The Real “Friend Divide”
Recently, Robert Scoble lamented a “Friend Divide” that is keeping Internet users from taking full advantage of all the wonderful Web 2.0 services that have been promoted as tools for bringing us closer together and fostering better relationships with the people we care about.
Clearly, Scoble is out of touch with reality and I stated the obvious. That said, there is a “friendship problem” in modern society.
Studies have shown that Americans are increasingly isolated despite the fact that technology has made us more “interconnected.”
Nothing Is Personal in a Web 2.0 World
I’ve decided to dedicate all my posts this week to the topic of Culture & Technology.
The New York Times’ article on the increasing use of the Internet by ex-spouses to air dirty laundry is a stark reminder of one of the things that I find most disturbing about the confluence of America’s sad modern culture and the rise of technological tools that promote its further decline: that nothing is personal anymore.
“Wikipedia Approach” to Save Congress?
Stanford law professor Larry Lessig is going to fix Congress by turning “the political process as we know it upside down.” On Thursday, he announced “an ambitious project that aims to use collaborative software to harness the extraordinary levels of pent-up political energy and dissatisfaction that voters have shown over the past two years with their members of congress.”
How will it work? Lessig explained on The Huffington Post:
Change-congress.org will be a bi-partisan, web-based effort to leverage and amplify the important reform work being done by others. Think of it as a kind of Google-mashup, but applied to politics.
Tweet This: Nobody Gives a Fuck
I’ve never understood Twitter. The concept of regularly “micro-blogging” to the world an answer to the question “What are you doing?” using no more than 140 characters seems utterly stupid to me. After all, not only do I feel no compulsion whatsoever to broadcast my every move to the rest of humanity, I suppose I’m just not narcissistic enough to assume that other people, my friends and associates included, actually give a damn anyway.
Since Allen Stern at CenterNetworks has asked “Is Twitter the Tech Version of Britney Spears?” I figured it was worthwhile to write something nasty about Twitter.
Free 23andMe!
I was amused to see that 23andMe, the “web-based service that helps you read and understand your DNA” that I named one of the Dumbest Startups of 2007, is giving away 1,000 of its kits to Davos attendees. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch is in Davos, but he had already purchased a 23andMe kit so he has decided to give it away to the most deserving TechCrunch reader.
I’ll Say Sorry, But I’m Not Taking Off My Glasses
CNET News.com’s Caroline McCarthy has written an interesting (if not entirely enlightened) article and for somebody who “believes that, despite popular opinion, the Web can actually help your social life,” Caroline, surprisingly, comes closer to getting it right than I thought she could.
Her article is inspired by the case of Corey Delaney, a 16 year-old Australian who got in big trouble for throwing a wild party and proceeded to become yet another Internet celebrity when a video of his ridiculous television news interview spread virally through the legions of YouTube time wasters. His now-famous line, “I’ll say sorry, but I’m not taking off my glasses” has now been turned into a t-shirt. Just what the world needs.
World Economic Forum Takes its Bullshit to YouTube
The World Economic Forum, “an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas,” is holding its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 23 - 27. Business leaders, politicians, intellectuals and now bloggers will come together to discuss how to deal with the mess of a world they’ve helped create. Since the organization was formed in 1971, they’ve failed to deal with anything, but warm fuzzy feelings are created when guys like Bono, Bill Gates and Bill Clinton all get on the same stage and reaffirm their commitment to improving the human condition (once they take care of their other business, of course).
What is a Startup?
My efriend Allen Stern over at Center Networks asked something interesting today: how do you define “startup”? It’s a good question. Not only because everybody seems to have his or her own “startup” these days and there’s a whole pop culture symbology built around the concept of the “startup,” but because we throw the term around so much that it has almost become as nebulous as the “Web 2.0″ moniker.
Allen suggests some possible criteria:
Dating 2.0 Debunked
The modern dating scene has been impacted greatly by online dating services like Match.com and online social networks like MySpace. Back in 2003 I almost got involved with an online dating venture and thus I’ve given some thought to the online dating phenomenon a number of times over the years. After reading a Reuters article yesterday about an anthropology professor’s study of Canadian women over the age of 30 who are using online dating services, I decided that it would be worthwhile to analyze what has become a part of mainstream culture that affects the way many people are interacting and building relationships.
Taking an Online Life to Regain a Real Life
The Times Online has an interesting article entitled “Facebook suicide: the end of a virtual life.” In a semi-humorous way, it provides a modicum of hope that there still exist people in this world who recognize just how pathetic social networks can be.
The article is interesting if for no other reason than the fact that it touches on quite a few of the subjects I’ve discussed in previous blog posts. Among the most salient points:
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Drama 2.0 spikes the Web 2.0 kool aid by providing a critical analysis of Web 2.0 startups and the impact of Web 2.0 on the media industry. Other topics are explored when Drama 2.0 has a slight buzz. Read more about the Internet's version of Keyser Söze here.
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