The Extreme of the Extremists

In a world like today, it's very hard keeping our opinions to ourselves and not blurting out how "real" (credit to J.Lo for this reference) we are and how passionate we are about our beliefs. That's not to say that we should be neglecting the beliefs of others around us, either. I do believe that being a person that is open to the ideas of what others believe makes us individuals, great individuals in fact. It's what helps mold our society into such a diverse culture, making it an interesting and colourful world that we live in. 

However, not everyone in the world agrees to this world of individual thinkers and a world full of multi-cultural concepts. What's worse is that while people continue to express their freedom of speech on their own social media sites, this has introduced the "dark side" of our freedom on social media. From racists to fascists, closed minded people to anti-anything groups, social media has definitely opened another door that experiment with the cultural mishap of extremism.

(http://media.salon.com/2013/02/pc_twitter-620x412.jpg)

When the word "extremist" is mentioned, a majority of people think of Islamic extremism, the 9/11 attacks and suicide bombers. I don't believe that it is necessarily a racist reaction (although I don't entirely scratch it off the list), but it's a thought that goes straight through to our minds because of what the media has influenced us to think. Islam extremists act on behalf their intense conservative views of Islam, and take the initiative to bomb and assassinate for achieving their Islamic goals as they perceive it. This does NOT define that all people who follow the Islamic faith are extremists or terrorists, but there have unfortunately been classic examples to show that there are some existing in the world today. In saying that, we must consider that there are MANY extremists of all kinds across the world, and they are more than happy to be representatives of such hate crimes across the board of social media, giving them the title of being eExtremists (extremists online).

(Personal screenshot)

In such an advanced time of technology and social media, I'm sure that a majority of us have come across a number of "pages" and "links" that promote the severity of how much hate and prejudice continue today. Whether it be "Death to Americans / Muslims / homosexuals" etc (all of which I do not condone, under ANY circumstances), it's unfortunate that we still see so much of this in the world, even though we have been able to create greater equality for people. 

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR9egCV-JbrxXbbGpRVWaUR535RY1J_FS8WoYp7A9XW6aKYBDnx)

However, social media does also shed some light to extremist issues. Because it is all online, it provides evidence of how certain people around the world are continuing to act in this prejudice way. They way I see it, if people have "the right" to post their opinions as extremists, the majority of the public have the right to fight against them and fight for equality in society.

I look fabulous!........ as an avatar.

Don't lie, we all have a particular vision of what we should look like. Whether it be taller, shorter, slimmer or more curvy, we want it! Since the beginning of social media, I believe that we have all been given the advantage to alter the way that we want people to perceive the way we are.
"Crop this photo"
 "Cut out my behind"
 "Show a little more breast" (IF you have them to work with).
But what this really tells me is that we are quite reliant on fixating our social image and truly avoiding what reality is. 

(http://www.roflcat.com/facebook-cat)

In saying so, what is reality itself? Yes, it is defined as the things that are existing in the 'real world', but in these current days, what is the 'real world'!? (My gosh, so many questions in such a short time). So much of what we invest in life happens to be online. It goes from being a socialite on Facebook or Twitter, running our errands through BPAY or shopping online (which I happy yet regretfully did just a moment ago, I NEED MY PAY TO GO THROUGH!).

Because of this, I do believe that we have mixed together the 'real' and 'cyber' life to a certain point where it has genuinely redefined what we classify as reality. However, it does seem that some people in the world do take cyberspace to the next level, where they spend almost all of their time online.

This kind of world does unfortunately have the impression that it attracts a certain stereotype of what some say are outcasts. These alleged outcast then create their perfect self where they can create a new version of themselves to the extreme, with outrageous hair, barely there outfits and a body even models dream to have. One way that these people are expressing their creativity and, well, their lives is through a particular 3D virtual world called 'Second Life'.

 
 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLA4A56B2AB33F7723&feature=player_embedded&v=r74hkI-JcHY)

'Second Life' is basically self titled in its definition of what this "world" is about. It's a second life where people (like I've stated before) create themselves the way they want to be noticed. It is quite an amazing concept in theory though, where you can communicate with real life people across the world and live a life that many of us dream to be real.

Even in practice, 'Second Life' offers a multitude of opportunities for people to explore the world that really is first of its kind. Organisations around the world have create their own islands in 'Second Life', for example, ABC made 'ABC Island', Dell created their own fort in 'Second Life' and I can't even continue the list of how many organisations have invested so much of their time and money into this world to be a part of a virtual revolution.

Even 'American Apparel' took advantage of 'Second Life' and had stores in which they sold their products online where people would purchase clothes for their avatars, and had the chance to actually shop for themselves in real life, all in the one virtual store. Just because these large organisations take part in this doesn't necessarily mean that they are successful in it. Although they were grateful to be able to be a part of what some say is a phenomenon, 'ABC' closed its island down in September 2012, not enough users (or interest) it seems.

(http://www.3pointd.com/20060615/american-apparel-to-open-in-second-life/)

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2009/mar/10/video-games-theatre)

What we cannot forget is that 'Second Life' is not a game. It isn't like 'The Sims', where you play as God, create characters and tell them what to do in their life and how they'll do it. In essence, 'Second Life' is a virtual reality! People legitimately live another life and do their everyday things and more, online. This does, on the other hand, make me feel that all of these virtual worlds and simulations can get to our heads faster than you can say YOLO.

