As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much. But that's not necessarily a bad thing (for me, at least) because it means I've been doing other things, like reading (a lot) and spending more time just hanging out and talking with Felicia. Next goal: staying in touch with friends on a more consistent basis. But back to the reading part.
One of my frequent stops is at Bookforum.com, which usually has a myriad of great links to interesting things to read, from social commentary to literary criticism. I read a really fascinating article this morning by Tom Hodgkinson from The Guardian talking about the little known facts behind your favorite social network and mine, Facebook.
Now I don't know about you, but I gave up on Myspace and have instead fled to Facebook as a method of keeping in touch with friends and classmates that I'm too lazy to call or actually visit in person.
Check out this little snippet below:
I despise Facebook. This enormously successful American business describes itself as "a social utility that connects you with the people around you". But hang on. Why on God's earth would I need a computer to connect with the people around me? Why should my relationships be mediated through the imagination of a bunch of supergeeks in California? What was wrong with the pub?
And does Facebook really connect people? Doesn't it rather disconnect us, since instead of doing something enjoyable such as talking and eating and dancing and drinking with my friends, I am merely sending them little ungrammatical notes and amusing photos in cyberspace, while chained to my desk? A friend of mine recently told me that he had spent a Saturday night at home alone on Facebook, drinking at his desk. What a gloomy image. Far from connecting us, Facebook actually isolates us at our workstations.
Facebook appeals to a kind of vanity and self-importance in us, too. If I put up a flattering picture of myself with a list of my favourite things, I can construct an artificial representation of who I am in order to get sex or approval. ("I like Facebook," said another friend. "I got a shag out of it.") It also encourages a disturbing competitivness around friendship: it seems that with friends today, quality counts for nothing and quantity is king. The more friends you have, the better you are. You are "popular", in the sense much loved in American high schools. Witness the cover line on Dennis Publishing's new Facebook magazine: "How To Double Your Friends List."
Later on, the article goes on to describe Facebook as "another uber-capitalist experiment" much like PayPal which was "motivated by this belief: that you can find value not in real manufactured objects, but in the relations between human beings." All in all it's a really interesting read, especially when you get to the end and actually take a minute to read Facebook's privacy policy. Read the full article here.
Cassettes Won't Listen Preview first single from upcoming EP
Photo: Jason Drake, aka Cassettes Won't Listen (lifted off of Dodge)One man band Jason Drake, the artist behind Cassettes Won't Listen, is going to be releasing his latest EP, Small Time Machine, this March. Best described as electronic pop, Drake produces a delicately complex album full of great background beats worthy of sampling in any club.
If you're new to Cassettes Won't Listen, we highly suggest you check out this preview track from the EP below:
Cassettes Won't Listen - "Paper Float"
Visit Cassettes Won't Listen Website and download the free One Alternative album.