The advent of the internet and its growth in popular culture has changed the way we interact and relate information forever. From marvelling at mobile phones twenty years ago, it is now possible to access the entire internet from a pocket device. The expansive evolution of technology is truly an amazing thing to see progress, right before our eyes. It progresses so rapidly that sometimes we take it for granted, underestimating the amazing notion that one can share a video call with someone half way across the world on a hand held device. Such advancements are true testaments to how amazing the human mind can be.
People are constantly aware of their internet interaction, linked by many different sites to their news updates, the art intake and their social networking. The internet has given unbias, independent sources more power than they ever have had before, showcasing an uncompressed database of specific interest and pick and choose media. This gives people in culturally sparse areas the opportunity to explore their own passions and interact with others who feel the same.
Independent art has advanced too. Sites like Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Tumblr, Youtube. etc, the self promotion of ones own art has given the creator total control over the product. No longer must a struggling artist rely on the trust of a major company with their own agendas to publish there own work. We have found a way to publish and circulate brilliant art, reliable news source, good independent video programming and music, opinions, homeselling, general information and the spread of knowledge.
To some, blogging is frivolous, but to me, blogging provides a valid increase in the spreading of information, idea and opinion. There is largely no agenda at all, but first hand point of view, often honest and passionate. Although these views might be seem ‘unresearched’ and might offend rogue website hoppers, it gives people a realistic scope on how to view human difference – the notion that one cannot hope to change the opinion of all others simply because it differs from yours. We must not fear difference, but embrace it, something that the internet generation will learn to embrace. Divided by distance, connected via the internet.
Also, blogging helps the relaying of concepts and thoughts that can both inspire and encourage, be it written, via video or audio. Vlogging and Podcasting are two highly expansive online mediums, communicating thought, sparking debate, relaying anecdotes, personal diaries, displaying skits, small ideas, etc. With these, countless amounts of personality can be found, and anyone can find their character with their own qualities and features to offer. It gives rise to the notion that we don’t have to give pure entertainment to be noted individuals, but we can spark ideas and encourage genuine thought in others; no gift is purer than inspiration.
With the revolution of communication, it reminds us a truth, well stated by Stephen Fry:
“We love love, and that anything else is incidental, irrelevant, cynical, and not interesting to us fundamentally”
– Eliot Humphreys
http://yuppyditch.tumblr.com/
