***
Friday, December 27, 2013
"I am actually turned off when I look at an account and don’t see any selfies"
"But a well-stocked collection of selfies seems to get attention. And attention seems to be the name of the game when it comes to social networking. In this age of too much information at a click of a button, the power to attract viewers amid the sea of things to read and watch is power indeed. It’s what the movie studios want for their products, it’s what professional writers want for their work, it’s what newspapers want — hell, it’s what everyone wants: attention. Attention is power. And if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful, from the most privileged perspective possible." Says James Franco, in a selfie parody for the New York Times.
Meanwhile, Slate has posted a cartoon from 20 years ago, it says to find "disturbingly prescient".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
It is true that selfies get your attention on places like Facebook. I deleted my account there because Facebook is just too clingy, and thus kinda scary, but now I learn everything is being watched and recorded anyway. WTF?
When you look at online profiles and blogs and stuff, you have to admit that the thing that gets your attention is the selfies. It's just human nature to look at people, and the more intimate a view you get the more enticing it is.
People probably consider me a narcissist, since I have posted a good number of photos of myself around here, but forget about what you think, lets talk about me. Wanna see some more photos of my surgeries, scars, deformities and general decline? You know you would stare at it.
Are you sure this is a parody?
"People probably consider me a narcissist, since I have posted a good number of photos of myself around here, but forget about what you think, lets talk about me. Wanna see some more photos of my surgeries, scars, deformities and general decline? You know you would stare at it."
I imagine there's a continuum between narcissism and openess and putting out feelers :)
A below-the-radar guy here. NO FB--EVER, no instagram, no twitter. Just emails and commentary on blogs.
Selfies? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
"I imagine there's a continuum between narcissism and openess and putting out feelers :)"
I'm way over on the side of self-lust, and no, I don't respect myself in the morning, because I'm a skank that does whatever I tell myself to - no matter how disgusting or humiliating. I know I should leave me, but I believe that down deep inside I do love myself, despite the abuse. I just need to sober up a little, and then we can be happy together.
Are you sure this is a parody?
That's why is so good.
Bags, put that in your Blogger profile and you're golden.
I have theory that the reason why the NSA surveillance revelations are not connecting with people, in the way those revelations are expected to connect, has a great deal to do with something like a generational transformation going right now. A transformation where NSA surveillance and the selfie are not that far apart. A transformation where NSA surveillance could be misconstrued as government paparazzi, as it where.
When the lines, the boundaries are blurred who or what is to say what is sinister and what is not?
Do our physical senses detect when a camera pointed at us is promotional or sinister?
It seems to me the boundaries are mostly in our minds and if they are they are probably uncaring, xenophobic, misogynist, homophobic and worst racist.
What better way to cleanse ourselves of these horrifying failings than to surrender all of ourselves to each other?
"A transformation where NSA surveillance and the selfie are not that far apart. A transformation where NSA surveillance could be misconstrued as government paparazzi, as it where."
This makes me think of facial recognition software...and the people posting their selfies are providing the govt database with their facial dimensions.
Maybe the lessons of 1984 are not as relevant today because they are seen as 1984 and we are in 2013.
Hitchens believed it was still relevant.
There is a new version of a popular game, I forget which one, that videos game play. Apparently the video makers want to physically see the kids playing.
These are the kids that are going to be running everything soon.
Video Games Are Making Us Too Comfortable With the Modern Surveillance State
I read that book, Lem. One take-away is that Orwell set the story in England to highlight the idea that a police state can happen anywhere.
We are simply getting used to it, to being recorded, tracked, and surveilled. Nobody has been hurt by it yet, but wait, the day is coming when we will see the fatal mistake we have allowed as the water has warmed, but still feels comfortable. Then, the day will come when you see your neighbor float to the top like a dumpling, and it will be too late.
bagoh20 said...
We are simply getting used to it, to being recorded, tracked, and surveilled.
Yes we are. Yes we have been for a long time. I find nothing, absolutely nothing surprising in today's NSA revelations. Snowden is a punk little deviant. My strategy is to have enough "dodge" in me to survive, evade, resist, and escape. As I was taught well. There is nothing there that didn't begin in "my time," or before, in the 1960-1970's in a military setting. N-o-t-h-i-n-g.
I'm pretty sure there is an old occasional poster from TOP that might post here who could verify what I am saying. If he does, his "nic" is "Poppa India." Believe what he says. His credibility is un-impeachable....but you'll have to trust me on that.
Post a Comment