Baby's First Internet
July 22, 2008 6:26 AM   Subscribe

Baby's first internet comes amidst other, less illustrated, concerns about the all-consuming 'blogosphere' and increasingly online life. The problems, it seems, are somewhat novel and (one assumes) almost endless.
posted by oxford blue (30 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Talking about your blog is the social equivalent of talking about your dog. It’s a dull conversation for everyone but you.

Agreed, although I've never ever ever EVER heard ANYONE (other than my wife, but that's different) talk about their blogs.

Yet, an entire industry exists built around nothing more than bloggers, talking about blogging to other bloggers via their blogs.

And if they talk to each other, that affects you how?

Where's the big brouhaha over diaries? And books? An entire industry exists built around nothing more than books, talking about reading to other readers! And another industry built around nothing more than eating! OMGTHEINSANITYMUSTBESTOPPED!!!!

It's a human activity. People enjoy communicating. Get over it.
posted by DU at 6:32 AM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]


So, the topic up for discussion is the internet? I agree with what you said.
posted by poppo at 6:32 AM on July 22, 2008


How about we try to convince google to take grammar, even from comments, into account?
posted by jeffburdges at 6:33 AM on July 22, 2008


(Baby's first internet was kind of funny, though.)
posted by DU at 6:33 AM on July 22, 2008


Where's the big brouhaha over diaries? And books? An entire industry exists built around nothing more than books, talking about reading to other readers! And another industry built around nothing more than eating! OMGTHEINSANITYMUSTBESTOPPED!!!!

I don't think anyone is saying it should "be stopped" but I think a lot of people are starting to feel that much of the blog sphere has become like daytime television. Completely vapid and pointless, which if you think about it was bound to happen. The internet has empowered millions of people to share their thoughts with each other, and what do they think about? Paris Hilton and what they eat. And how to make money blogging.
posted by delmoi at 6:41 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


How is babby formed?
posted by m0nm0n at 6:42 AM on July 22, 2008


I look forward to Baby's First IRC Channel.
posted by mhoye at 6:48 AM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]


How is babble formed?
posted by JanetLand at 6:55 AM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]


Completely vapid and pointless, which if you think about it was bound to happen.

90% of everything is crap, Film At 11. Where's the articles on the "all-consuming" and "vapid and pointless" nature of photography based on most of it sucking? Or car sales? Or lumber and lumber-related supplies? 90% of those all suck too.

Blogging is the newest hotness, save for vapid and pointless griping about blogging.
posted by DU at 7:02 AM on July 22, 2008


I got a hilarious email from an editor regarding a story I just filed about the kind of content street kids put up on their Myspace pages. One quote in the story is pulled from a comment box where this kid is basically bragging about intimidating a witness, which he was subsequently charged with and jailed for.

The editor was like,

"How do we run this? Do we use all caps?

Did he actually write ‘NI99A’?"
posted by The Straightener at 7:08 AM on July 22, 2008 [7 favorites]


They grow up so quick.
posted by chillmost at 7:20 AM on July 22, 2008


90% of everything is crap, Film At 11.

True. But it is different this time as we've never had many to many crap before. Twenty years ago if you wanted to write adult fan fiction about Hello Kitty, it would probably only be seen by your closest friends. Now, anyone with a computer can see it; indeed they may be lucky enough to stumble on it without even looking.

I guess what I'm saying is that for better or for worse the crap of yesteryear (whether it be video, song, or blogs) was always filtered by old media's gatekeepers. Sure a lot of it was still crap, but it was usually polished and vaguely commercially viable crap. Now, that far from perfect filter has gone.

Sometimes this results in eclectic genius and that's terffic. But the price we pay for that is that 99% of stuff on the net (rather than a mere 90 in the old world ) is crap. But then what did we expect? If you let everyone have their say, everyone will. Just don't hold them to your high standards. Or for that matter any standards at all.

I think the problem comes from believing that if the greatest number of people have the means to express themselves they'll say something interesting, noble and worthwhile. That, like 99% of what's available online, is crap.
posted by rhymer at 7:40 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


How is babble formed?
posted by JanetLand


You need to find way instain moron.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:48 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


delmoi: I don't think anyone is saying it should "be stopped" but I think a lot of people are starting to feel that much of the blog sphere has become like daytime television. Completely vapid and pointless, which if you think about it was bound to happen.

The perfect case example of this in action.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 8:43 AM on July 22, 2008


"How do we run this? Do we use all caps?
Did he actually write ‘NI99A’?"


I thought the uhhh... generally accepted uhhh... practice?, you know? Was to, like, write down what they all done meant when they alls said it. 'Cause, you know, what we speak or say, you know, ha, doesn't always uh.... translate to uh... readable stuff? You know? Yeah, like that.
posted by unixrat at 8:45 AM on July 22, 2008


But it is different this time as we've never had many to many crap before.

