I get some really good stuff via Twitter…….this one is so true that it hurts.
We seem to always be having some sort of debate about the freedom of speech…….
I get some really good stuff via Twitter…….this one is so true that it hurts.
We seem to always be having some sort of debate about the freedom of speech…….
Extraordinary quotation. People also vote without thinking.
A sad truth of our republic……vote with emotion not out of thought……
Sorry, I forgot to thank you for your comment…..please return often as I enjoy exchanges with my readers….thanx again…..chuq
I get some really good stuff via Twitter”
Now THERE’s an oxymoron! (Surrounded by millions & millions of straight-up morons.)
The irony of this quote coming out of The Twit Zone is hilarious! While pretending to facilitate Free Speech, that place has probably done more to limit thought & expression than anything else:
1) It forces everyone to compress their (already substandard) thoughts into a mere 140 characters. Anything more in-depth is shunned as “too thinky”. Thinking things through, or properly explaining them, is strictly verboten!!!…both literally and culturally. Complex thought is considered something to avoid. (#Thinkybad)
2) The pace at which things can happen in The Twit Zone conditions people to react instantly & instinctively, with little or no thought. Otherwise, you’ll get “left behind”. These days, that’s the worst possible thought crime of all. Spend too much time thinking about it and even your 140 character comment could wind up so far down the list, literally nobody will read that far.
To be fair, you can’t possibly expect to read everyone’s Tweets…if you actually read everyone’s Tweets. You gotta keep pace with 7 billion people, ya know. It’s no wonder we have an attention span shorter than a fucking goldfish. (#Goldfish_R_2_Smart)
This brevity also short-circuits actual discussion & argument. It turns everyone into Dittoheads and poop flinging monkeys, even though they’re all probably sure the opposite is true.
3) Speed & length constraints are why, not just grammar, not just spelling, but the actual integrity of words & language are routinely tossed aside. A good example is the trend of mashing separate people (ie “Brangelina”), entities and ideas. It tends to blur meaning, homogenize and limits the range of expression by condensing it. ( #TwitZoneDoublePlusGood)
These tendencies follow users outside of The Twit Zone. We’re becoming a culture of illiterate, poop throwing, fucktards who think they’re actually on top of everything that matters. (#KingOfShitMountain)
(…and here’s where I start to fellate my own ego)
A very observant and knowledgeable reader (Wat Dat?) might notice a few similarities between the effects of The Twit Zone and a visionary work of literature (& operating manual for The Powers That Be) George Orwell’s 1984. More specifically, Newspeak. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak
Functionally, The Twit Zone does to our language EXACTLY what Newspeak did in 1984. Through shortening, simplification and phraseology, it breaks down the complexity of language and limits thought & expression to within accepted parameters. Short in length, narrow in scope and verging on an industrial product to be mindlessly consumed.
And just like Syme endlessly prattled on about how great Newspeak was, so does our culture. “It’s new. It’s clever. This is the future. Get with the program, or wake up in Room 101!”
Everywhere you look, people spew out hashtags as if they contained any meaning. (#PointlessDoublePlusGood) I suppose they do…to properly programmed residents of Ingsoc. But to literate, free-thinking, people with fully-formed brains, they are merely the gibberish of simpletons with ADD.
And that’s the goal. Simpletons with no ability to concentrate are easy to manipulate, both for the purposes of marketing and population control.
What do you really think?….sorry I could not resist. Personally, I have twitter for the news that I get immediately……it is a good source of up to date news…..I do not use it to communicate with people……I post my stuff there and people read……I like that…..
Nor could I resist…as resistance is futile
“I do not use it (The Twit Zone) to communicate with people
Nobody does. There is literally NO communication going on there; just barking, horn honking and “self-massage”. Which leads to…
“I post my stuff there and people read (it)”
…provided it takes them 8 seconds or less. (#HumanGoldfishRule)
“Personally, I have twitter for the news that I get immediately”
Yeah. Yeah. Every junkie claims “I don’t have a problem” and are responsible/occasional users who could “quit at anytime”. 🙂
Just how the hell did people get their news before having it continuously force-fed to them by computer programs like foie-gras geese? Did they wait all day for the “more film at eleven”? Were there announcements on the Wireless? Papery thingamajigs? Stone tablets delivered from mountaintops? And what did they do in the vast spaces between? Contextualize the contents of the last news delivery? Contemplate life? Ah, the answer is probably lost to history.
