Lunatics and monsters underneath my bed
Media messiahs preying on my fears
Pop culture prophets playing in my ears
These words an anthem it would seem to the times we live in. A time of fear, a time of hope, a time of reason, a time of illusion.
About a two years ago, I first started focusing on the role of informationism in modern society. I concluded that the over-all goal of this movement is in the process through which information is organized, in how it is obtained, and finally, how the relevance of what is important is determined.
While I think this is an important starting premise, I wanted to take some time to look into some of the more psychological aspects of this movement. Perhaps the most evident transformation of society, has been the increasing alienation of the individual. I'd also like to take some to discuss the U-Tube phenomena, and finally explore how Informationism has impacted the political sphere.
As many here, I grew up with computers, however, the real impact of this phenomena didn't occur until I was in my twenties. I would consider 1995 to be the true dawn of the information era, as it coincides with the release of Windows 95 A few years later, like many of my friends, I was captivated by the release of Everquest, and immersed myself in the culture of MMORPG's. Suddenly, new lingo's were founded, an entire World was created, with even a unique economic system that mirrored the complexities of the real world. And as the world looked in amazement, the virtual world became as real as the outside world.
Recently, the Washington Post saw this trend continue, as Women became increasingly involved in the online community.The report found that 86 percent of women ages 18 to 29 were online, compared with 80 percent of men in the same age group. Among African Americans, 60 percent of women are online, compared with 50 percent of men.
Some argue that this is not alienation.
Pew Internet writes
The Internet has the opposite of an isolating effect on most users. They report
that email has helped them improve their key social relations and expand their
social networks. In general, Internet users have more robust social lives than
non-users and the most fervent Internet users are the ones who more frequently
say email use has improved their bonds with relatives. Millions have used the
Internet to rekindle relationships and locate long-lost friends. The surge of
women online in early 2000 is reshaping the Internet. Most Internet users say
the Internet makes them feel more connected to family and friends, and they use
online communication tools to stay in touch. But email is not the only killer
app; users enjoy a myriad online activities.
At any rate it appears that our culture is being transformed by the dawn of informationism. Perhaps the center piece of this transformation has been U-Tube. While researching the impact of this on culture, I found dozens of articles written by kool-aid drinking zombies, in the name of the great culture war. I didn't bother to read them. Instead, I found this article by Mark Pesce
Meanwhile, on his laptop, he's viewing a whole series of YouTube videos
that he's received from his friends; they've found these videos in their own
wanderings, and immediately forwarded them along, knowing that he'll enjoy them.
He views them, and laughs, he forwards them along to other friends, who will
laugh, and forward them along to other friends, and so on. Sharing is an
essential quality of all of the media this fifteen year-old has ever known. In
his eyes, if it can't be shared, a piece of media loses most of its value. If it
can't be forwarded along, it's broken.
For this fifteen year-old, the concept of a broadcast network no longer
exists. Television programmes might be watched as they're broadcast over the
airwaves, but more likely they're spooled off of a digital video recorder, or
downloaded from the torrent and watched where and when he chooses. The broadcast network has been replaced by the social network of his friends, all of whom are constantly sharing the newest, coolest things with one another. The current hot
item might be something that was created at great expense for a mass audience,
but the relationship between a hot piece of media and its meaningfulness for a
microaudience is purely coincidental. All the marketing dollars in the world can
foster some brand awareness, but no amount of money will inspire that fifteen
year old to forward something along - because his social standing hangs in the
balance. If he passes along something lame, he'll lose social standing with his
peers. This factors into every decision he makes, from the brand of runners he
wears, to the television series he chooses to watch. Because of the
hyperabundance of media - something he takes as a given, not as an incredibly
recent development - all of his media decisions are weighed against the values
and tastes of his social network, rather than against a scarcity of
choices."
This at last brings me to the question of how informationism has impacted the political process.
One of the first observations I made in regards to informationism, is that it was walking down the same dark path of neo-conservatism. It had been hi-jacked by post-modernism, which ultimately holds that there is no truth. When I look at the popular media, I cannot help but be appalled by its deciet. When I look at the entire culture war, its entire framework is to find an absurd and possibly disturbing story, and then to pretend that this is the rule, and to define the liberal movement as such. Every year, we hear about the siege on Christmas, and yet what is the real story. Two people in an office somewhere have a long-going dispute, and so they start suing each other over a Christmas Tree. Well, that does it, the battle lines are drawn, and theres no going back. It's a war now. Relax people, its not that big a deal. However, when a few media giants control all information, it becomes the culture war. However, the online community has its own set of rules, and through the efforts of moderators, people learn that despite a few differences, that in the end, they really share more in common than in what seperates them.
Now, in some cases, this has led to a sense of group-think, and that has led to dire consequences, however, over time, things have a way of balancing out. Yet more importantly, once people stop yelling, and start talking, there is an instant source of infinite information at their fingertips.
Suddenly, we can all hear the latest debate, or the latest speech. Suddenly we can look over policy differences, and share our collective ideas upon them. As a result, the media messiahs have lost there power. The demons they use to frighten us into submission become transpearant, and it is the people that become the prophets of the era.
Advances in information have always advanced democracy and freedom. That is why the events here become real, they have a power that will not be denied. For it is here, and not in the empty rhetoric of paid media spokesmen, promoting the agendas that finance their extravagent lifestyles, that we will at last find the true power of the people.
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