Umm so anyway... what's the deal with social media nowadays? Join me as I take as little of a journalistic approach as possible and investigate. I have no budget and one blog post... this'll be interesting.
This week: Other social media you may (or definitely) don't know about, learning a language for free, and music videos you probably can't take seriously.
In the Western civilization, isn't it pretty much a sure bet that any given person has a Facebook account? It's just about ready to turn one billion, so we're talking one in seven people around the world having an account. And then take into account people that are too young, don't have access to the internet, etc. and you get a very interesting statistic. And no I'm not figuring it out. Leave it to the professional internet-statistic people.
It's coming up to two years since I signed up for what I now call this "pool of narcissism", and I'm constantly finding less use for it. Apart from the odd game I find interesting (and I'm NOT talking about anything involving a farm) and a way to publish RA duty roster times (although sometimes we still get texts asking when someone is scheduled on for dinner), I find that my 'news' feed is cluttered with links and status posts that I ultimately have no use for.
So why do I keep using it? Good question. Why does anyone? "Because I can keep in touch with friends" is the common answer. Ok sure, good answer. Now that bit I don't disagree with. It's when people view it as a challenge to amass friends and collect likes when it drives me up the wall. I'm seeing posts now asking to be liked for a like in return. Umm, why?
Long story short, I'm 'silently' disgruntled by Facebook. And I'm becoming increasingly aware that my argument against attention-seeking is now ironic since you're reading this in a blog post. I'm sure I've already complained about Facebook on this blog once before. I should quit. But Facebook has thought of that. Do you know how hard it is to erase your Facebook account? Try Googling "erase Facebook account" or similar and you'll find out.
And of course it's not just Facebook any more. Remember Twitter? That was basically the same thing, in 140 characters or less.
And then there's Tumblr, which if I'm not mistaken is like Blogger but with no text and more shiny pictures involving grayscale imagery with a random 'heartfelt' quote superimposed on top with a hard-to-read font.
My idea for why people fell for this one is because we jump on new things. That or publicity issues. Blogger has been around since 1999. That's a long time. Tumblr: 2007. My diagnosis is if you just want to show off your 'images', get a Pixiv account.
Then Pinterest, Linkedin, Myspace (yes that's still a thing, did you know Justin Timberlake is part owner or something?), oh and who could forget Bebo? Apparently everyone.
And then there's Meow-book. Because apparently our cats want more attention from other cats over the internet.
So that got me thinking... people jump on new social networks blindly, cats get attention... so why not talk about everything in your house as if it was important? Conversational gold like...
"Turned down the temperature on my fridge today! FTW"
"Toast stuck in toaster again. FML"
"Playing Scott Joplin on piano. LOL"
But don't stop there, attention-seekers! Now you can impersonate your appliances' status messages and take up more of your free time daily with the new social media craze that is... Objectbook!
No more do you have to hold back that urge to talk like an oven... give everything in your house an account and become popular today! Things like...
"Got thermostat turned down today. FTW" - AirConditioner47
"Sick with a virus. FML" - TomsPC271
"What a day to be a couch. LOL" - ImACouch2974510587610748098247091328704872
(And if Harpic got behind this and played their cards right, it would give a whole new meaning to "What does your loo say about you?" *rimshot*)
And now introducing our sister site for all you literary fans... bookbook!
And why not give your Facebook account its own account on... facebookbook!
And then that account gets its own account on... facebookbookbook!
...and now I'm getting carried away.
I guess what I'm trying to say is... I hate social networks. For now. Meet in person.
Ok, now in the category of websites I'd actually like to recommend... I present duolingo, a way to learn a language for free by translating stuff on the web. "How does that work?", you say. Glad you asked.
And for those of you wanting more music videos, I have some more to share.
First off the docket, making the rounds on *shudder* Facebook...
Korean pop singer PSY presents his latest single, 강남 스타일, or "Gangnam Style" for you Anglophones. Now since it's in Korean I wouldn't have a clue what he's singing about, but if I had to guess by looking at the video, I'd have to say... riding a horse?
Now who remembers Rebecca Black's Friday? If I remember correctly the parents paid for a music video package with a production company and that was the result. Well... on that note I present Jenna Rose's My Jeans. It's got all the similar features: Waking up in a bedroom, overuse of AutoTune, and a rapper that doesn't make any sense.
And finally this week... bad videos aren't limited to young girls any more. Here's Lisa Gail's Three Second Rule. My personal favourite part is at 1:35 when she sings the line "...and within the time-frame".
...yikes that was awful. So just to make sure we don't stop on a sour note, here's Michael Bublé.
And that's it for me. See you next Thursday.
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