take II

Alienation Shown Through in Weblogs Modern Day Society

The computer screen blankly stares. The white nothingness taunts and laugh, prods and pierces my eyes. My hands sit, idle. There is no soft rhythmic tapping if keys and no thoughts expressed through Times New Roman (aptly sized twelve point). Instead my pen scribbles flowing, barely legible cursive on cream pages. As my progression of thoughts nears completion, I set my paper down, the lines running parallel to rectangular keys. Here, I decipher the cursive and give them ‘proper’ typed form. This textual and digital aesthetic interaction is nothing compellingly new or uncommon in the last decade. In fact, it fully supports the notion of digital text conflicting with practice of printed text. It is within this conflict various problems arise. Not only does it change the linear nature of text in terms of space and time, it also, more importantly is adding to modern societies struggle with alienation.

One such example of this change in writing is found in the form of weblogs. Recently, I began my own form of a blog. To, backtrack momentarily I would like to pretext my ideology, I write and I thoroughly enjoy the act of writing. I also adhere to Derridian notions about consciousness expressed through language.

YOUTUBE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoKnzsiR6Ss

In putting those two thoughts together, I realize that my writing should be an expression of my thoughts and I should, after writing, feel a certain physical closeness to the words. That said I thoroughly disliked my blogging experience. Upon my first entry, I wrote:

http://dafunkmastameowmeow.blogspot.com/2008/01/rambleramblephoto.html


Did I grow as a writer? No. I steadily found myself at distance from the computer screen, and thus, the words on the computer screen, and even more so, the thoughts that the very words were meant to express. I felt a type of cognitive distance rather than an attachment to the very blogs I created. The machine was a literal and psychological barrier. I did not feel like I could interact with the text or that the thoughts upon the blog were mine, per say. I believe this was due to the fact that a lot of the objects posted were a not a direct expression of me, they were youtube videos or photographs I had taken with my 35mm film camera. I eventually found it easier to post images rather than words. I still felt a distance between my posts and my thoughts, more so than I normally do when I write.

Perhaps this distance, was, in part, due to no one commenting or interacting with my blog. I went in with expectation of difference between the ‘normal’ (as defined by Modernists) printed writing I partake in. The blog writing was put in the public sphere and I had hopes of people reading it. However, with no one commenting it began to have a facade of being private. I began to think I was writing for myself and no one else. This notion, I recognize, is contradictory to the nature of blogs, and does not make any logistical sense. Yet, I felt valid in stating that my blog writing was for me.
It was also at this time, I had a brief and momentary appreciation for blogging. I recently discovered that my brother, age 15, had a blog. This was the only feeling of closeness I experienced blogging. I wrote,


So I found out that my little brother, age 15, has a blog where he too posts 35mm pictures of stuff he shoots.http://http://benwhirlsandswirls.blogspot.com/oh, the digital age...


http://dafunkmastameowmeow.blogspot.com/2008/02/family-love.html



With my experience with blogging, I concluded that it can create distance when people are physically close, while simultaneously creating a feeling of closeness to those who are physically distant. However, for someone who feels like they write in high frequency and think about the act of writing, composing a blog was unfulfilling and empty.


On a larger scale, I believe that my experience with blogging in a way is a symbol of the alienation experienced in modern society. It is clear that machines foster interaction on some levels, such as bringing people who are at a distance closer together. However, it hinders interaction to those who are physically close and possibly cause feelings of psychological alienation. For an example of this, I am going to use Myspace.com. Since Myspace is public domain, I am going to do a type of case study of the Myspace persona "Perfectly Flawed".
http://http://www.myspace.com/melanieblahblahblah


She is a twenty-five year old mother (of a dog) living in Tacoma. Her headline reads, "I must admit, you brought in RELIGION… for I never believe in HELL TIL I MET YOU." Her blogs, brief and informal give strangers like me, a view into everyday occurrences. Here is one example from May 13, 2006,


dogs are exactly like little kids... believe me i know.. so chris and i have a boston terrier named bosco.. well we had just one.. i got the great idea that bosco needed a friend.. and the poor little friend i found was going to be killed. so before i even started letting it all sink in, i found myself driving home, with what u might ask? another baby boston named brutis in my lap....now at this point in time the hardest thing was telling chris, that he, well, um was a proud new father of a baby boy. ( still sorry babe for just springing that one on u..) so here i am thinking woohoo! bosco will love his new little brother, and there will be no more destruction of the house. hahaha...... boy was i wrong..... not only is our new son brutis, a puppy, but the biggest pain in the ass.. somehow in this whole, bosco needing a friend, i forgot that puppies wern't just pigme versions of big dogs.. but they are puppies... so here i am now, pulling my hair out on a daily basis, cleaning up accidents, guarding the furniture, and still can't find one of my favorite vans shoes... not ot mention being both boston terriers, they are creatures from another planet... but after all the hair pulling, yelling, buying stock in carpet cleaner, and still wondering where that damn shoe went... i relize that they are my children.. and when i come home from work at night and find the two at the door ready to kill me with kisses and snorts... i relize it is all worth it....
The comment on the blog was as follows:
"I completely agree...look at my two minature pinschers on my page! Frickin` children of satan. They may drive me crazy but I love at the end of the day or anytime..when they jump all over you and know your their mommy! Poor us..single mothers...their daddies will be back soon! Oh, and I made the mistake of finding a friend for my dog Norman also...and him and Chester together....are crazy!"

What I found most compelling about this blog is the informal nature (as if it were a casual conversation) and the emotive voice of the author. While writing could be an expression of emotion, reading her blog and looking at her site, I realized she in a way is socially distant from many. She does not have a slew of friends, only 60 total (opposed to the hundreds of "friends" other people have on Myspace) and is now single from her boyfriend/husband she described in 2006. Her purpose of Myspace seems to be social interaction and meeting people via internet. However, she appears to be alone in "Real" life. The question that arises from this particular scenario is the following- Is the interaction between the internet ‘e-friends’ compensation for the aloneness she feels in ‘real’ society? Or does it add to the alienation of individuals among society? Is the computer a literal barrier between people or does it foster interaction?

Will it make people like this?



I would argue that the computer is a literal barrier between people and it adds to the alienation of modern society.

While I am not advocating alienation and modern society in a completely negative light, (lest not be hasty) I do foresee a change or alteration that will be expressed in attitudes of social interaction.

Since blogs are an outlet and a form of communication that incorporate video, text, and photo in one medium, they allow for a new type of interaction between viewer/author. This interaction will be the focal area of change. While it adds literal block of computer and technological mediation thus furthering some aspects of alienation, it will allow for a new form of interaction. (no conclusion, here… I don’t know what this means, I need to mull it over and let myself think about it, as to not come to any rash ideas based on a paper deadline)