Showing posts with label social networking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social networking. Show all posts

Monday, October 4, 2010

A Rosebud by Any Other Name ...



So my friend is watching the movie "Social Network" this weekend and said one critic quoted this movie as being -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- "the Citizen Kane of our generation." Ummm, no. Citizen Kane was Citizen Kane. Social Network has the kid from Zombieland in it.

It might be a movie to define our generation, but don't people say that about every film that has even slight social implications?

When Boyz n the Hood or Menace to Society premiered, it was to be a "wake up call for the black community."

Did African Americans come together on some kind of shared consciousness? Did we attempt to infiltrate the very cancers eating away at our communities with the intent to heal them? Become self-reliant and not tear down those willing to make sacrifices?

No. We pretty much stayed the same. Nothing has changed and we will wail and weep at our plight, but have done nothing to add balm to long ago open wounds.

So will Social Network allow us to see a generation become totally dependent on the internet as a form of conscious expression and conduit for financial wealth and social power? Yes, but I don't think we'll really do anything about this.

We won't stop using Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. We won't throw away our iPods, iPads, or iPhones. People cannot, we will not unplug.

I mean Citizen Kane forewarned, through looking at a man's life, how ideology can turn the most innocent into the most ruthless. Will Social Network detail the cyber perils of socializing and living our lives online? I hope so, but let's be honest: We don't look at movies for messages, to change our lives, we look at movies to be entertained -- nothing more and nothing less.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Social Networking and Boredom


As a young spry teenager whenever I was bored, I picked up a book and read. Now, I update my facebook status.

I would improve my writing skills when I felt I didn't have a lot to do. Now I will tweet that I have nothing to do while trolling for followers --my writing dried up like the molty, gray skin of an elephant.

I wasn't very inspired to write on my blog, but do you know what I was going to do? Instead of reading a newspaper or book for a topic, my first thought was to update my facebook profile saying I didn't have anything about which to write.

I think I have a serious addiction.