Future of Media

[StarMist]

You being a hoary old internet user of at least 5 years' experience I foolishly presumed you'd recognise the @ as a mark of response. Someone will get the chair for this.
...
But does this mean I won't get any rep now? Or that your previous rep was a dig? These are life and death matters on a forum, you know.

-----)/___

^ That's my attempt at creating an abbreviation to show the thread's been properly derailed. And there was weeping in Babylon.

[Tanegashima]

No, I'm going to rep you for correcting me because I deserved that and apologize for being presumptuous.

Your opinions are welcome, no matter how brazen lol.

I own an internets and have been on here for five years, that doesn't make me any more competent.

[DarkDragon]

We live in a world where 10 year olds have cell phones. I have an 8 yr old cousin and I heard she asked her dad to buy her an iphone and I dont think he did but the thought of 8 year olds having iphones just frightens and depresses me.

[Guntz]

I agree on that note.

If the kiddies want their technology, they should be started on the old stuff, so they have a better appreciation for the new stuff. In fact, any way to put some appreciation into kids is a good thing. People more and more take things for granted. I wonder how many of them have gone through a long power outage and not freak out...

[Chilly Willy]

It's funny when people scream about how society is going to heck in a hand-basket. The world is far better off now than at any other point in history - it's just that the problems which ALWAYS exist are more visible due to the higher penetration of media. We see the world as it has ALWAYS been rather than how the few people in charge of the limited sources of info wished us to perceive the world. Did Africa lack famine in the 50's simply because we didn't have any reporters there? Porn is as old as mankind - most of the oldest artworks from tens of thousands of years old are pornographic images and statues. Look at the statistics since we started keeping them - crime across the board is at an all-time low, and then remember that we no longer build walls around our cities. So LIGHTEN UP! Things are BETTER, not worse!

[VGTM]

Eventually, the english language will be nothing but ridiculous internet slang, and when the time comes, all human population shall all act like illiterate teenagers for the rest of the Earth's existence. I fear that the end of us is very soon, and WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOU- L13k 0MQEY TH@T WVZ LYKE T3WTU113H LULZIEZ! *shoots self in face*

[tz101]

I just wanna know why idiocy is being promoted so much?

Look at reality t.v. the internet, New Jersey...

I simply don't understand when it became so popular to be so stupid?

About the same time homosexuality started being promoted as "good" and "normal".

[AlecRob]

The future of media sucks.

[16-bit]

I don't really think that the problem is a result of people all of a sudden changing the fact that they now have decided that stupid things or people are now more acceptable, but rather a surge in media saturation since the dot com boom in the late 1990's.

There was a very interesting frontline episode on PBS that looks at the amount media saturation and how it defined what a lot of kids think is "cool" that aired about ten years ago, I still think a lot of what it has to say still rings true today. (You can watch it here). I think the part on Tom Green might answer your question on why idiocy is being promoted so much Tanegashima.

The internet itself is a double edged sword. On one hand it allows really stupid things to become ridiculously popular and can seem to really dumb down our culture. One look at the front page of youtube is enough to prove this. Stupid video parodies, monotonous vlogs about someone's daily life who you shouldn't really care about, forced fads etc.
On the other hand there is more useful information now accessible to everyone than ever before. I can learn how to make any type of food I want for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I can find plenty of information online very easily to do a paper for school, find meetup groups online to get my socially inept, aspie ass out of the house. But by far the most important thing online right now has been discussion groups where I can discuss with other individuals like myself who were brainwashed at birth how to adjust to living normally in society. It's been a real life saver let me tell ya.

As far as the TV box is concerned, I can't really say much. I don't use it very often except to watch the new episode of frontline every few Tuesday nights on PBS, or to watch Bob's Burgers every once in a while (Not the best animated show ever, but it's a lot better than anything else right now IMO). Reality shows have been stupid and mundane ever since they were allowed to exist in the late 90's early 00's when computer video editing equipment became more widely available, cable news networks life Fox and NBC (although Dateline with Chris Hansen is nice) have been shit ever since I can remember, and there really is very little that's worth watching.

It was a little bit different when I was a kid and they'd air a bigger variety of shows on channels that were available over the air, but now that there's specialty channels for everything the fun of getting up early and getting a bowl of frosted flakes for Saturday morning cartoons seems to be something of the past. But then again, so is waiting for months for a particular episode of a show or a movie to air on TV and channel surfing and settling on a show that you don't even like.

[Tanegashima]

About the same time homosexuality started being promoted as "good" and "normal".

Do you actually believe that?

I'm still astounded at the irrelevancy of the issue of homosexuality, who cares?

I live in California and our idiot politicians on both sides are always talking about gay rights, abortion etc. but I find it strange they always put these issues at the forefront:

Republicans are against promoting homosexuality, Democrats for it and so on.

So much so that this and other moronic social issues dominate the political discussion here, they get up and yack and whine about it on both sides and somehow our traffic problems, taxes, out of control budget, crappy schools, crappy jobs, illegal immigration etc. all get swept under the table.

I'm beginning to believe that all of these far right wing and far left wing social issues are always at the forefront of politicians minds and mouths so we the people can forget how much they've fucked up everything but still pick a side.

These social issues only serve as a diversion from real issues and they are awfully convenient weapons to use when somebody wants to avoid issues like our currency, banking crisis, lack of good jobs, lack of good roads so forth and so on.

Its a total lie perpetrated on the American people that these idiots care one way or the other, it just keeps people from asking real questions like: "Why the Fuck don't I have a job?!" it promotes the very ignorance I'm talking about because that jobless person will still vote for someone who doesn't give two fucks about their being employed as long as "they aint gonna let them gays get married" or vice versa.

I call B.S.

A real Republican would be against the government getting involved in marriage, a real Republican doesn't care what people do with their lives. People who promote small government out of one side of their mouths can't in turn go around using the government as a weapon to promote their personal ideas of whom should be fucking whom. Total hypocrisy. Its a lie, an ignorant dangerous lie that makes people look away from real decisions being made in Washington that affect all of us.

People like Rick Santorum make me laugh, to paraphrase:
"Yeah I voted for all of Obama's bailouts, I voted for every bit of socialistic legislation Obama wanted, but gad darnit I sure won't let gays get married"

Yeah, sure does make sense to vote for him.

[old man]

See what I mean?

See what I mean?

There was no argument, no debate, no points, just some jackassery from someone who claims to be nearly a decade older than me.

I appreciate you proving my point StarMist by not adding to the discussion but becoming a shining example of what I'm talking about.

Thank you,
Rep at you StarMist.

Edit:
I must spread around more rep, don't worry I will once I can.

You mean you didn't rep me for my brilliant and witty commentary?

[Tanegashima]

I would if I could, I'm always down to rep you sir

[old man]

Well, you did rep me, but after that post at Starmist I thought you were just being snarky. Anyway this past ten years have been the decade of stupid. We should all be used to it by now. Hopefully after the world ends later this year things will pick back up. As for 1337 speak, I can't read it and never will.