The Story of a Silent Revolution

Dr. Aleks Krotoski

Vir·tu·al: adj. -“Existing or resulting in effect or essence through not in actual fact, form, or name”- Webster Dictionary

Dr. Aleks Krotoski discusses in specific details about the virtual revolution in the BBC episodes, “The Cost of Free” and “Homo Interneticus”. While watching these two episodes, I learned about what we think is free, actually has costs and consequences. When the World Wide Web first began, it was just a tool for scientists to communicate among themselves. It has now become a completely revolving world for everyone to communicate among a large audience. We spend hours and hours each day, researching hot topics, posting photos, shopping for products, and stating our opinions on social networks and blogs. At the same time, the computer and networks are learning information about us. During the video, a man states, “The product online is not the content. The product is you”. The product is all of us and the more time we spend online, the more the system knows about our personal lives. By giving the system information, it allows companies to display advertisements that attract our interests. We are being judged and analyzed every single time we activate our internet connection. As we express ourselves on social networks and blogs, we must remember that every post is everlasting. Once the genie has been released from its bottle, it can not be returned.

Last week I was surprised by how much media I consume daily and I was equally surprised to hear that people in South Korea are addictive to the internet. Some South Koreans are so addicted to the internet that they feel lost and irritated without it. The addiction also affects their personal relationships. Hearing such information is a huge wake up call. It makes me think of my friends and I and how many addictive internet cases lies among us. Those who are addictive have shifted from the real world to a superficial, online, and connected world.

What’s your space? Is my space, your space? What is the space?

Myspace is a worldwide social networking site that was founded in 2003. In 2006, it became the most popular social networking site in the United States. But its popularity quickly changed for the worst. It is supposed to be “

A Place

for Friends” which is the site’s slogan but as of right now, Myspace has almost been erased by its biggest competition, Facebook. When Myspace was popular, I did not have an account. From what I heard at the time from my friends was that Myspace was a fun, trendy site but caused a lot of drama in their personal life. From this information alone, I wasn’t interested in the site. When I typed Myspace.com into the address section, my computer did not even recognize the site. By looking at the home page, I viewed an advertisement   from Windows 7 and several small square photos representing the number one rap artist, rock video, television show, and hip hop album. It also had photos and comments of artists from the Grammys. There was a lot of information that would probably attract high school and college students. I liked the layout as well but even though I liked the photos and content on the page, I still would never have a Myspace account.