tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102521252388583966.post8741421549119274806..comments2009-05-21T09:39:12.726-07:00Comments on The Living Footnotes: Each Generation Is Worse Than the LastCold Baconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14072381277196605305noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102521252388583966.post-44989628200762315262007-09-24T22:43:00.000-07:002007-09-24T22:43:00.000-07:00Here is a comment by Kate with my responses built-...Here is a comment by Kate with my responses built-in:<BR/><BR/>Kate: Because what does "status" mean in an online context? It's surely not sheer numbers of friends. Because that's not what it is out here. Out here, it's what those friends can provide for you. An entree into the yacht club. Sound legal advice. A rec letter for your kid to get into your tony private school. Isn't that what "status" is out here?<BR/><BR/>Cold Bacon: I guess. For you. And how embedded into the internet are you? How much time you spend or how much do you care about your online persona? I suspect not too much. i really should probably re-characterize my defendees in the above apology for excessive internet use as being a subset of young people, and not ALL young people. Because clearly there are plenty of young people who aspire to be just like their parents. i should acknowledge that. Ha ha. I’m teasing you. But seriously. My point is that perhaps you use the internet as an extension or tool of your real life, rather than an alternate life unto itself. These are the two types of people.<BR/><BR/>Kate: What does "status" in an online context mean? How is status different from fame, or knowability? Perhaps not different at all. It strikes me that enfolded in the definition of status is a sense of its life as a commodity.<BR/><BR/>CB: I don’t know exactly what you mean by “life as a commodity,” but I am supposing for some people “online status” is an alternative to “real world” status. The differences are extensive. The similarity is perhaps less obvious. Some people will find status, real or imagined, more attainable online, whereas it is perhaps more difficult offline. Someone who would probably just as soon be a rock star in real life, will instead take pleasure in being a rock star online. There’s much less pay, and probably less pleasure, but fewer risks. Anyway that is one way of looking at it. I would also like to propose the online lifestyle could be other than just a consolation prize for the majority of us who can’t get what we supposedly really want. It could be for some people there are real and unique net benefits to online adventures. So that it becomes more a question of how one wishes to spend one’s time rather than just some sort of mental pain pill for our collective modern anxieties. Of course the true benefit for each individual is certainly not predictable and clearly many people will make the wrong choice for themselves. The addictive properties of the internet and computers themselves are always a factor.<BR/><BR/>You also gesture towards another intriguing point, which is the notion of the online persona as distinct from one's self. A lot has been made about how those can be two entirely different entities. Less has been said hypothesizing about how different they really are. My online "persona," which exists mainly on the blog I would say, is nearly identical to my "self." Just a little nicer - my "self" is more prone to ad hominem attacks. Perhaps this is untrue of most people. What about for you?<BR/><BR/>Ok now I think this is a useful way of asking this question about what exactly is going on with people’s online versus offline persona, status, self-identity, etc. As far as me personally? I will have to think more about it and get back to you, although it is a perfectly fair question and could definitely attract a long answer. Let me tell you, at least, that I have been asking people this very question, and so far the answers have been great. I will look for patterns. If you would like to think in more depth about your own answer, please do, and get it to me. If it’s true that you’re almost the same in both worlds, this could be consistent with your generally limited online investment (compared with many others), and your relatively traditional immersion in the real world, in the pursuit of your happiness.Cold Baconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14072381277196605305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102521252388583966.post-43601597555878835062007-09-24T22:39:00.000-07:002007-09-24T22:39:00.000-07:00wait. did the bachelor start a new season? oh my g...wait. did the bachelor start a new season? oh my god...i have to, um, go take care of some important things... be right back. (check in-line comments for more)Cold Baconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14072381277196605305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102521252388583966.post-41209927382626181272007-09-24T19:30:00.000-07:002007-09-24T19:30:00.000-07:00dammit Bacon, you tire me with your endless rantin...dammit Bacon, you tire me with your endless ranting! But how I miss it on occasion. Like when there's nothing better to do, and when you can't bear to pay attention to 'the Bachelor.' <BR/><BR/>I am worried that you're not getting out enough. I mean, I hope you're able to, physically, but I really don't know. How are you, really? I ask not only because I admire you as a free thinker and innovator of web creativity, but because the long hair and 'smell' worry me. I mean, I'm lazy, but shit! (which is why I rarely poke me head into the fried pork realm that is, without saying, cold. I am a fair-weather Baconian.jdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14016702615072711638noreply@blogger.com