Web designer and developer by trade, ethics driven programmer by ambition. Basically I want to dedicate my life to creating tools for social empowerment.
In between all that i grow beards. I croon over London. I play computer games. I watch foreign films and I try to find new music i have never heard before.
Talk to your daughter before they do.
Our generation is a strange one. When I say ‘our’, I am talking about the current generation, say…aged 18 - 30ish. We’ve seen computing power come from text-based adventure gameing to being able to manage and run an entire city. We’ve seen the internet come from AOL chatrooms to an entity which is now almost flawlessly integrated within our day-to-day lives; with advertising and the media keeping up with that degree of permeation.
We have grown up to become masters of PR. We control our digital images and our real-life actions through a screen of wider-perception; would this affect how people see me? Interest in Me Ltd has fallen recently, I should organise a promotion campaign on Twitter. I should leave comments on all my friend’s walls so that they don’t forget me.
I have worked with charities and organisations calling for change, for people power, but still unable to think outside of the rules of Public Relations. Protests are no longer expressions of outrage; they are turned into ‘fun days out’ so as not to ‘tarnish’ the image of the organisation with any real emotion. Everything has become symbolism without the follow-through.
Despite the fact that I’m sure we all have wildly varying political opinions- I’m sure that we can all agree that our personal political power has waned during the course of each our lives. We are now only allowed to protest in designated areas. Only if we stick to a pre-arranged route. Otherwise we are declared a ‘riot’ or a ‘terrorist theat’ - and that’s only in the UK, which has oodles more in the way of civil & political freedoms than the states!
But I’m not writing this post about politics. I’m writing this post more as a response to our worries and thoughts. We have grown up with the most powerful PR tools in the world at our fingertips, and we have grown up learning how to use them effectively. We have grown up as masters of information and of perception of information; but now we need to use those tools as a human asset and not as a corporate one.
We are not companies & corporations that need publicity and advertising in order to thrive.
We are human beings who need hugs, kisses, excited talks about nothings, awkward moments, loud moments, quiet moments, deep meaningful talks when everyone’s gone to bed at parties, sunshine, heartbreaks, romance, smiles, poetry, music, affirmation and love.
So chill out! Stop worrying about what people think of you so much. Stop Facebook-stalking your friends and just give them a call instead. First, we regain our humanity, then we take this digital age into some seriously awesome territory.
still have a 14-day cooldown, but I’m just going to pretend that I don’t :P
Maybe it’s just me, but I have such a thing against monopolies & effective monopolies. They’re just plain dangerous. I’m more of a modular person. Rather than have one place where I can find everything I need, I want to go to lots of places that have really good versions of what I need.
For example- Facebook.
What Facebook used to be: A place where you could share your personal photos and talk about them.
What Facebook is now: A place where you can share your photos, your status, arrange parties, share links, play games, check-in at locations, sell stuff at the marketplace, advertise, read the newspaper, send letters, create polls…and the list is only growing.
“So what!” You say. “That surely just means that Facebook is better!”
Not really, I say, it just means that Facebook is doing it. Other sites used to do all of those things (and better), but now that Facebook is doing it- they just can’t keep up.
Facebook is:
What we’re seeing is our internet use being funnelled through one website; which I guess would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that we can never leave it. Once you’ve signed up- you’re signed up for life. Facebook will always have all of your photos, all of your details, every status update you’ve ever typed. You try and leave and they’ll retain all of that information ‘just in case you come back’.
Facebook has got facial-recognition software that is more up to date than the stuff the police use. It is pro-censorship. It uses your personal information to advertise things to you without your permission. It is constantly being fined for misuse of our information and we just don’t care.
But I always liked modular designs. I always liked things which I could add if I wanted and remove if I didn’t. Content-specific websites have communities; they have a feeling about them that allows you to feel part of something bigger. Talking about Facebook as a website is now like talking about a city; it is a huge bulking mass with pockets of personality if only you know where to go. It does everything passably and nothing well.
Facebook is the advertiser’s wet dream, and very little else. There’s not as much in it for us as we think. And I’m calling it a day. This time next week; adieu Facebook. I’m going to support several other sites which do the things about Facebook that I like, but better. I guess like supporting independent media.
I don’t know if what I like already has a name, but I’m going to call it Modular Web Experience.
People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are the advertisers and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t start asking for theirs.
Banksy, on advertising
You are capable of far more than being looked at.
(via sonic-rat)
