I feel we now live in a society where everyone wants and needs to be famous. The old saying, "everyone gets 15 minutes of fame," doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. It’s an age when people achieve fame for no reason what so ever, the more followers you get, the more fame you can potentially achieve. When you have thousands of followers, yet you have in no way contributed anything useful to society in any form or fashion, and all you can put on your Twitter is, "I just ate tacos, Mmm Yummy," maybe it's time to rethink your life. I guess it just blows my mind that people who have nothing important to add or say, can suddenly have such a loud voice in the world. (See any Kardashian) It's scary really.
Now don't get me wrong, this is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black. I actively use many different forms of Social Media, including the big two, Facebook and Twitter. (Used to be the big three, but no one uses MySpace any more, do they?)Hell, this very page is covered with links to my other sites. Just like everyone else, I use these tools to say really ridiculous things, all in an effort to get people to notice what I am doing. The difference here is I'm trying to be useful. I have a purpose; I have a mission other than I want a million followers. (I do not want a million followers). I am a writer who would like to get paid to write. I'm not a blogger or a journalist, (by the way, bloggers aren't journalists and all blogs should be considered opinion, not fact... this one included) I am a fiction writer. I want to entertain, and not by telling you about the dump I just took. (That is something I really posted this week for the hell of it) So I use these tools to get my name and brand out there, hopefully entertaining as I do it. In a world filled with so much competition, I have to do things of this nature to try and stick out above everyone else.
Notice how I referred to these as tools, and not the only thing that makes me socially relevant in life. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with people. I'm not arguing that. Twitter, well Twitter to me is a little more complex because on one hand, there are reasons why it's useful to have a public text message service, on the other hand... why do I need to know everything a person does every second of the day. It's sad, and I'm sad for doing it. Unfortunately, I must. Then you've got things like four square, another thing I’m guilty of doing. If you ever wanted a stalker, this is the app to use, because they will always know where to find you.
Sorry, this blog is more of me thinking about loud. I guess I just don't see how as a society, we've come to this. I think the internet is a great tool, it finally has allowed everyone to have a voice that can be heard. The only problem is no one really ever has anything to say. Not everyone can be famous, no matter what the programming on MTV, Bravo, and Lifetime make you think. If you want to be a household name, do something... tell a joke, tell a story, save a life, play a sport, change the world, and then, do that better than anyone else and you'll get your moment. Just remember, not everyone can… If they could, then no one would be special, and then what's the point. I guess all I'm saying here is, “when is too much, just too much?”
Now if you'll excuse me I need to proof this blog before I post it on my Facebook and Twitter page. Later...
JLP
