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I Hate Filipino Culture -Society/Politics

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

On the internet and superegoes

Now that we're about to have another addition to our family, I look back to this tribute http://internetjaywalking.blogspot.com/2008/09/her-name-was-katherine.html that I wrote about a member of the family we lost a decade and a half ago. It's possibly the only detailed record of her life anywhere on the internet

They say that the internet has given birth to superegos, a generation of regular people who think too highly of their own importance. In a way that's true. I think we have statistics to prove this. The internet has given more power to the individual in a way that no other medium ever has. It is the ultimate "democratizer" where the loudness of your voice isn't always proportional to the amount of money in your wallet, the number of celebrities that you know or which cabinet positions your parents or uncles hold. If you have something to say and people wanna hear it, they will find you.

The internet also has become a record keeper of sorts, a place where you leave your, more or less, permanent imprint wittingly or unwittingly. In the words of someone who now lives his life as an internet demotivator : “don’t be an internet meme cos you’ll live on forever in a way that you probably don’t want to.”

The footprint in life that one leaves behind is so much bigger now. Anyone who passes away now, leaves a facebook profile, possibly a blog, an online photography album, a resume of accomplishments, a compilation of poems, photos, personal musings of various depth which anyone from the present or from the future would be able to find by googling his or her name

In contrast, anyone who passed away before internet became mainstream, unless they became popular for some reason or they made a significant contribution to a certain group, left very little to no trace outside the photoalbums and memories of their immediate friends and family. Google their names and it’s almost as if they never existed. 

The internet is a place where one's popularity is not commensurate to the availability of public information on him/her. A public filing system that makes sure that each individual can be picked from from a sea of nameless faces, put under the magnifying glass and be appreciated (or scorned?) as individuals. Under the magnifying glass of the internet, each individual has a voice which can be heard and that voice doesn’t have to die with him. If that does make him feel more important than his pre-internet counterparts, I can’t say that I blame him.

Kathy... you’ll find her on the internet, if you search hard enough.

3 comments:

  1. I decided to comment here since it says that this post has "No comment" lol I think your other posts deserve more comments. I stumbled on this blog just this morning when a facebook friend of mine posted the link to your post "I hate Filipino culture", it was actually my first here. And after reading that post, I decided to read the rest and I am proud to say that within just 30 minutes, I almost finish everything.But I am having hard time reading your post since I have poor English vocabulary.So half of that 30 minutes,I spent it in elaborating and absorbing those "nakakadugo sa ilong na words". I am into reading beauty blogs but I also love reading personal blog like this (since it is really worth it). I just wanted to say that you are an "Intelligent" and a "Genius" blogger :) Though I don't 100% agree on your opinions but I still view this blog as "One of a kind".
    About Kath, oh she's pretty. I also have that mannerism when watching tv. I don't really know if you believe in God, but every time a friend of mine lost a loved one, I always give this bible text to them, John 5:28,29. (You can look at it if you want, but if not, it's okay).
    I am looking forward to your new posts. Have a nice day kuya! (sorry kung may error sa grammar, it took me 20 minutes to finish this comment haha ang hirap mag English!). Have a nice day!

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  2. Thank you for the kind words Jenny. Nah don't worry about your grammar. your english is fine. At pwede rin naman magtagalog kung kelangan :)

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    1. Welcome! Hehe oo nga dapat nagtagalog nalang ako. Anyway, I really like your post "I hate filipino culture". Super Viral na non.

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