So apparently Myspace has re-imaged itself and relaunched now with celebrity endorsements (i.e. Justin Timberlake) and a focus on music and media. I once had a MySpace page many years ago. I never kept up with it. In fact, I hated it. It felt like another iteration of GeoCities. When I read about this the first thought that came to mind is “Do we really need another social media outlet?”
Let’s name off a few of the social media platforms out there: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr, Instragram, Pinterest, Myspace – these are just the ones that come to mind immediately. Last year Apple and Google were under heavy scrutiny because many felt like their privacy was violated by some functionality built in to the mobile devices of these companies. This is a classic case of cognitive dissonance if I’ve ever seen one. How can we chastise one company for allegedly infringing on our privacy and turnaround and celebrate another means of putting your life on the Internet?
I use Facebook, Google+ and Twitter and I feel like that’s too many. I’ve often considered reducing how much I use Facebook. Granted I know that I have more control over what can be seen publicly but most of it isn’t default functionality. In fact I wonder how many people actually know how to lock down their social media accounts and/or restrict what posts people can and cannot see on news feeds and timelines. So it really comes down to who wants to accept the responsibility and it’s always easier to blame someone else especially when you can point fingers at “evil corporations” like Apple and Google.
Cheers.
Issue 60: Greetings! Have you been diligent with your gaming resolutions? Are you excited for a new year of new titles, new content and expansions? The news for some of those titles and expansions are starting to roll in and some of the news is pretty exciting depending on your taste in MMOs.
Despite my previous ranting about the half-assed free-2-play model Bioware implemented, I still often find myself wanting to play SWTOR. Usually that ends the moment I log in and immediately start to feel so constricted that I lose the motivation to play. When I see screenshots, news articles and Larry Everett’s blog posts I start to feel the urge to play again. Larry Everett’s geek enthusiasm is often quite contagious.