But we also have tools to filter crap and find non-crap. On balance, I find the online world less crappy then the offline one. Not because there's less crap (in either percentage or absolute numbers) but because non-crap is easier to locate and identify.
posted by DU at 8:45 AM on July 22, 2008


If only there were some sort of way we could band together to find quality content, "Best of the Web" if you will...
posted by unixrat at 8:49 AM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]


Are you talking about some kind of... I don't know... filter?
posted by owtytrof at 8:59 AM on July 22, 2008


I remain happy with the internet as long as it can still show me things like this.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:42 AM on July 22, 2008 [7 favorites]


How is babble formed?

Don't bother to RTFA
Make a witty comment right away
posted by Eideteker at 10:26 AM on July 22, 2008


Top 5 hacks for Most Effective Naps seems too over the top to be funny, it's not like anyone would actually -- oh. i see.
posted by Gary at 10:56 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Man, I really love the Amazon reviews of Of Grammatology.
The problem with this book like Derrida's other books is that it's hard to read. Derrida thinks he is saying something so deep but he can't say it right, he always uses strange words that I don't know the meanings. I can't find them in my dictionary and I even have a French one. If he knew what he was talking about then maybe we could start talking, but he never makes his point. For example a real philosopher like Kahlil Gibran (remember "The Prophet?) never wastes time but gets to the point. I think Derrida would like to be like Kahlil Gibran but he's going to have to work at it.
Yeah, Kahlil Gibran's a real philosopher. Just like Dave Matthews is a real poet.
I have no idea why this book is so influential. The critique of "logocentrism" is flat-out boring and basically a rehash of Plato's critique of the shift in society when the written word came into play. Derrida is certainly not a new nor a creative thinker, and he really does not write very well. There is a certain stylistic flow to his prose, but the book is filled full of gobble-de-gook that makes little sense. Okay, so Derrida is celebrating the play of language and the creative aspects of miscommunication -- writing of the margins and white-space so that he calls into question the standards of written prose. So what? Is this useful? Is it accurate? Does not making sense make any sense? Even when one breaks through to the few segments of writing that are even remotely understandable, the arguments that Derrida makes are really dated. They are drawn from obsolete and racist theories of unilinear cultural evolution that has been discarded by reputable anthropologists for well over 70 years. There are no "traces" of grammatological signs hidden in the unconscious. The book is little more than a pseudo-intellectual excursion and descent into the etymological fallacy.
Sounds like someone read the wrong wikipedia entry.
I don't like this book as it didn't help me with my home work and Miss Rogers told me off. I wanted to correct my grammar which weren't very good but Derrida did not help me he was talking difficult stuff.

While my grammar was attacked however, Miss Rogers did concede my principal point, which was that Derrida, having constructed his own metanarrative, is as susceptible to wilful misinterpretation through the prism of other metanarratives as he inflicts on others. Moreover, in some of Derrida's earlier essays, he specifically attacks Heidegger for misunderstanding what he means when accounting for his own form of deconstruction. Yet it seems to me - and surely to most? - that the central tenet of deconstruction is this: that authorial intent cannot be guaranteed as ultimate meaning; and that ultimate meaning does not exist. Vive la differance? Or does he need a kick up the arche?

Miss Rogers gave me a B- for anyone interested.
And it was richly deserved.
posted by nasreddin at 12:20 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Actually, that last one is by some guy who just posts vaguely amusing reviews of random books.

*cleans egg off face*
posted by nasreddin at 12:28 PM on July 22, 2008


The first link is really entertaining.
posted by meowN at 1:13 PM on July 22, 2008


BACONFilter does have a nice ring to it.

Mmm. Bacon.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 1:49 PM on July 22, 2008


> But we also have tools to filter crap and find non-crap

This is the key point so many seem to miss. Before RSS, the authorial and publishing functions were distributed. After RSS, the editorial function, too, was distributed. RSS entries with links pointing to other RSS entries are votes which can be tallied, PageRank-style. This implicit voting separates the wheat from the chaff, and no central authority is required (as with old media gatekeepers.)

If blogging makes the problem of "there's too much stuff out there" much worse, it also contains within it the solution. Put another way: don't worry that there's too much blog junk out there; it won't be a problem.
posted by sdodd at 2:53 PM on July 22, 2008


Cute post. Thanks.

The perfect case example of this in action.

I can't believe I watched that, but! I learned that Xeni is pronounced "Zhenny" not "Zeenee"!
posted by mrgrimm at 6:34 PM on July 22, 2008


but! I learned that Xeni is pronounced "Zhenny" not "Zeenee"!

I thought it was pronounced "Shenny."

/embarrassed to even have an opinion about that
posted by jayder at 6:37 PM on July 22, 2008


Your friends won’t like it, on the real,
but you must Flickr every meal.


That one's my favorite.
posted by statolith at 6:24 AM on July 23, 2008


baconfilter.com and metabacon.com (and all the other TLDs) are available. Stop me before I domain again.
posted by wendell at 3:34 PM on July 23, 2008


« Older Squeeeee!   |   No "pic-a-nic baskets" anymore Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments