Generally there are 2 sides to every coin

In response to Manovich's essay and what was earlier discussed in class: The internet is definitely a marvel, and so are newspaper and both radio and televised broadcasts etc. Needless to say, all of the said forms of media and beyond are subject to manipulation. People are also partial to formulating opinions and in (many parts of the world) some way obliged- socially perhaps? (although not forced) to contribute towards the grand, plentiful data pool that is... The internet.







There are certain benefits of this invention, mainly being related to its democratic 'all may contribute' nature, because every one can and does have a voice in some way shape or form, and the internet is one place where your voice can be publicly expressed.



This is a powerful principle, perhaps frightening to some. I think we can all agree that there IS an abundance of digital noise out there and that a lot of internet content is trivial but what the input represents in terms of technology, communication and censorship is much more important.







Its important that there is a means that encourages freedom of expression. No matter how trivial, else censorship would become far too severe and depends on the opinion of perhaps very few individuals.



Of course, the immense mass of data dilutes some a sense of intelligence, necessity, creativity and/or ingenuity just like how the sounds of a busy road or noisy environment may drown out parts conversation you are trying to engage in. Lots of people enjoy talking about nonsense, which is not necessarily an insult because its an observable fact. The process and experience of the internet is by nature a selective one. In most countries you may select the content you view as much as you select the content that you contribute.







My sister forwarded me an email containing a public message from her friend. This blog entry is a comment on what he has said despite his request at the end "PS Please don’t comment on this. I don’t want to hear what you think and it will only encourage me to post more useless shite." I agree with the content and think its funny. At the same time its relevant to this part of my course. Its all an important part of the information development process. I presume there is a use for the reflections people produce in response to what other people say when given unlimited opportunity to express themselves, never mind how blandly they decide to do so.











Keep your trivia to yourself... by Jack Sharp



I don’t want to know what you had for lunch, what hat you’re wearing










or what type of dog you just saw. Stop spewing mindless content into










the great expanse of the internet in the vain hope that someone will










read it and give you a virtual pat on the bum for the cute little life



you lead.







True, the human mind has been a festering hive of trivial sewage for



thousands of years, but the sluice gates tended to stay shut or at



least only open on street corners or in public houses where the stink



could disappear harmlessly into the atmosphere. Now the stench of



mindless drivel is trapped and displayed for the entire world on the



internet. Constantly being replaced and updated with more totally



pointless shit.







The absolute worst thing about it is that when I inevitably stumble



across these shit-nuggets I feel compelled to read them and further



dull my over-stimulated brain when I would much rather be reading a



novel or playing my guitar or ….actually anything… jamming cocktail



sticks into my tear ducts.







But I’m unable to turn away and just end up making myself feel wretched.







-‘Happy 1st Birthday Winston (the dog)!!’







-‘I’m drinking tea and all happy about watching episode 7x21 of Buffy’







-‘Now that the new Lotus Tesco Market has just opened on my street, I



have it plus three 7-Elevens to shop at. All within a half km. Cool!’







-‘Now I have to wait ten minutes in the cold’







-‘Fun start to the day. Coffee while doing laundry’











See, you just read all those and what did it contribute to your life. NOTHING!







And yet, here I am, committing my worthless opinion to virtual print



for someone to like/comment/blog or twitter on about. I feel sick.







My only hope is that on reading this a few people may be compelled to



ignore the vast ocean of trivial musings on the web and most



importantly refrain from contributing their own mind-scat to the



intellectual sewage pipe.







PS Please don’t comment on this. I don’t want to hear what you think



and it will only encourage me to post more useless shite.                                                                                                                  
















WHAA HAA HAAAA! I feel like I have completed the cycle some how. If this is referring to facebook, Jack should adjust the settings so that that he receive NO NEWS from any one. Its an option.  On media: It's useful to be skeptical, patient and informed. And to question all things presented to you without irrational assumptions that you know everything. Question things with out feeling obliged to follow unreasonable and extreme theories or conspiracies.



No one has all the answers and no one ever will.