Brad Paisley Shows Us Our Own Ridiculousness, Again

Brad Paisley's latest music video humorously depicts internet behavior. In "Online" he discussed the persona shifts that sometimes come along with online interaction when a user portrays themselves in a stronger, more confident way.

I discussed social networking the other day and, while I think online interaction serves some purposes, it can not replace face-to-face interaction. Our lives are different online than they are in the real world. As I write this, I am wearing a faded 15 year old t-shirt and baggy cotton pants, yet I could present myself as a cutthroat business person if I so chose. I could not, however, walk out my front door in these clothes and elicit the same response. Don't misunderstand me; I don't mean to imply that one of these is the right way, the other wrong. I think both real world and online interactions can be enlightening, educational, even empowering.

Brad Paisley has yet again analyzed our society at a wonderfully basic level. See some of his other observations in "Celebrity" or "Alcohol." Reality is always entertaining.

Join a Social Network, Or Else

"If you don't belong to some kind of social network, you soon may not belong anywhere." So claims Daniel Tynan of US Airways magazine's "Our Digital Life."

Social networks come in all shapes and sizes. You can find one for almost any interest you have. Socializing online carries a number of conveneniences. Many networks involve leaving messages for others, which means you can squeeze it in whenever you have time. Chances are low that you'll experience that so-what-do-we-talk-about-now awkward silence that often occurs when meeting new people in the real world. It's a great way to have your questions answered, or learn how others have succeeded in a project you are currently facing.

Online social networks aren't exactly new, they've just evolved. I agree with Tynan that they can be valuable resources, but don't go just for the popularity factor, go for the experience.

Social Networking for Kids

The adults that haven't picked up on Second Life may now be invading the kids online virtual world, Webkinz.

I just learned of this new hit from a friend of mine who saw patrons of all sizes carrying small stuffed animals in the mall. The way it works is you purchase a Webkinz stuffed animal, then go online to adopt your new pet. Upon adoption, you are given a room, food, and KinzCash to be spent on more food, adornments for your room, or even more rooms. Your goal is to keep you pet happy, healthy, and fed.

In Webkinz you can play games at the arcade (and earn more KinzCash), speak to your pet through a menu of phrases, or interact with other Webkinz. It's social networking for a littler crowd, except, like Beanie Babies and Harry Potter, the adults are taking this fad over. With parental monitoring, however, this could be a fun way for kids to interact with a computer.

Living a Web Life

You’ve probably noticed my lack of posts in recent weeks. I’ve been noticing the same phenomenon on other blogs as well. Must be Spring fever. I would say that life got in the way, but that sounds like life is a bad thing, which couldn’t be further from the truth. In the past month my non-work time has been consumed by hosting guests, moving, going to baseball games, and spending time with my family.

I am now caught up on my news feeds and it looks like the Internet is still the way of the world. People are still blogging and twittering and networking online. One guy (though I presume there are others) has managed to maintain an online presence while still living his life. Justin.tv is a perpetual video account of Justin Kan’s life as viewed from a camera strapped to his head. Interesting idea. It’s not for everyone. I’m pretty sure no one needs or wants to see my life in that much detail. It just goes to show that voyeurism will always provide some people entertainment.

Staying Connected At All Times

Many people, particularly the younger crowd, have immersed themselves in online social networking. New sites are continually popping up for sharing details about your life and many of the newer sites are allowing you to do so from your mobile phone.

In Social Networking Leaves Confines of the Computer, one creator of the technology explains, ”exhibitionism will exist as long as there is voyeurism, but we are in the business of helping people stay in touch with the people who are close to them.”

Fans of the technology use it to update their friends, family, or complete strangers on their daily lives. Some use it to share their travel experiences, like Walter Zai, who captured his African safari via his mobile phone for instant online sharing.

Services like Twitter provide continual messages from users answering the question, what are you doing right now? At the time I wrote this, problemboard was “feeling raindrops despite no clouds. I hope those are raindrops...,” while anjibee was “wearing my pink eskimo joe's tee that ronnoc sent me and pink jammie bottoms. might just wear them all day... .” Interesting.

Whatever the venue, social networking is will definitely be around for a while. New technology will continue to tweak the playing field. So, what am I doing right now? Walking away from the computer.

Television More Exciting Than Real Life?

At Easter brunch yesterday, the conversation passed quickly through the usual family updates and comments about the restaurant of choice. With the trivialities out of the way, the discussion turned into a detailed exchange about The Sopranos. I was amazed to find that a table full of grown-ups was animatedly analyzing the lives of fictional characters. Are our own lives that boring, that we look to television for dialogue? Did I just miss the point since I have never seen even one episode of The Sopranos and generally try to limit my television viewing in favor of more appealing activities?

Somewhere along the line, TV went from being merely a source of entertainment to being a deeply ingrained part of life. The same is true of online social networking. In fact, I would venture a guess that many people accomplish their social networking while watching television. They probably feel accomplished- look at me, I’m multi-tasking! I’d put some clever reference here about the characters or last night’s plot, but, alas I was drawing and missed the season’s first episode.

Perhaps one day we will realize that there are plenty of stories from our day-to-day life worth sharing with others. Perhaps we will all become characters on some worldwide internet-based reality TV show. Perhaps we will someday realize that the person whose blog we read lives right down the street. Until then, any one care to discuss The Apprentice?

Worth a Read: Created Personas

Yesterday Foresighter posted an entry called The Artist's Staircase. It discusses the premeditated personas that are placed on social networking sites and begs the question of how real the personas are. Now that we can actually create our "selves" rather easily, will these creations enter in to our face-to-face interactions as well?