such an outpost for creativity and incoherent rantings and ravings of teenagers and drama-whores.
Emo, Goth, and Punk styled lives are not necessarily brought upon by internet culture and subculture, they are also often a direct choice of the person influenced by friends into certain music genres. The goth movement, for instance, is definitely not evil, and yet Emo and other subcultures in life are portrayed as "bad" or "evil" simply for being different from the societal norm. Yes, the goth scene is huge on livejournal, and one of the people on my friends' list is a goth, but it's also huge in real life; a society that doesn't conform is thus seen as "strange" and "weird" and those who condemn things simply without understanding them are narrow-minded bigots.
Like I said to viginti_duo, I may not agree with their choice or their lifestyle, but I will defend their right to chose that lifestyle for themselves. With the emergence of much anti-Islam sentiments, I found that I had to defend the Muslims to my Uncle Anthony and Pa, given that they didn't know people who were Muslim, and only relied upon what the extremists made of it. I've known many people who are Muslim, and they're not evil people; far from it, and thus I do not agree with what my grandfather and uncle say, and tried to defend [the Muslims] them to my grandfather and uncle.
In other news, I may have ulcerations in my stomach. Joyous.