davidjewlian

…all my friends are avatars.

I think Drew Barrymore may have said it best

And what she said was “now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.” Yes, did pay good money to see He’s Just Not That Into You. Now, I’m talking about rejection per se here, but just the fact that, nowadays, you can get information through an unnumbered amount of venues, and they all matter.

No, I am not going to post about “the Octamom“

But that article above about her pings something interesting in the world of these new forms of media. The journalist, while still using primary sources like a good newsman is supposed to, on multiple occassions references how this woman’s reputation has been tarnished and commented on via Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, and how this opinions lead to the true barometer of public opinion.

It’s no new news that journalism has become pedestrian. That many people get their information via blogs that are rife with op/ed tangents and very little traditionally unbiased news reports. The New York Times is still purchased, its site still frequented, but it no longer has the importance it once did in forming public opinion and informing the public. The difference between now and a few years ago is that the default is now pedestrian. The default is not the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, or even USA Today. Many people would rather go to The Huffington Post to read news stories, and in a modern development, some people don’t even go that far and receive their desseminated information via Twitter–such was the case in last week’s plane crash in Amsterdam, which broke first on Twitter.

The computer really is personal again

This increased importance of the digital channel, and its increased viability as a trustworthy news source have all contributed to involvement with the digital realm, and thus it becoming more of a personal space.

I remember when I was in junior high, the biggest deal were chatrooms and clip art avatars. Law & Order: SVU was littered with stories of pedophiles taking advantage of children because of the anonymity granted through the digital space. Not that the same anonymity isn’t easily accessible in today’s digital environment, but compared to the genuine and compared to “real” social interaction, that anonymity is becoming a smaller portion of the digital interaction pie.

We put more trust in these digital channels because these digital channels have become much more personable. No longer is the only option for identification of yourself a witty clip art avatar. We now have gravatars made with digital cameras, so the picture is actually us. We now have YouTube, where you can post real-life videos and truthfully expose yourself over the Internet. The latest development I’ve found (and come to love) is Dailybooth, where you can take instantaneous pictures and load them in a micro-blog format, to show interested parties what you’re doing at this very second. Seems a little silly, but the interactions built upon that idea are fascinating and fun.

Because of this increasingly human aspect, where your face is out there, your likes and dislikes are out there, and your personal experiences are sometimes rooted in digital interaction, it’s not creepy to have digital friends anymore. It’s not like you don’t know what they look like–sometimes you even know how they take their tea.

Networking vs. Social Networking

And this brings us to the key difference between the old school, business school “networking” and the new school, blurred line “social networking.”

In University, we were always taught the importance of networking, and that sentiment is still echoed deeply in my current entry-level life. But the buzzphrase in this world of new media is “social networking” and all of these social networking platforms and portals. By placing the word “social” in front of the classic business term, you eject it out of the commercial and into the personal. This reflects the new channels and indeed the blurred line between personal and professional, a growth of which I believe my generation is blamed for. I can be friends with my boss on Facebook, post this website on my online profile at work, have it link to my Twitter and my Dailybooth, so that my colleagues (who are also my friends) can interact with me on the same level as my college buddies (who, obviously, are my friends as well). There’s no reason to hide it, because it’s not a sick medium that populates Law & Order episodes. It’s a true form of interaction.

Which is why Drew Barrymore’s character Mary in He’s Just Not That Into You can get rejected by all her various “portals.” All of these portals are very relevant and very valid and very real portals of communication. If news can break on Twitter, than you bet it’s kosher to be dumped via MySpace. Sensitive? No. But valid.

DS