Posted by Ben Jackson Thu, 17 Nov 2005 04:08:00 GMT
As I write this, I'm staring at a (now almost) blank screen. This rules. No icons blinking in my dock, no open web browser windows tempting me to check my stats for the 15th time today, nothing but me and my massive writer's block. There's something about a blank sheet of paper that gets my creative juices flowing, and I get the same feeling looking at a blank screen.
Read more...Posted by Ben Jackson Fri, 11 Nov 2005 23:53:00 GMT
Just tried putting my name into google today and had the unexpected, ego-stroking pleasure of seeing this blog at the number two spot! This is awesome, given that I've been publishing it for less than 90 days.
So, imagine my chagrin when I saw that my arch-nemesis, who currently holds the number one spot, is a metal band called the “Ben Jackson Group". If I wasn't laughing so hard, I'd be crying.
Read more...Posted by Ben Jackson Mon, 31 Oct 2005 22:50:00 GMT
With all the hype about peer-production this and social-networking that, one thing I've noticed is that the discussions invariably revolve around the United States, and the effects of these technologies on the American way of life. I decided it might be interesting to write about the way social networks are used outside the U.S., and what better place to start then right here in my own backyard?
Most of you have probably heard of Orkut. Originally a cheap knockoff of Friendster, it was quickly hijacked by the Brazilian online community and is currently "officially" 41% Brazilian. Of course, this doesn't count the numerous Brazilians living abroad who put their current nationality down. In my experience it's more like 80%.
There's something about Orkut, Fotolog and their lesser-known spin-offs that appeals to the hidden (and not so hidden) exhibitionist that lurks within the collective Brazilian hive-mind. I have friends with thousands of "scraps", the public messages that anyone can leave on anyone else's profile. One guy I know has three accounts with over 1000 friends in each. Brazilians love gossip, and Orkut serves as a massive, 24-7 tabloid filled with dirt on everyone and their mother.
Literally everyone here below the age of 30 has Orkut. I can count the people I know who are still Orkut-less on one hand. Those who choose to opt out of the community are playfully ostracized and urged by friends and colleagues to give in and join. Upon meeting a new acquaintance, rather than go through the hassle of taking out your phone and exchanging numbers when you know that neither of you will call the other, you can almost always just exchange last names and within 12 hours you will have a new, albeit virtual for now, bona-fide friend.
Like any paradigm-shifting technology, however, this one has its unexpected consequences. An employer interviewing a new candidate can find a wealth of interesting details about their character simply by checking their community memberships: with names like (translated) "I love Nitrous!!", or "I have beautiful breasts", there are tons of options for destroying your future potential career. One friend of mine uses her middle name instead of her last name to avoid professional compromise.
The potential for disaster, however, is not limited to one's professional life. The Brazilian man, notorious for cheating, now has one more way to get caught. Since scraps are open to the public by default, this means that plenty of time is spent policing his account to remove any licentious comments before his girlfriend (who, having nothing better to do online, is constantly checking her boyfriend's profile) logs on and finds out that Alexandra, Sandra AND Tatiana are all dying to see him when they get back into town.
Orkut has a seamy underbelly, and Brazil is only now coming to terms with the consequences. The legal system, never one to be quick on the uptake with matters web-related, has finally figured out and cracked down on drug sales over the network. There has been one arrest of a teen whose friends decided it would be funny to release a sensitive home movie made with a hidden camera to the community at large. He is now in jail, as his partner was underage.
Life-ruining perils aside, the ease with which one can connect, combined with the sheer number of people who are registered, makes it worth risking the occasional awkward real-life consequences. It's not uncommon for me to click at random on a profile and find three or four different people through whom I'm connected to the same random stranger, and I've even seen people recognize each other in public solely on the basis of their photos. Orkut is a diverse and fascinating microcosm of Brazilian society. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to erase some scraps.
Posted by Ben Jackson Wed, 26 Oct 2005 12:58:29 GMT
Scott Adams has a blog. And in case you've never read his non-dilbert prose, it's as hilarious as the comic itself.
