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Agents of Culture Vs. Plundering Pundits
Dec. 22nd, 2005 04:29 amOne thing in particular that I've learned in my years of blogging (since 1998!) is that the value of opinion and editorial is approaching somewhere near that of dirt. In fact this summer I sold bags of dirt for $1.99 per 25L so that's probably not the best analogy. But regardless of worth it doesn't stop many of us from voicing our opinions and throwing our pennies into the ether of the network. So why do we bother?
The value to people is loops of feedback within insular sub-cultures. From gamers to vegans, gay bears or conservatives we keep creating these closed discussions of insular feedback that distort ideas. The value of our opinions processed through these social systems are severely degraded because the signal becomes compressed down to the key concepts of which ever cultural niche is at works. Gamers get geekier, vegans become evangelical, gay become image and sex obsessed and conservatives continue to be stuck with their heads up their own bigoted colons.
The nastiest bit is that through this system we actually only drive further away from understanding each other. As if the modern world needs more cold derisiveness.
Which is why I find myself choosing to focus on things like tone and accessibility. But hardest of all truly considering the perspective of others rather than simply ridiculing it. Of course I am not above a good ol' fashion rant or a bitch fest... they're just a lot more fun in person, expired in speech and easy to deny. I want to save my well considered opinions to be committed to text.
The funny thing is when I use this process to distil written opinions I find myself with a whole lot less of them. It's through this thoughtful that I think we cut the noise out of our lives and use the medium to be agents of culture. In whatever capacities large or small the role of an agent is not the expression of god-given right to opinion but tangible personal growth that's valuable to ourselves foremost but also to others.
The value to people is loops of feedback within insular sub-cultures. From gamers to vegans, gay bears or conservatives we keep creating these closed discussions of insular feedback that distort ideas. The value of our opinions processed through these social systems are severely degraded because the signal becomes compressed down to the key concepts of which ever cultural niche is at works. Gamers get geekier, vegans become evangelical, gay become image and sex obsessed and conservatives continue to be stuck with their heads up their own bigoted colons.
The nastiest bit is that through this system we actually only drive further away from understanding each other. As if the modern world needs more cold derisiveness.
Which is why I find myself choosing to focus on things like tone and accessibility. But hardest of all truly considering the perspective of others rather than simply ridiculing it. Of course I am not above a good ol' fashion rant or a bitch fest... they're just a lot more fun in person, expired in speech and easy to deny. I want to save my well considered opinions to be committed to text.
The funny thing is when I use this process to distil written opinions I find myself with a whole lot less of them. It's through this thoughtful that I think we cut the noise out of our lives and use the medium to be agents of culture. In whatever capacities large or small the role of an agent is not the expression of god-given right to opinion but tangible personal growth that's valuable to ourselves foremost but also to others.
