Yesterday, as I was checking my e-mail before the 'great post-last exam session' with my now former colleagues, I saw a message that caught my eye. I couldn't recall recieving one like this before. It was an update from YouTube.com, telling me that "friends" of mine had updated ther profiles and added videos to their pages. While the e-mail itself was not of much interest, what was, was thinking about the likes of Bebo, MySpace, Uber and even Facebook. It seems as though, the more that one participates in these websites, the more they give up their privacy. By adding pictures of last weeks drinking session, or making arrangements to meet friends via wall posts, it seems that 'privacy' and the idea of having a 'private life' is becoming a distant memory.
In many ways, the same can be said for mobile phones. While I myself am quite, and sadly, reliant on my mobile as a means of contacting people, I am aware that by having the blasted thing in my pocket, I am unable to truly release. Think back say, 10 or 15 years ago, when hardy anyone had a phone. Wasn't that fun? Being able to go for a walk and know that the longer you are away from people the more privacy you had. Is it just me, or does going to meet someone in person seem like a chore nowadays? We can always just message eachother on Bebo/Facebook...or at a stretch, call on the phone. Sadly, this is the attitude that many people are unknowingly adopting.
I spoke to a friend the other day, in person no less, who said to me that he "couldn't be bothered to call his friends to invite them to his birthday celebrations", instead he planned to send a 'thread' on Facebook and that way they could tick the appropriate box on the invite. He said that going to all the hassle of ringing people was a pain in the ass. I though to myself, "how ridiculous". We are not becoming a world when even calling someone is deemed an effort!
What baffles me more, is trying to predict how we will communicate in the future. Will we just not talk to eachother anymore, thus rendering language futile? Maybe people won't leave their homes; satellite link-ups at weddings, funerals and child-births? Indeed the information superhighway is a long and interesting road however, is where it appears to be leading that nice of a place? I don't think so.
While I certainly don't enjoy social networking sites, I hypocritically possess several pages on different networks. There are indeed benefits; messaging distant relatives, playhing stupid games etc. One thing about these sites, is that I realise they are incredibly dangerous. I read an article posted on Kevin Smiths blog about a girl in the United States who committed suicide due to taunting and bullying she recieved on MySpace. To synosise, Megan Meier, a 16 year old from Florida, after months of pleading with her parents, was allowed to register a MySpace account. Her parents didn't want her to have one because they felt that she would become vulnerable to creeps of the internet. Anyway, While on MySpace she became friends with a boy and after a while the boy started telling her that he had heard that she was a horrible person and that she would be better off dead. She took that literally and commited suicide in her bedroom by hanging herself in her wardrobe. After weeks of investigation her parents recieved an anonymous phonecall from a girl who informed them that the boy never actually existed. Instead the parents of a friend of Megan's had set up the account because they wanted to "have fun" with Megan, who had recently 'de-friended' their daughter. Can you imagine that? How sick does someone have to be to do this? While we can expect kids to do things like this, we can hardly fathom the idea that an adult, let alone two - parents, would do this to a young girl and her family.
This isn't the only example, there are dozens of examples of internet-bullying related suicides as well as suicide pacts that have emerged in the news as a result of Social Networking. More recently in Wales, several teenagers killed themselves as part of a suicide pact they started for kicks it seems.
I suppose in many ways that these serve as cases-in-point regarding the privacy/safety demise brought on by the internet. Social Networking is a revolution which can't be taken lightly. It has more or less killed them both. I realise that I am being a hypocrite and that my having social networking spaces on various sites exhibits how I, myself, have been sucked into the realm of the internet buzz. However, I think that while these sites are useful, they are dangerous in ways that we can only just imagine. The perverse nature of these sites, while not necessarily repulsive, is indeed a shocking at times. What will be interesting, as I said before, will be seeing what the future has in store for the world of G-Rated exhibitionism.
Well, that's all for now. Remember to check out the 1 Second Film website. Nirvan Mullick has contacted me and has said that all of you who participate will get producer credits during the 90 minute post-movie end credits/making of documentary and also they are planning to set up Imdb profiles, however, I am not sure how they are planning to do it. I assume they will have a 1 Second Film page and list off the producers appropriately. Check It Out!!
Also, for those of you who are, like me, avid film buffs, if you haven't seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall, do just that. Russell Brand is excellent in it but sadly, his script could have been expanded.
And finally, speaking of Russell Brand, download the podcast on the BBC Radio 2 Website. It is hysterical, and for the neigh-sayers who dislike Russell's on-stage persona, you will change your minds about him, I guarantee it.
Right, I'm outta here
