Here are two very interesting blogs that will enrich the content of this site and you may find useful:
http://www.rsf.org/ (Reporters without borders)
http://voglioscendere.ilcannocchiale.it/ (Marco Travaglio, Italian Citizen journalist regularly publishing embarassing news for the Government)
Monday, November 8, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
What's wrong with self-esteem?
Response to article "Mirror, mirror of the web"
It's true, celebrity nowadays is a commodity. People are probably way more self-obsessed than, say, 50 years ago. Nonetheless, I do not agree with the pessimist view rampaging throughout the article. I don't see how depicting self-evaluation and self esteem as something negative will help us as a community, let alone as individuals. Don't get me wrong, I am the first to be annoyed by talentless and obtuse celebrities such as Paris Hilton or Tila Tequila; what are they famous for? A mediocre porn video? Being the leader of the "skank-pop" movement? Yes. And while this is greatly annoying, I appreciate the great privilege that modern society gives me: to ignore them. Let's not forget, these people became famous because a free society decided so. Nobody had a gun pointed to their head or was forced into celebrating shallowness. It's what some people want, and I will fight for their fundamental right to have it anyday.
I would like to remind ourselves of the meaning of the word "serendipity" and move on by focusing on the advantages that this "celebrity culture" may give to our society. To US, as a GROUP. As previously stated, while there is this widespread belief that "everyone's special", even the most critical mind has to acknowledge that this factor has surely helped a lot of hidden talents -real talents- to be discovered either by their own initiative or by the prompt action of somebody that recognized their abilities and decided to share them with the world. I cannot count how many great comedians, magnificent singers, incredible sport talents I have seen and discovered through Youtube, which's motto is "Broadcast Yourself". Does this environment enforce a culture of aspiration, particularly in relation to being noticed and celebrated? Quite likely. But does it create a culture of pure egoism and individualism, destructing the concept of community? I don't believe so. While there are a number of self-obsessed ego-maniacs out there, I still believe that the majority of people likes to interact with their fellow community members as peers, not as superior self-absorbed pricks. The difference with the past is that one may be more aware and sure about his own talents, be him/her a "celebrity" or not. And this is positive in my opinion. Self-esteem is an important part of an healthy individual. Besides, sometimes people may be almost unaware of their special talent, or carry it around with nonchalance and modesty. Check out this indian builder carrying around piles of bricks on his head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnL3iojuIDs . Probably this is not the kind of ability that will save the world or anything like that, but to my eyes it is an amazing skill that must have taken years to develop. Or this guy doing this amazing shot with a basketball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-GOzXGBlNc&feature=player_embedded is just astounding. My point is that there are literally millions of videos like that, which means millions of talented people in the fields of sports, comedy, jobs, maths, virtually anything has its own talent. Myspace, back in its most florid days, bypassed major record labels, gave exposure and generated success for incredibly talented musicians for example. This leads to the other, more important point: these people are celebrated and recognized by the community, changing the rules of the game in my opinion. In the past you needed to go through limited channels to gain exposure, and your destiny was decided by a lobby deciding what was a good product that deserved public attention. I cannot fathom how many talented individuals could not make it because of this unjust system. Today, thanks to the web 2.0, the community is self sufficient in the sense that it provides its own talents and celebrates them. Contrarily to what the article "Mirror, mirror of the web" believes, a vital part of this process is US, intended as a GROUP, united. If we were all a bunch of egoist self-absorbed individuals, this thing would not work! And more importantly, this culture combined with the power of the Web gifted us two fundamental elements of modern media. Material of superior quality compared to the past (due to increased competition and the cheap, widespread technology we need to "broadcast ourselves) and chiefly FREE material, readily available, anytime. We do not need lobbies, record labels, or any other parasite demanding their cut on the artists' work. These institutions have suffocated the goldmine of talents waiting to express themselves for too long. Now the people are independent in this regard, and this is -in my opinion- extremely positive! Moreover, the material is often produced in the name of passion and/or generosity towards others, not with profit in mind. This is also great. Not only we are all more equal in terms of opportunities, but the entire community can benefit from a higher number of people aiming to expose their talent. And this does not necessarily mean that everyone wants to become a Paris Hilton, or entertain us by singing Jingle Bells tunes with farts. Indeed, quite the contrary. That is just a tiny percentage of the content. People are driven to explore new ideas and concepts to diversify themselves, opening up new perspectives for the rest of us. Lot of people like to teach too, share their knowledge of particular subjects or arts. I have perfected my drawing skills thanks to Youtube tutorials, improving greatly. I also have perfected some Jiu-Jitsu skills thanks to very useful tutorials from World Champions, found on Youtube as well. The cost? Zero! And I am sure you could learn maths, trigonometry, languages or anything else you liked.
