Monthly Archives: February 2012
The Internet Never Forgets (But Its Users Sure Do)
I always wonder what would happen if I just stopped posting on Facebook. Would my friends think I was dead? Probably not right away.
They’d probably think, “Oh, he’s just busy.” That’s assuming they notice.
How about after a week? A month?
How many friends do you have on Facebook? Do you notice every single post they make? Most of us don’t and it’s not really a problem. I certainly don’t notice or comment on every post by all of my friends. I have 188 of them on Facebook. A combination of childhood friends, college friends and co-workers past and present. I know I don’t comment on everything, but if I don’t see a friend posting for a long time… well, I’m not sure if I’ve ever consciously noticed that.
So why should I expect it from others?
And that’s the thing, isn’t it? Most of us on Facebook, myself included, and really this can be extrapolated to just about any social network, we’re in it for ourselves. Yes, you’re talking to your friends and yes there’s communication that’s taking place between at least two people.
But your status updates, or mine, or those of your friends… Who are they about?
Okay, that was mean.
Do you remember the earlier days of Facebook, when every status would start with the word “is”? Like “Ted Raymond is… writing a blog post” for example. The whole system is geared towards admitting information about yourself. I think the majority of posts are like this. It works in Facebook’s favour. They get to collect all kinds of info about its users, to better tailor advertisements and make more money. It works well for the users because if there’s one thing people love to do, it’s talk about themselves.
Why do you think I start a lot of blog posts with the letter “I”?
My point is two-fold. 1) Take a step back and actually really listen (okay read) to what your friends are saying.
And 2) try to reach out to your friends once in a while. It isn’t always about you.
… Or is it?
-Ted.
Top 5 Playbook Features You Didn’t Get Last Week
Our most recent show touched on some new (and in some cases, much-needed) Playbook features. Here’s a few you didn’t hear about in Playbook OS 2.0:
Compatibility with WebOS Apps: Bringing the total number of apps available on the Blackberry platform from 60,000 to 60,002. (plus Android apps)
Office Assistant: RIM isn’t just stopping with folders, let me tell you! They’re bringing out the big guns from the Windows 95 days.
"How do I make my Playbook an iPad?"
Partnership with Blockbuster: Netflix doesn’t want to make a Playbook app? Fine! Who needs ‘em? Blockbuster knows movies inside and out after their many years in the business! Just like RIM!
Remote Lock Down in Case of Service Outage: That way, if Blackberry Internet Service goes down again, RIM won’t have pesky customers sending messages and creating a backlog that further slows down the system. I mean really guys, do you need to use your phones that badly?
A Permanent Stock Ticker Showing RIM’s Share Price on the Tablet’s Dashboard: At first you thought it simply wasn’t moving, then you realized it was just going perpetually downward.
Of course today’s post was merely satire (and as I discovered after last week’s show, the Playbook does in fact already have Solitaire and Freecell). We are pulling for RIM even though that can be quite a challenge sometimes! Be sure to check out this week’s podcast for the real new features in Playbook OS 2.0.
-PG
How Will The Web Be Won?
In a dusty saloon, deep in the heart of British Columbia, men sip their drinks and look nervously over the shoulders of another, his laptop open to any one of many websites where you can find “the Internet.”
“The Internet” as in the collective of people who spend their free time discussing and creating anything under the sun (and many things which hide from it). The websites are out there, and you’d be hard pressed NOT to find one.
Something Awful, Fark, GameFAQs, TVTropes, Reddit, 4chan… In the world of the web, these aren’t just websites. You sign into one, you swear allegiance to it. Wars are waged across the fora, out of sight and out of mind of the Facebookers and the YouTubers. The skimmers, those who only dip their pinky toes into the very surface of the web, never daring to dive deeper.
Online, anything goes, and that doesn’t sit well with some people.
In this image, I compare legislators who want to control or curtail the Internet to fictional villains.
We have discussed, here on the site, and on the show as well, a number of measures that have been taken to try to win over this new frontier. Forget Space. The final frontier is online. It’s just as infinite and we never need to leave our homes to venture into realms untold.
You will never reach the end of the web. Sarcastic websites aside, the Internet is growing. There’s just so much content, you’ll never live long enough to see it all. In the past, the Library of Alexandria was considered the depository of human knowledge. We’ve created it again, but all the knowledge in the world is now held in server systems in California and Washington.
But you can get to it on your phone.
I don’t want to take a side in this one. I want to hear your thoughts. How will the Web be won? Will there be a time when the Internet becomes as tame and sterile as a B.C. coffee shop? Will there always be a place, or many places, online, where folks can go to air terrible opinions, fight anonymously and create graphic, offensive content?
Will there even BE anonymity on the web in the future? Will the likes of SOPA/PIPA/ACTA/C-30 eventually come down and take the place of the lawless, neutral web as we know it today?
I will say this. There’s something to be said for lawfulness and control. The west could not stay wild forever, but people must remain free, even under that control. The people who want to control the web are very wealthy, very smart and very patient.
But we outnumber them.
-Ted.
How Long Would You Last Without Your Cellphone?
If you’re like two thirds of the population, you would experience fear over the prospect of being without your mobile phone.
A new study sponsored by the UK’s SecurEnvoy shows 70% of women and 61% of men have nomophobia – fear of being without your mobile phone. (The company attributes the higher rate among women to the fact they’re less likely to have two phones.)
While it sounds ridiculous (and like a major “First World Problem“), think of the last time you left your phone somewhere and how you reacted. The concern goes beyond simply having your data compromised or the phone lost or stolen and having to buy a replacement.
In this always-on, always-connected digital age, people expect you to be in constant contact and assume the worst if they can’t reach you. They can become frustrated or paranoid if your communication habits change inexplicably. And this is only going to get worse as cell phones become even more prevalent – CNET notes when nomophobia was first identified four years ago, only 50% reported anxiety when they were out of cell phone contact.
While it seems silly to write the words, I think I would identify myself as a nomophobe. Part of it may come from habits I’ve formed since becoming a cellphone user. I’m used to texting people regularly, and sending and receiving emails on the go, and checking the time or weather or social networks using my phone. When I’ve left it somewhere, I suddenly don’t have access to those abilities. While it’s obviously not drastic, you do feel like something it missing.
Nomophobia may sound ridiculous, but it’s here to stay. Do you identify yourself as a nomophobe? Or am I and the rest like me completely out to lunch and our priorities are out of whack? Let me know in the comments!
-PG
