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October 4, 2012
broadcasting (v.)
This post is going to very much a morning rant. Mostly because I'm sleepy as I went to bed too late last night, wasting 30 minutes on a boring site that I just have to blog about. I've recently begun a new job, and having done a bit of overtime a few days this week (it's the busy season in MarCom!) I'm really giving myself a hard time for not going to bed before midnight - especially when what I wind up putting my time towards is plain stupid.
So without further ado...
Broadcasting. In the age of the web. Is a force. To be reckoned with.
I stumbled upon a site last night that looked like this:
(YouNow, it's called.) I refuse to embed a link to the site because you shouldn't go there until you hear me out (you may wind up beating yourself up for spending time there). Above, is a guy getting dressed for school (I just grabbed the screenshot a minute ago).
It's a site that broadcasts people live on a number of themed channels. The catch is that once it's your turn to go "live," the time alotted to you to be on air is determined by the number of people watching who give you a thumbs up.
I know - how democratic!
Now, I shouldn't have beef with a site that gives people voice - from both ends. People can decide for themselves what they want to broadcast, and what they want broadcasted to them (or if they want to stay on the channel at all). However, I just found it completely inane that a bunch of these people broadcast themselves out of complete vanity - completely forgetting, along the way, what broadcasting really entails.
Apart from a (very) few people who sing and dance and have something worthy of sharing to watchers (like an opinion, advice, a story....), I mainly watched, in complete Oryx and Crake-ian horror, people (really, teenagers) just sitting at their computers doing absolutely nothing worth watching.
Except I couldn't look away.
Some talked about how they don't know what to say; two people were told to take off their clothes by the people chatting with them (no one did it, but it makes me wonder...); others (popular "YouTubers") recognized YouTube aliases and turned the whole thing into a popularity contest that probably excluded people outside that community (who don't spend 4 hours a day on YouTube).
I spent 4 minutes watching a girl typing on her computer.
And that's when I decided to leave - but, I admit, it was already too much time spent there (and I, once again did not get enough sleep!)
It just makes me think that every idea - even if it's good - isn't necessarily a good idea.
I hope I don't sound like an ignoramus, but something about this whole voyeuristic "broadcast yourself" thing doesn't sit well with me. (Just go read Atwood's Oryx and Crake).
See for yourself and let me know your thoughts. www.younow.com. And while you're there, I'll be on YouTube.
At least I can watch cat videos there.
So without further ado...
Broadcasting. In the age of the web. Is a force. To be reckoned with.
I stumbled upon a site last night that looked like this:
It's a site that broadcasts people live on a number of themed channels. The catch is that once it's your turn to go "live," the time alotted to you to be on air is determined by the number of people watching who give you a thumbs up.
I know - how democratic!
Now, I shouldn't have beef with a site that gives people voice - from both ends. People can decide for themselves what they want to broadcast, and what they want broadcasted to them (or if they want to stay on the channel at all). However, I just found it completely inane that a bunch of these people broadcast themselves out of complete vanity - completely forgetting, along the way, what broadcasting really entails.
Apart from a (very) few people who sing and dance and have something worthy of sharing to watchers (like an opinion, advice, a story....), I mainly watched, in complete Oryx and Crake-ian horror, people (really, teenagers) just sitting at their computers doing absolutely nothing worth watching.
Except I couldn't look away.
Some talked about how they don't know what to say; two people were told to take off their clothes by the people chatting with them (no one did it, but it makes me wonder...); others (popular "YouTubers") recognized YouTube aliases and turned the whole thing into a popularity contest that probably excluded people outside that community (who don't spend 4 hours a day on YouTube).
I spent 4 minutes watching a girl typing on her computer.
And that's when I decided to leave - but, I admit, it was already too much time spent there (and I, once again did not get enough sleep!)
It just makes me think that every idea - even if it's good - isn't necessarily a good idea.
I hope I don't sound like an ignoramus, but something about this whole voyeuristic "broadcast yourself" thing doesn't sit well with me. (Just go read Atwood's Oryx and Crake).
See for yourself and let me know your thoughts. www.younow.com. And while you're there, I'll be on YouTube.
At least I can watch cat videos there.
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