I mean, are we honestly willing to spend our lives on the computer, missing out the real life opportunities that can brighten our future and give a new meaning to what life is about?
What are your thoughts?
Are we hiding away behind our computers to avoid society?
Or are we simply experimenting the possibilities that 'Second Life' and the virtual world in general can give us?

All in all, there are pros and cons in anything that we go through in life, but I do believe that everything, like a diet, should be done in moderation and we mustn't get lost in between the many worlds we have.

Produsage

Oh, the internet.

Its a magical force that has truly made things as easy in life as it could get. Whether it be paying bills online, shopping in the comfort of your own home or downloading the most amazing track on iTunes, the internet is clearly what keeps our lives stable, no? In fact, the internet has made things so easy, that we have basically become 'produsers'. Now don't expect to find this word in the dictionary. In fact, as I write this, spell check is underlining the word in red yelling at me me, "YOU'VE SPELT THE WORD PRODUCER WRONG!". Little do you know spell check, YOU are wrong in this argument. Produser or produsage come from the words, producer and consumer. These words should basically provide the definition itself. Producer and User.

(http://www.solutionsoutsourced.com.au/blog/n/the-internet-is-all-grown-up-120828)

If you want to look at a classic case of produsage, then look no further than Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an internet mecca of information on anything you need, basically acting as an internet encyclopedia. The beauty of Wikipedia is that you pick any topic and I'm sure that you can find it there. Also, anyone can update the information on it to make it more relevant and in with the times, rather than what traditional encyclopedia books would have. But the question that rises out of this is whether Wikipedia can really be recognised as a credible source?

Granted the fact that anyone can update or correct things on Wikipedia, which makes it more precise, but that also means that anyone can update anything on this website and can in fact produce an incorrect balance of information that will later be used and referred to by others in the world. 

 

 

(http://majerus.hypotheses.org/645)

What else are we producers in that we also consume the finish product? YouTube ofcourse! Where we upload videos to our YouTube channels and we all search and watch video clips of celebrity interviews, fail compilations and whatever else you can think of, you name it! Even the amazing gaming revolution of 'The Sims' is a great example of produsage, creating a simulation of a life in a game, where we basically play God and tell them what to do, when to do it.

Produsage has only begun within the last decade so it can only become bigger and better in the future. There are things that will need to be considered, such as the accuracy and consistency of information online, but the idea of it overall will only intensify into the rest of the internet world.

Political figures gone viral.

(http://www.thesocialfirm.com/social/political-social-media-for-politicians)

For as long as we can remember, the traditional intake of politics and politicians has always carried a highly strung approach, where the public feel very strong to argue an opinion for what they believe is right for their legal system. Of course this brings up an endless amount of debates about how a country should be run, but in hindsight, politics falls under a category that recent generations of voters find, well, extremely boring. In my eyes, politics has always been a dull subject when I was growing up and I'm sure that many young people can agree with that because:

A) We don't necessarily care about the bland subject of politics or find an interest in it.

B) Refer to point A).

However, I suppose due to growing up and maturing, I can see how the perception of politics by the young people in current times is an issue and can be problematic for our future. When we REALLY think about it, politics (apart from money, and yes I understand that eternal happiness should be the answer) makes the world go 'round and sets the tone of how people function. Over the past few years, it seems that politicians worldwide have considered that the interest of politics has been fading and is becoming to be an issue as well. This is where politicians have come to realise their opportunity of growth and becoming more relevant to the younger society lies in the hands of being active in social media. 

Social media has most definitely made quite a big impact in the world of politics. Politicians use it to communicate to its public to spread immediate awareness on their party, their views and their beliefs on how they can be a better representative for the majority of the nation.

 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo)

(http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/rudd-takes-kevin07-online/2007/08/07/1186252674988.html)

 

 

Nevertheless, I do believe that the genuine world of politics has lost that traditional professionalism that it once had. With the ease of social media at their hands, politicians have found ways to be on trend with the public, generally the younger population, to a point where it seems that they think they can get away with being more, what word would they use?... cool or hip! But I believe it should be in their best interest to maintain professionalism in their job because at the end of the day, we all should have the right to have someone willing to take their time and power to contribute to their passion of running a country and building a better economy and environment at a world class standard.

Because politicians are putting themselves more in the spotlight through social media and other digital tools for promotion of their political party, it seems that technology has somewhat taken them a step behind, where they are under more scrutiny than ever before. One of the most successful and longest running journalists, Barbara Walters, stated in her show on 'The View', that The U.S. government is not the same as it used to be and that the White House Correspondance Dinner has become so much more celebrity and fame based, rather than a political inspiration that it should be.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/barbara-walters-whcd-criticism_n_3178542.html

What do you think about this?
Are politicians losing their voice in the midst of connecting through social media?
Are we taking advantage of how we can rebut against politician in a less than respectful manner behind the screens of our computers?

Whether we like it or not, social media has pretty much taken over a majority of our lives and it will only grow bigger, faster and stronger.