Im Not Here to Make Friends!!!!!

This is exactly the same lines that my work follows. When I left graduate school, I was researching social networking sites and how theyre used. My findings, to state them as simply as i can are:

When given the opportunity to do whatever we please, we often imitate each other.

I wrote a lot about how were all just doing the same things over and over and over again. I began to make work that were organized collections of footage of people doing the same thing. The above videos remind me very much of my Girls and Boys who havnt posted in a while videos. This patterns in chaos/ imitation phenomena, of course, translates to television.

There is a few things i think about when i watch these montages.

1. Why the constant desire to be the badass? The tone and attitude behind that statement almost always sounds frustrated. I understand that a large percentage of the time the statement was made in a video "confessional" in which a cast member is recounting a dramatic story or situation that they were involved in. Yes. I get attitude when i am mad too. But if you notice, there is a strange posturing that goes on with certain cast members in a reality tv show. There is a constant battle to be the hard ass, the ruthless bitch that gets what they want, ect. If one was really focused on the competition, wouldnt they just....compete? oh wait.....$$. Ratings. Got it.

2. What is the formula needed to have a successful Reality TV show?

Ok, so, Reality Tv has been around since the 40's. It was made popular (arguably) by the Real World in 1992. Do you remember the first season? It was a snoozefest. The formula was figured out later....but I suppose I am not so interested in the formula as i am the things that cast members do/say over and over again, with such odd conviction as if theyre the first to say it.

I am interested in that in the same way I am interested in why people preface their blog posts with an energetic apology as to why theyve been gone, as if they have a mass fan base waiting for their return, while their video blog exits sound desperate and lonely...in a matter of 5 minutes.

This blows my mind.

Strange entitlement?

or worse? Some form of Megalomania?

All I can think is that Generation Me is one of the most interesting groups of people on earth. I wonder where this is gonna go next.

The Facebook Exodus? Twitter the next major SNS?

New York Times Article: Facebook Exodus

“The more dependent we allow ourselves to become to something like Facebook — and Facebook does everything in its power to make you more dependent — the more Facebook can and does abuse us,” Harmsen explained by indignant e-mail. “It is not ‘your’ Facebook profile. It is Facebook’s profile about you.”


Havnt I been saying this all along with the Olia Lialina/garden knome theory? I talked about this in my first semester of grad school when I did my Independant Study with Pete Baldes. Olia Lialina first wrote about this kind of idea in her Vernacular Web 2.0 Essay. 


Regarding the Facebook Exodus, I think itll happen. Duh. It happened with Friendster, MySpace, and it will certainly happen with Facebook. However I think that this article is a bit early. Twitter is certainly an up and coming SNS, but i dont think its the new Facebook. Facebook is still going strong, and with the new Facebook Lite, I really dont think its going anywhere yet. Its still got a few years left in it. But to simply state that its going to tank at some point is silly. Of course. All "cool" things eventually cease to be cool. Thats the business of cool. Virginia Heffernan isnt really saying anything new, in my opinion. 
Do I think Twitter will ever, at any point in time be the new Facebook? No. 
Why? 
Because. Its not "stalkerish" enough. We have become too dependent on knowing everything.
Who is breaking up with who?
Why is that drunk photo of such and such posted?
Why wasnt I invited?
What is that quote in the profile supposed to mean?
Why did they person tag that photo?
OMG, did you see what she was wearing?
....you cant do these things with Twitter! Twitter only shows exactly what the user wants. Im not sure its gonna fully take off unless people can use it as a tool for a more defined social interaction. There isnt enough. Twitter functions less as Big Brother. Too much user control, in terms of content. You tweet whatever you want. Facebook has many options of info sharing and although Twitter does too, its more limited. 
Bottom line? Twitter isnt nosy enough. 

Social Media Stalking- The IRL Privacy Dilemma

On one side, i think that if someone puts personal or private information on their social networking profiles and their parent/employer/teachers ect finds it...too bad. you cant blame anyone for being smart enough to use the internet as a tool for personal gain.

The other side of me wonders:

-What is the future of social networking if parents/employers/teachers ect use it for negative reasons (ie- judgement, moral superiority, bitching, blackmail)?

-How should this issue be combatted?

- SHOULD the issue be combatted or should it be left up to an individual wether or not to post certain information (ie- its your own problem)?

- How are teens/young adults going to react to their elders monitoring their every move? What is that going to do to the idea of trust?

-If one filters their life or personality because of fear of consequences regarding what others will say/do in reaction to certain truths/events/ideas then what IS the point of social media? (because it will be one big facade, if it isnt already)

-Does the above stated question mean that we are truly becoming a society that believes that social media=an individual? Let me clarify: We all consciously or subconsciously create screen identities. We have the ability to make ourselves appear any way we want to be perceived by others. This is old news and can be dated back to the "gender as performance" theories that i studied years ago. Ok, so my point is, when did we start to think that a facebook account IS who you are? When did we become unable to separate ourselves from virtual and irl? Further, why do we do it and then deny that we do it, and even sometimes criticize others (gamers and SNS junkies, specifically) that embrace it?

Id like to talk for a second about employers using SNS to check up on applicants and employees. I know quite a few folks who filter and untag photos of themselves in social situations that might not be permitable or looked down upon by their employers. My thinking is that SNS are just that---social. 

I digress in an effort to clarify more-

The majority of my Facebook photos are of me drinking. IRL, i drink alcohol once a month or less. However, judging by my tagged photos on my virtual space, it seems that drinking is all i do. I dont post photos of myself organizing my finances, cleaning my house, training my dog or cooking dinner. Why? Because i only tend to carry my camera around to document social situations. Balancing my checkbook, grocery shopping and cleaning are not social events. Thus, are not documented. In my mind it makes perfect sense that folks would have images of themselves in less than desirable scenes that grandma or boss man wouldnt like. I think that the important thing to remember is the fact that SNS isnt ALLLLLLL a person is. Its only part. Other events and activities seem to go unconsidered (ie- the "responsible" or "adult" activities). 

I also wonder if SNS in Europe have the same issues. Here in America, we tend to be overly concerned and conservative with issues regarding sex and alcohol (ie- the things that most kids do). What would happen if we were more honest with ourselves and our kids instead of pretending it doesnt go on, denying our children proper education when it comes to those things and sitting in front of a screen in a state of shock when they experiment? Is stalking, and flipping out the way to handle our sons/daughters decisions and actions when they enter college? I am a fan of honesty and education in an open non judgmental environment, not denial and panic in a hostile "blind eye" home.

What does this mean?

ps- yes i notice the formatting issue in this post. no i dont know how to fix it.

Twitter Trending Topics

aside from the regular, daily trending topics on twitter (ie- #musicmonday, #followfriday), theres been quite a few that deal with socioeconomic status or relationship status. I mean, am i really surprised? It is social networking site.
Some notable ones include:
#youknowyouhoodif
#itaintcheatingif
#itmightbeover

there was once a website i knew of that listed the most popular twitter searches. i found it on @lovebscott 's twitter page. 3,500 tweets later, its lost. google isnt helping.

Heres a nice little NYTimes article about twating (hehe). Question is, if older folks are using Twitter, why are the internet meme's running wild in the trending topics? Isnt that something normally reserved for teen users?
Click for Article

New Blog

This is my post-grad school blog....to be used for anything related to my art practice.

See? Three degrees later, this is me. Look at that happy girl.