Thanks to Digg.com, which this class introduced me to, I’ve found a couple of articles that interested me, and seemed relevant to the class.
This article interested me through our talks of media ownership. It touches on Microsoft buying up Yahoo, which seems to be the only way they think they can compete with Google. This doesn’t so much worry me, since advertising is a part of life, and I’ve seen enough futuristic stories to adapt to the fact that advertising will be increasingly more pervasive. I wonder, though, about who will be advertising more.
Something like Digg.com, which I’m not sure I agree with, influence which articles people look at by showing how many “diggs” it gets. From what I can tell, shock and awe stories about people ollieing over cars or top 10 lists of how to relieve debt, subvert “real news” about tragedies and social issues. I think what this site shows is that internet culture is more fascinated by stunts than information which could be constructively used.
I think I’m thinking about this because of Ian’s comments about finding a cause, and why the class felt a greater need to talk about Heath Ledger than, say the political conflict in Kenya. I guess that when I clicked on the “News” portion of Digg.com, I’d hoped news that would be more helpful than sensational. But hey, I’m glad I know this site’s not for me.
Andrew T