How to Get Into the Internet?
Today, getting into the internet is just as easy as breathing in, counting one-two-three, and stopping right there.
I got the chance to read an article called the Cluetrain Manifesto-Chapter One just a while ago and it reminded me of a question that was asked by my OC152 professor yesterday, What has changed in me since I entered the Organizational Communication program? Well, I answered him yesterday saying that I have changed physically, meaning I am alot slimmer now, and that I speak better English. But looking back again, the article made me realize that not only was I changed in the way that I look and communicate by my degree program, but indeed by the technology that I am exposed to.
Breathe In
Well, it is only but natural for human beings to communicate. As the cliche says, ‘No man is an island.’ Not one man would live without having to interact and mingle with beings of his kind. This is why, humans, using their cognitive excellence, work their butts off to make ease with the communication tools we use today. This is the start of technology, the internet in particular.
That’s according to the article. Bleh:P
It could be true that the internet was devised because of the need to communicate by different people to and fro different places at a certain time. It was said from the article that, “[t]he Internet became a place where people could talk to other people without constraint.” But more than that need to communicate, I think people were hooked to the internet because of their need to know. Humans have this innate pleasure to be informed and to be in the know of the latest gossip, the latest issue, even the last scope about the death of some famous celebrity (RIP, MJ). And this was given to them by the internet: real stories, now.
However, this was not the only thing people liked about the internet, as I see it. It was not only real-time information that people liked about this new in-thing. What’s more pleasurable than being first? The pleasure of being a contributor to the news. Using the internet, commoners are not only passive receivers of the news but also active senders of information. Thus the start of the paparazzi.
Count One, Two, and Three
As people bugged and got hooked into the fad-that-was-cyberspace, and as the internet became the primary source of intelligent information (just like this blog! Haha), big corporations took advantage of it too. Well this is so evident with how Google and Yahoo! would put ads of different sites and/or products on their page. Even YouTube and Facebook have their paid advertisements too!
Good for them because both the site/product being advertised and the search engine earn with this kind of relationship.
However, along side this knowledge is the fact that these companies, before putting their ads on their chosen sites, have already reduced the online population into demographic abstractions. Very sad. Though strategic for these companies, it is so sad that online people are recognized as people with needs, very viable for the accessibility, the cheapness, and the promptness of the information that these companies spread through the internet.
It is very unfortunate that the internet, having its crude importance of getting people together and spreading real-time information, is now used as a tool to earn money from–a very non-idealistic gesture.
Stop
In as much as I can bad-mouth how companies use internet for their own selfish interests, I do not want my first serious blog entry here to end tragically. And so I am stopping.
I am stopping and just ignoring all the negative vibes I got from reading the manifesto to look into the brighter side.
At the end of the day, the internet is still the most useful media for me. It is still the most accessible, the most cheap, and the most prompt information sender of all time. With this, I could get in touch with my relatives from different parts of the globe using my Yahoo! Messenger or Skype account; I could watch my favorite House M.D. using my own convenient time; I could see movies before anyone else could see them in the pleasures of my own room; I could share music with my friends; I could upload my pictures for my friends to look at; I could shop without going out of the house; I could know the latest about my favorite Hollywood celebrities; I could learn how to speak in Italian even without an Italian teacher; and the list goes on and on and on.
See? This is how the technology has changed me. Now, I could do this blog entry in straight English, knowing the base information about it without reading tons of books in the library. Now, unlike before I took the OrCom program, I can talk about anything without the fuss of not knowing anything about it.
Technology has made useful information right before us that only an idiot would not take a bite from it.
June 28, 2009 at 6:36 pm
house MD!hehe!…its ok to bad-mouth the companies that use the very useful internet in their own selfish way i think they somehow deserve the “bad-mouthing” from you or from anyone but yeah I have to commend you for the effort to have positive vibes!hope you can continue that forever!hehe!
June 28, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Will sure keep the positive vibes forever, Ace! But I’m not so mean like that, so i stopped. Haha:)) Let us all appreciate how technology works for all of us. It is indeed so much of a help for the lazy us.
June 28, 2009 at 8:01 pm
i actually dont see anything wrong with companies or persons using the Internet for business purposes. as long as it’s not for selfish purposes. i guess it’s just the way it is. but yes, it’s just sad to think that we consumers are being reduced to some demographic abstractions just like what you mentioned.
June 28, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Of course, its always fun for one to earn money with minimal effort specially by using the Internet. I just wish that their businesses don’t use me as a key to improve their sales.
Haaay, but what can I do, the world works that way. The world grounds on man’s inability to be contented–it’s commerce.
June 28, 2009 at 9:06 pm
True, the internet is very helpful esp for us lazy students. HAHA. but srsly, i love the internet. It can make the impossible, possible.
June 28, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Woooh! Talk about miracles!:))
June 30, 2009 at 6:37 am
The internet is just this dangerous, that we want to flirt with it!
June 30, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Flirting with the Internet is just so fun! (I’m guessing with on the same page here.)
June 30, 2009 at 12:29 pm
okay, arven, here’s my comment now. i know you wondered why it took me this long. well, reading 60 blog posts isn’t an easy task
anyway, very clear flow of thought in this post. i also like the way you framed your thoughts by making the lead sentence as framework. it helps in easy comprehension. i just wish you didn’t lose the flair of discussing the heavy subject in the “corporate chika” way, which would have made this a lot more interesting and entertaining to read.
and you are right, reading about companies not embracing new social media is quite depressing. the article has the same effect on me, too, in a way, and perhaps only you highlighted that.
June 30, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Haha! Thanks for commenting, sir. I actually kind of panicked when I didnt see your comments on my page yesterday! Haha:))
Surely, I will try better in making my posts here more me, more of the ‘Corporate Chikadora’ me.
June 30, 2009 at 5:34 pm
“I do not want my first serious blog entry here to end tragically. And so I am stopping.”
Why? Haha. I’m kidding. Here’s proof that people need not blame the internet for the supposed havoc it caused, it’s causing, it will cause: we can stop.
Great post Arven.
June 30, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Thanks, ate Lou!
You see, we always should remember that we can control technology. The BIS model showed us that communication evolved because we, human beings, wanted to take control over it. How can we allow internet to cause such ‘havoc’ to us?
June 30, 2009 at 5:41 pm
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