The news networks- FOX, CNN, MSNBC- have all implemented a very 21st century kind of feature into their daily reportage. They now try to monitor the “Blogoshpere” to glean clues on what we’re thinking about.
They’re apparently monitoring some “everyman” weblogs. These “participatory journalists” are documenting on their particular niche or their corner of the world. The networks can then not only get the pulse of the issue in question, but they get it free. Of course there’s always the maxim, “you get what you pay for” to be considered.
So the info that is extrapolated from these blogs has to be discerned appropriately or it can be at it’s best worthless, but at it’s worst damaging.
Either way it’s an interesting angle. Any of us that happen to be online 24/7 certainly have our own favorite blogs and websites. They are like windows we peer into -or out of- that feed our need for timely news, quirky commentary or lively dialogue. We utilize our own filtering systems developed from experience.
I define the connectivity, interaction and info-spill as “Mental Massage” (copyright pending).
We can use what we learn to improve our lives or ruin them. We can spend too much time in virtual life or use it to improve our real life. Those “in the know”, understand that anyone can directly or indirectly find anything- ANYTHING!- online. It’s both exhilarating and frightening.
I am continually amazed when I talk to old friends back home that choose to have no internet access. I don’t judge that lifestyle choice as being any better or worse than my own. But it does puzzle me why those with the ability to stretch their world, increase their knowledge and improve their quality of life, would choose not to. Frankly, when my high-speed internet access goes down it’s a feeling similar to suffocation.
I guess while some have remained “couchpotatos”, I have evolved into a “deskpotato” (copyright pending).
Now there’s something Darwin could appreciate.
