Charlie Rose

esantoro  02/18/2009 04:10 AM Report

We need conversations more like this one with Adam Curtis:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/20/adam_curtis_interview/print.html

esantoro  02/05/2009 08:47 PM Report

I'm surprised how little we look critically at things like social networking sites that pop-up in the cultural climate. Yes, these sites do the obvious thing -- allow individuals to communicate -- but how do these individuals communicate? Are they communicating in authentic ways, or are they regurgitating cant and commercialized socialization?

There once was a time when manufacturers paid advertisers to bring consumers to their products. Now consumers advertise willingly among themselves without remuneration for their services.

The same issues were raised with the advent of television. Today, ten percent of television (maybe 5 percent) succeeds at raising the level of understanding and communication in society. The remaining 90 percent is bread and circuses. Why should 90 percent of social networking sites be any different?

I have lost track of the number of times Rose has asked guests "How have we gotten to where we are, and why didn't we see it coming? How can people become better at anticipating certain repercussions."

The answer is simple: We fail to question critically the very things that surround us on a daily basis. Education and journalism are two areas where this questioning should be taking place. They both fail miserably. And the reasons for why they both fail miserably are systemic. The more these two institutions fail, the greater the opportunity for a few individuals to rush in and benefit financially from the resultant ignorance and lack of curiosity.

phillipk  02/05/2009 02:14 AM Report

Great interview... but I have to take exception to how Mr. DeWolfe responded to the question of comparing MySpace to Facebook. He basically said that he didn't know what Facebook's user demographics are like. Seems to me that he's got to be TOTALLY up with every kind of detail he can with Facebook. I guess I would have appreciated a more hard-hitting challenge to his casual mention of Facebook--basically saying "I dunno".

Also--and I'm not saying MySpace doesn't address this effectively--but from the interview I got no details of exactly how their policy works and how that fits into the overall picture of privacy on the internet. Thanks!

tartufe  02/04/2009 11:33 PM Report

REM - Sort of surprising. Don't know why, just was.

Reap  02/04/2009 08:02 PM Report

I would like to hear some about the censorship of articles and profiles on myspace. It seems if they are to make it a point of how important a myspace profile is then shouldn't there be a better process in place when it comes to removing content. Your profile can be deleted and gone forever before the user ever gets an opportunity to correct or plead their case on the issue.I realize this would be a huge undertaking but it is part of our social structure in real life it should have been an expected need when envisioning the project.

REMant  02/04/2009 02:22 PM Report

Well, I had a MySpace acct when it was a web storage site, which went under in the tech bubble crash, but not now, nor will I ever, and whenever I see a link to a My Space page, I avoid it, because I can't think of anything more brain-dead. Social networking, I suppose, is the polite name for self-promotion. Like much of the Internet it is marketing and I don't guess, for instance, that there is a single porn star, past or present, who hasn't got at least one acct there. It is just another attempt to monopolize the web by simplifying its use. I can see it, however, like You Tube, becoming a new-fangled broadcasting source, because kids and even adults have become increasingly uninterested in paying attention to what others try to program for them. A site like this tho can make more money thru its manipulation of opinion than through advertising, which no one ever looks at anyway. I think all these sites will eventually flop like CB radio did once the mystique wears off. As for the social aspect, IMHO it would be better if ppl talked to their neighbors.