2009.103: This is the life! Then you die.
Just as a little background, I begin in earnest on the Internet in about
1993 in the walled garden known as Compuserve. I think there were three
choices and CS was the one available in France at the time, at a
whopping 2400 baud, moving up to 9600 a little later. Then to 56k, and
now we can say that the ubiquitous 8 Mbps DSL available here is almost
200 times as fast as 56k. And on to our friends who have the fiber in
Paris at 100 Mbps bidirectional. I can now download a 45-minute
TV episode from iTunes in about 13 minutes. On Compuserve in 2005, a 30
second trailer, postage stamp sized with shaky sound and stuttering
picture took a half an hour to download. You get the picture. Technology
changes in the time an infant grows up to be 16, amazing changes have
taken place with a rate of change exponentially faster than when I was a
Baby Boomer child.
Now almost everyone on the planet is able to publish not only little
texts but HD video and their posts have a potential to reach an audience
of hundreds of millions to boot. This seems to create an odd side
effect, which I've been observing for a few years. It seems to create
jealousy where there is no good reason for it. For all of the chest
beating and pissing contests in the world of forums and blogs, there
really is only one Truth: mine. Yes, I have the Unique Truth, I'm gifted
with Great Wisdom. But I will never tell you about it in a contentious
way though I may give a gentle nudge or hint. If you begin to disagree
though, I think a new and interesting force comes into play. I think to
myself, then say aloud, "what if you are right? You may be right!"
I realize that my Truth isn't necessarily your Truth. Your perception is
seen by you inside your universe. Assuming your are not in total control
of my life, why should I worry about whether you think it's important to
have more people following you on Twitter whereas I think it's more
important to be happy using it however you wish. My truth is that
Twitter numbers are highly skewed for example, and I have concrete
evidence of this. Still, if you want to argue about it, I'd say, "you
may be right!"
I'm inspired to write this not because of the religious that get on my
nerves by challenging my beliefs (whereas I never challenge theirs
outside my own mind). I'm writing it because some of the few people who
may read this might just think about how in the last few years the
Internet has been getting more contentious with people putting their
egos out there electronically in a way that can only mean "Here's my
style, because I got no content." Being clever doesn't mean shit unless
you're feeding the hungry, cleansing the earth, making someone's life
better, even if it's only your own life.
While someone was posting attack dog-like statements on a professional
wine association forum, I was out walking in the mild Bordeaux evening
near the river and hundreds of people of all ages were grooving, playing
music, laughing and - I find this especially telling - drinking wine.
Yes, in this country you can have an open bottle in public parks, you
are welcome to do so as long as you're not out to bust anyone else's
good time.
A bunch of bright people wrote a white paper that they graciously gave
away. The content is as good as any book you're likely to read about
social media on the web. There are many areas one might want to differ
with the authors, but to snidely bitch about this free effort is just
not cool, it so reeks of jealousy and lack of intellectual finesse.
Shana you ignorant bitch!
CHILL!
