Random Observation about the Digital Era

This, the 13th day of my NaBloPoMo experiment, finds me musing about the ability for individuals to proliferate media in this day and age.

If you're reading this blog, then you're quite aware that I am the proud new owner of an iPhone. Downright giddy, actually, but that's not the point. While happily perusing the Apps Store, and wondering what should be loaded onto my new slice of electronic heaven, a realization dawned on me. To be truthful, an ember of this realization has been smoldering in my brain for a while, but it erupted into a brilliant clarity today. This incredible, amazing, and completely written and talked about by many others realization is this: there is an enormous magnitude of avenues for a person to project themselves out into the public consciousness.

Take my new iPhone, for example. Some of the applications I've downloaded over the past 24-48 hours include Audioboo, a way to record bite-sized chunks of audio and then upload them to the Internet, where they can be then consumed by others or broadcast to other Internet portals; Twitpic, an app to post photos to my Twitter feed; Twitvid, similar to Twitpic, but for video files; Twitterific, so I can read the 'tweets' of all the people I follow in Twitter; and a Facebook app, which should be self-explanatory. All of these applications have a very distinct commonality, which is they allow the user (in this case, me) to broadcast their media to the Internet. The irony is not lost on me, by the way, that the very blogging website I'm using to discuss these applications performs an identical function.

What it all adds up to is an almost mind boggling ability for people to be heard nowadays. Before the rampant spread of viable, inexpensive Internet access, the ways and means for people to be published, heard, seen or read really were much more limited. This new ability to 'broadcast' yourself is absolutely incredible, and as with nearly everything in real life, there are upsides and downsides to this new paradigm. Tool around on the Internet for five minutes and you can, and most likely will, be exposed to some brilliant examples of video, pictures or prose, but you will also be bombarded by the most heinous dreck and drivel. There are some people that shouldn't be allowed such free access to express themselves (maybe I'm one of them!). Before, when it was difficult to get something published on a large scale, and nearly impossible to have your voice heard by a global audience, much of what we see now would not come to light. Now, even a monkey can post something to Youtube with only a little help, society is bombarded with cute cat videos, horrible karaoke renditions, and people doing unimaginable things to themselves, all in the name of a short window of Internet fame.

Having said all of that, I don't want to remove the ability for people to be read, seen or heard. To me, it feels like a necessary evil to suffer through the deluge of garbage to possibly find the hidden gem, a true talent struggling to be discovered. Even I have aspirations of turning this outlet into something more than what amounts to a digital diary, but they are held firmly in check due to family and professional commitments. Taking away my 'chance' to be discovered would be disheartening. Who knows? Maybe someday, after learning on the fly, and honing a style that appeals to people, maybe I could produce something that gets me discovered. The chances are admittedly slim, but for me, and for many out there, that slight chance is all it takes to continue to write, take photos, generate video, perform music, make art...The list goes on and on.

There, I feel like I've rambled long enough for today. As always, if you have any comments or thoughts on this topic, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you!