Ultimately, I would like to contradict another point of the Chaudhry's article: not everyone is desperate if "they don't make it". Personally, I am very pleased to watch, be entertained, discover, reflect, learn and enrich my knowledge thanks to other community members' efforts. Maybe one day I'll be able to give back to the community too, by teaching a skill I learned or share a talent, may it be telling really funny jokes or juggling hammers, who knows. But in case this does not happen, I surely won't be desperate. Knowing that humanity has found this great treasure to entertain itself, share opinions, knowledge and discover talents is enough for me. It is a very democratic system, and it makes me happy and confident about the future.
It's true, celebrity nowadays is a commodity. People are probably way more self-obsessed than, say, 50 years ago. Nonetheless, I do not agree with the pessimist view rampaging throughout the article. I don't see how depicting self-evaluation and self esteem as something negative will help us as a community, let alone as individuals. Don't get me wrong, I am the first to be annoyed by talentless and obtuse celebrities such as Paris Hilton or Tila Tequila; what are they famous for? A mediocre porn video? Being the leader of the "skank-pop" movement? Yes. And while this is greatly annoying, I appreciate the great privilege that modern society gives me: to ignore them. Let's not forget, these people became famous because a free society decided so. Nobody had a gun pointed to their head or was forced into celebrating shallowness. It's what some people want, and I will fight for their fundamental right to have it anyday.
I would like to remind ourselves of the meaning of the word "serendipity" and move on by focusing on the advantages that this "celebrity culture" may give to our society. To US, as a GROUP. As previously stated, while there is this widespread belief that "everyone's special", even the most critical mind has to acknowledge that this factor has surely helped a lot of hidden talents -real talents- to be discovered either by their own initiative or by the prompt action of somebody that recognized their abilities and decided to share them with the world. I cannot count how many great comedians, magnificent singers, incredible sport talents I have seen and discovered through Youtube, which's motto is "Broadcast Yourself". Does this environment enforce a culture of aspiration, particularly in relation to being noticed and celebrated? Quite likely. But does it create a culture of pure egoism and individualism, destructing the concept of community? I don't believe so. While there are a number of self-obsessed ego-maniacs out there, I still believe that the majority of people likes to interact with their fellow community members as peers, not as superior self-absorbed pricks. The difference with the past is that one may be more aware and sure about his own talents, be him/her a "celebrity" or not. And this is positive in my opinion. Self-esteem is an important part of an healthy individual. Besides, sometimes people may be almost unaware of their special talent, or carry it around with nonchalance and modesty. Check out this indian builder carrying around piles of bricks on his head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnL3iojuIDs . Probably this is not the kind of ability that will save the world or anything like that, but to my eyes it is an amazing skill that must have taken years to develop. Or this guy doing this amazing shot with a basketball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-GOzXGBlNc&feature=player_embedded is just astounding. My point is that there are literally millions of videos like that, which means millions of talented people in the fields of sports, comedy, jobs, maths, virtually anything has its own talent. Myspace, back in its most florid days, bypassed major record labels, gave exposure and generated success for incredibly talented musicians for example. This leads to the other, more important point: these people are celebrated and recognized by the community, changing the rules of the game in my opinion. In the past you needed to go through limited channels to gain exposure, and your destiny was decided by a lobby deciding what was a good product that deserved public attention. I cannot fathom how many talented individuals could not make it because of this unjust system. Today, thanks to the web 2.0, the community is self sufficient in the sense that it provides its own talents and celebrates them. Contrarily to what the article "Mirror, mirror of the web" believes, a vital part of this process is US, intended as a GROUP, united. If we were all a bunch of egoist self-absorbed individuals, this thing would not work! And