The cover story in this week's Macleans magazine is about why the Internet sucks.
The article notes that, at the dawn of the Internet age, idealists believed the world wide web would create an enlightened utopia.
In reality, Google's top 10 searches, last year, were Janet Jackson, hurricane Katrina, tsunami, xBox 360, Brad Pitt, Michael Jackson, American Idol, Britney Spear, Angelina Jolie and Harry Potter.
An enlightened utopia? I think not. I am proud to say I did not google any of those things last year. I did, however, google Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jake Gyllenhaal. And I like to think of myself as an intellectual. (I'll ignore the laughter).
So what if the Internet celebrates mediocrity through self-indulgent blogs of people who think they can write. And so what if the nut jobs on both the right and left use the Internet to call the mainstream media biased and manipulative because the media is not promoting their said values. If the Internet was gone tomorrow, I would be very disappointed that I couldn't look up the trivia I need to know, like how old my favourite Survivor player is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I don't know about utopia but I think the web is good for a lot of things...
From Scrubs, which I found on IMDb.com:
I am fairly sure that if they took porn off the internet, there would only be one website left, and it would be called Bring Back the Porn.
Though there are some negatives about the internet, there are many great things. I have met many amazing people on the net who, when I have travelled to other cities, have shown me around town.
In the spirit of internet friendships, I will add you as you have added me (though you need to update the url) to my list of friends blogs...
Who are you?
I agree, Rhett.
The Internet is great. As a journalist and writer, it makes my life so much easier. I couldn't even begin to count the ways.
Nope. I won't let anyone take away my Internet.
I think the Internet is like holding a mirror to society. It shows us a reflection of who we are - the good, the bad and the ugly. You can find vice on-line and off-line.
And yes, I'll update the url...
Post a Comment