Change Your Image
bassinsonp904
Reviews
The Social Network (2010)
This is only the beginning.
Social media. It dominates our everyday lives. We can barely remember a time when we weren't glued to our phones, or even when "phone" wasn't a ubiquitous term for "cell phone," or when "cell phone" wasn't an antiquated term for "iPhone" or "Smartphone." Sites like Twitter, YouTube, and foursquare (or Swarm) comprise the majority of our everyday online experiences.
It was Facebook that took it to a level no one could have possibly predicted.
With the creation of Facebook, *everyone* had a chance to view each other's lives in a way that was not previously conceptualized. Or was. That's what this film is about. The lawsuits that arose after Facebook's founding was called into legal question makes for thrice-Oscar- nominated cinema that is paralleled by no other. Now connecting upwards of 1/7th of humanity, Facebook has given rise to people and organizations previously unthinkable in that Harvard dorm room straight out of A Beautiful Mind.
But this is only the beginning.
As President and Head Administrator of the Facebook group Future Presidents of the United States, and having been contacted by the White House thanks to my efforts, I can safely say that Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Severin, and countless other individuals responsible for the creation and upkeep of Facebook have not yet fully realized the scope and scale of what they have unleashed upon the world.
The intersection of history and technology has been demonstrated to change the course of humanity throughout various eras. I think it's safe to say that this is the beginning of one of those eras. Though Facebook turned 11 this past February, it's only in its infancy. Where will it be at 20? 30? 50? 100? The Internet and Cyberspace in general won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Democracy and politics in general won't be going anywhere anytime soon. How will Facebook and the Internet in general change the landscape to make way for the most technologically-literate generation the world has ever seen, Generation Y, to not only take the reigns of power, but to *keep* the reigns of power?
It appears to me that in my many platforms of research that Millennials are somewhat of a novelty. We seem to be stuck in a kind of Purgatory, neither advancing on the world stage, nor shrinking away from it. There is no one central figure among us who we can point to and say, "That's who we are. That person represents us."
That person will more than likely come from Facebook.
Not necessarily the founders, not necessarily its current architects, but one of us. One of its members. And no, not necessarily me, either. I'm not looking to gain publicity for the sake of gaining publicity. I'm just looking to set myself apart from the crowd and call attention to a number of issues facing not only my generation, but the generations that will depend on us to receive the passing of the torch. The coherency of the message is lost in the roar of the crowd. People have to be willing to make themselves vulnerable and stand up for what is right. Alone. And in this hyper-connected day and age, that's not something many people are willing, or even able, to do.
But I am.
I am one of many. I am not alone. I have made it my professional intention to look ahead and ponder the long-term future of not only Facebook, but the Internet in general. This second dimension of humanity isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Neither is Facebook. It is *essential* in the everyday lives of *billions.*
It all started in a Harvard dorm room.
Look for sequels to this movie. There are a *lot* more to come.
The Digital Bomb (2010)
A jumble of somewhat informative topics about today's digital landscape
Let's face it: we all want to get to know the digital world around us. How is it evolving? How does it affect our everyday lives? Where is it heading? I suppose this is a film that is exactly that kind of film, but I'm not quite sure.
Director Hermann Vaske lays out a series of disjointed topics presented on screen, under the heading of an exploration of digital creativity, according to the IMDb page's official synopsis. I'm not exactly sure the purpose of this film except that it is indeed an exploration of the digital landscape. But where are we headed? What should we look for? The end of the film certainly doesn't give a definitive direction, nor a definitive conclusion. It appears that only a summary of each explored topic relating to the digital landscape has been stitched together to make an uncertain quilt of a movie. Disappointing.
DSKNECTD (2013)
Fantastic substantive material, though not catchy.
As a member of Generation Y, it was fascinating for me to see a recent movie that thoroughly explores the long-term social impact of social media and the Internet in general. Though it appears this was yet *another* film that explores the various aspects of this second dimension of humanity from a removed perspective (the director, Dominic H. White, does not appear to have a bio page on IMDb, and it therefore cannot be determined if he is a member of Generation Y), it was a perspective that people need to see. Topics ranging from how hyper-connectivity counter-intuitively decreases the connection of everyday "real" life that we as humans are hard- wired to crave through millions of years of evolution, to the obsession with video games leading some to negligently let their own infant die from malnutrition, to the way today's children are being raised in a world they've never known without the Internet, this film has something for everyone. Though it serves as a dire warning against over-reliance on social media and the Internet in general, the (seemingly) endless possibilities for good are also addressed, though not in as thorough a manner as the problems facing us today as the ever-evolving realm of Cyberspace continues to seep into every crack of our everyday lives, leaving us to wonder, when, or if, it will ever stop.