more importantly, this culture combined with the power of the Web gifted us two fundamental elements of modern media. Material of superior quality compared to the past (due to increased competition and the cheap, widespread technology we need to "broadcast ourselves) and chiefly FREE material, readily available, anytime. We do not need lobbies, record labels, or any other parasite demanding their cut on the artists' work. These institutions have suffocated the goldmine of talents waiting to express themselves for too long. Now the people are independent in this regard, and this is -in my opinion- extremely positive! Moreover, the material is often produced in the name of passion and/or generosity towards others, not with profit in mind. This is also great. Not only we are all more equal in terms of opportunities, but the entire community can benefit from a higher number of people aiming to expose their talent. And this does not necessarily mean that everyone wants to become a Paris Hilton, or entertain us by singing Jingle Bells tunes with farts. Indeed, quite the contrary. That is just a tiny percentage of the content. People are driven to explore new ideas and concepts to diversify themselves, opening up new perspectives for the rest of us. Lot of people like to teach too, share their knowledge of particular subjects or arts. I have perfected my drawing skills thanks to Youtube tutorials, improving greatly. I also have perfected some Jiu-Jitsu skills thanks to very useful tutorials from World Champions, found on Youtube as well. The cost? Zero! And I am sure you could learn maths, trigonometry, languages or anything else you liked.
Ultimately, I would like to contradict another point of the Chaudhry's article: not everyone is desperate if "they don't make it". Personally, I am very pleased to watch, be entertained, discover, reflect, learn and enrich my knowledge thanks to other community members' efforts. Maybe one day I'll be able to give back to the community too, by teaching a skill I learned or share a talent, may it be telling really funny jokes or juggling hammers, who knows. But in case this does not happen, I surely won't be desperate. Knowing that humanity has found this great treasure to entertain itself, share opinions, knowledge and discover talents is enough for me. It is a very democratic system, and it makes me happy and confident about the future.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Citizen Journalism
Citizen Journalism is a quintessential part of the current media environment. Its ability to share information and stories not covered by the mainstream information -or disinformation- channels forces society to be aware of issues that would have been otherwise ignored. It effectively contrasts attempts of censorship or lobbying by powerful entities, and often sparks debate among the public. The internet, as well as readily available technology such as camera phones, also gives the ability to document and prove the truth. Citizen journalism becomes particularly relevant in societies where the media environment is unbalanced, grotesquely biased and more focused on activities such as propaganda instead of information.
Italy is a good example. A country ruled by Silvio Berlusconi, the man who controls private TV, State TV and the press. Among other things, he is the richest man in the country, owns a football team, is constantly subject of court cases, and is rumoured to have close ties to the mafia. Oh, and he is our Prime Minister as well. Italy is a country that, if lacking citizen journalism, would be Zimbabwe-like as far as free speech is concerned. Luckily, a few brave journalists censored by the media can express themselves through the internet and feed us daily stories of corruption, injustice and illegality that would be considered delirious if not backed up by evidence. This contributes in keeping a fair balance on the reality that we are forced to believe.
Italy is a good example. A country ruled by Silvio Berlusconi, the man who controls private TV, State TV and the press. Among other things, he is the richest man in the country, owns a football team, is constantly subject of court cases, and is rumoured to have close ties to the mafia. Oh, and he is our Prime Minister as well. Italy is a country that, if lacking citizen journalism, would be Zimbabwe-like as far as free speech is concerned. Luckily, a few brave journalists censored by the media can express themselves through the internet and feed us daily stories of corruption, injustice and illegality that would be considered delirious if not backed up by evidence. This contributes in keeping a fair balance on the reality that we are forced to believe.
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