My Space
So I did consider starting a blog on MySpace, cuz then I could have the "all-in-one" site--pics, comments, blog, random survey results ("I'm a Snickers bar!"), groovy backgrounds, youtube videos that made me laugh, etc., etc., etc. And etc. But in fact, that's the whole thing I don't like about MySpace--there's just too damn much going on. And it's overflowing, and schizophrenic, and not so organized. And if somebody wants to contact me, they can post a comment, or send a bulletin, or send a message. Why? As a composition/rhetoric dork, I want to talk about "remediation" and multiple avenues for expression/creation of self and the joy of excess and the freedom of non-linearity. But as a user, I gotta say that the damn thing just turns me off.
Another huge gripe I've got about MySpace: at the end of the day, most of the self-presentation that goes on there just seems to be pre-packaged. A background from here, a video from there, a song from this site, a picture from that site, and twelve stupid surveys ('my true name is Funky McBeandoogle!') that really don't reveal much about the person who lives on that page. But, in reality (by which I mean, the physical world), I guess things aren't so different: a shirt from Maurices, a Volvo from the Volvo dealer, CDs from Hastings, a bumper sticker from wherever. I guess we're all just collages of pre-packaged meaning. But at least in reality (by which I mean, the physical world), some of that STUFF actually performs a function beyond representation. Like my shirt--sure, I chose it because I like how it presents me. But it also covers my belly and helps to keep me warm--functions which make both you and me happy. So I buy the shirt to act both as a functional object and a representational symbol. But on MySpace, ALL of the stuff acts as representational objects--there's no function beyond representaion. Somehow I'd expect that, online, people would actually CREATE their own self-representations, rather than just recylce symbols from elsewhere. Apparently not, or at least not on MySpace.
Whoa, that got more heady than I intended. Bottom line is, I find MySpace pretty vapid, and I guess it seems like blogspot--by priviliging my words--gives me a chance to prioritize my own originality. No "which Smurf are you?" survey here, man.
Another huge gripe I've got about MySpace: at the end of the day, most of the self-presentation that goes on there just seems to be pre-packaged. A background from here, a video from there, a song from this site, a picture from that site, and twelve stupid surveys ('my true name is Funky McBeandoogle!') that really don't reveal much about the person who lives on that page. But, in reality (by which I mean, the physical world), I guess things aren't so different: a shirt from Maurices, a Volvo from the Volvo dealer, CDs from Hastings, a bumper sticker from wherever. I guess we're all just collages of pre-packaged meaning. But at least in reality (by which I mean, the physical world), some of that STUFF actually performs a function beyond representation. Like my shirt--sure, I chose it because I like how it presents me. But it also covers my belly and helps to keep me warm--functions which make both you and me happy. So I buy the shirt to act both as a functional object and a representational symbol. But on MySpace, ALL of the stuff acts as representational objects--there's no function beyond representaion. Somehow I'd expect that, online, people would actually CREATE their own self-representations, rather than just recylce symbols from elsewhere. Apparently not, or at least not on MySpace.
Whoa, that got more heady than I intended. Bottom line is, I find MySpace pretty vapid, and I guess it seems like blogspot--by priviliging my words--gives me a chance to prioritize my own originality. No "which Smurf are you?" survey here, man.
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