But as I always say, “Speed is usually just that.” In this case, it applies both in terms of addiction and priority-vs-quality. Ask a woman if “coming fast” is good. She’ll tell you.
A famous Canuckistan example of “instant news” is the hilarious death of legendary Canadian singer-songwriter, Gordon Lightfoot .http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2010/02/18/gordon_lightfoot_alive_and_well.html
“What Do you really think?”
Even though I only made the Newspeak connection today (a truly embarrassing admission for a “paranoid” like me), this really IS exactly what I thought-crime. I’m not necessarily saying members of the Inner Party sat around a conference table and invented The Twit Zone (& “Social” Media in general) to make people even stupider and easier to control than they already were. However, if they did, I’m not sure we could really tell the difference. In the end, whether Big Brother actually existed, or not, didn’t matter. The outcome would be exactly the same, the Inner Party would benefit either way.
Here’s hoping Big Brother misses these comments. I could live (pun intended) without drawing the attention of the Ministry of Love’s thought police, the NSA. Just in case: 2+2=5! 2+2=5!
Twitter keeps me from having to bookmark a ba-zillion sites…….it is so much better than trying to find good news on any media outlet…….I am truly a news junkie
Hey, that wasn’t nearly enough time to read my comment and the funny story on the “death of Gordon Lightfoot”…let alone absorb their meaning.
(It’s the last time I give this junkie a quarter for some food!)
…not to mention read & respond to another comment.
You are right….the link froze my computer up so I went on to other things…..I hvae not gone back to try it again…..
You better, or no more quarters into your tin can. (Damn untrustworthy junkies!)
The truth was actually more embarrassing than media outlets are willing to admit. Virtually every single media outlet in Canada was reporting the death of Gordon Lightfoot (arguably Canada’s Bob Dylan), many continued to throughout the afternoon. They were running obituaries, interviewing friends, fellow musicians and even folks who bought one of his albums. There was just one little problem…one musician they didn’t try to interview…one tiny step of basic journalism they completely forgot about in their eagerness to get the story out fast.
Only the folks who get their news “slowly” (newspaper delivery, the 11 o’clock TV news) got the truth the first time they heard the story. But I wouldn’t be surprised if half the population never heard the truth and still believe the initial reports. (See: WMD found in Iraq)
Few apologies, but plenty of jokes, puns and “We corrected our clusterfuck 5 minutes faster than the competition!”
The link still seizes up….damn aggravating I see where you are coming form with the instantaneous news! Me? I never stay with one source if I cannot confirm the story and I still write about it I will let my readers know that it is unconfirmed……
I was a fan back in the 80’s…..still like his voice….but today I am into Classical guitar….very soothing…..
You may check multiple sources more than the mainstream media does. Hell, a lot of them are just reading shit they see on Loserbook or The Twit Zone in a desperate attempt to look “kewl” and relevant to people who’ve never paid attention to the news in their entire pathetic lives.
Increasingly, I see stories that start with “Media outlets are reporting”, as if that lets them off the hook for whatever gossip they’re about to spread. Of course, the second they report what “others are reporting”, the next media outlet will add them to their list of “Media outlets are reporting”. (Didn’t their mothers ever give them the “If everybody else jumped off a cliff” lecture?.)
Anyway, I’ve dragged this thread WAY too far off on a tangent already, so one last attempt. Here’s a link to a less funny version of the Lightfoot story that might work for you. Curiously, they also took great pleasure in mocking their rival’s involvement in spreading the story. Absolutely no media outlet took credit for this story.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/gordon-lightfoot-very-much-alive/article1208760/