Harlan Ellison's Watching 47

[@AlluMan96]

I always find the ever growing aggression & trolling that goes on on the internet to be rather discouraging towards humanity. When you really get down to it, the things you say on the internet actually do reflect what you truly are in the most accurate meaning of the word. What seperates the internet from every other public area is the lack of emotional shackles brought on by maintaning reputation. On the internet, you can go by any secret identity & the pressure of face 2 face conversation is completely eliminated. This makes us feel more enpowered to speak our minds however we feel like & throw self control out the window. When a troll tries to pass off his bullying as "just fun & games", it truly shows signs of an insecure, mabye even sadistic person if the emotional suffering of others is considered "Fun & games". Remember to watch your tounge when on the internet people. It might just bring out the worst of you for the entire world to potentially see.

[@TheStockwell]

What this video teaches us: in its early days, online forums tended "to attract monomaniacs with an axe to grind." Golly! Tthe internet was such a rude and surly place ca. 1992! I'm so glad it's now a showcase for erudite discussion, mutual respect, tolerance, and a genteel ambience one generally associates with the French salons of Proust's time.

[@zarkoff45]

You need a sarcasm emoticon, else someone might think you're serious.

[@TheStockwell]

zarkoff45 I've been looking for one. There's something called a SarcMark, but the symbol costs $1.99 - and there aren't enough people around who'd get it. But, I'm taking your comment seriously and have added a disclaimer/clarification to my original post. People can say all they want about the new, evil, Googlified KZbin - adding the option to edit posts AFTER posting them is a super suave idea. Zarkoff, if you were being sarcastic in YOUR comment, then I'll REALLY feel goofy!

[@zarkoff45]

TheStockwell Well, I would hardly call every text that goes on the webs "a showcase for erudite discussion, mutual respect, tolerance, and a genteel ambience one generally associates with the French salons of Proust's time," for that seems over the top. Most net communication is still rude, the monomaniacs with axes to grind are still out there and they've got the anonymity to say things they would never say to anyone's face. However I cannot deny that there may be places where one might find a French salon of Proust's time somewhere out there on the net. I certainly hope you were not thinking of the comments section of youtube videos.

[@Curratum]

This was a great couple of paragraphs but I really lost it at "the French salons of Proust's time".

[@TheStockwell]

Thanks! I try to keep things classy with posh and sophisticated comments. Failing that, I set my phaser on "aggressively stupid." ;) Have a great weekend, wherever you're having it!

[@tuxguys]

A jaw-dropping, prescient analysis of post-digital culture by the COOLEST and most insightful of the pre-digital Speculative Fictionalists.

[@Bizarronumber4]

RIP Harlan Ellison.

[@georgeheingartner6995]

I miss Ellison, sure... but also SF Eye, a great magazine.

[@tannerVBHC]

Its even more sad today

[@brut3maniatis]

BTW loved your cameo on the Simpsons

[@zarkoff45]

It's still like Harlan said to a large extent, but slowly the net is developing its own set of sensual, cultural clues to this new form of textual communication. Blogs are not like the bulletin boards of the '90s. We got typefaces and intros and more space -- and we can insert videos and pictures. The problem comes from a lack of gate keepers. No editors making choices as to who gets a voice. Instead we need critics and advisers to guide people to the better stuff. And no one is easily getting paid for it. You need to make special arrangements with advertisers. Writers are going to have a hard time financially in the future.

[@TheStockwell]

I agree. It's the mundane content of most blogs that is disappointing. I am thrilled when I stumble onto a website that introduces me to a new composer, filmmaker, writer - what have you. Generally, it turns out most of the content is cut-and-pasted; that's part of internet culture, too; the sharing of material that's been shared to death. Despite the typefaces, videos, and pictures - I'm a tumblr-holic, by the way - after a while it gets pretty generic, as if the same ten people are doing all the internet posts - and begging everyone to "like" their Facebook page. That's when I stop, disconnect, and get to work either making something or taking a walk through the woods. A friend of mine once quoted this phrase: "Television wants to keep you stupid so you'll keep watching it." The internet isn't THAT bad since it actually connects people. I could never use a television to collaborate on a film project with someone in Italy. Still, the quote is apt if you update it to "The main players on the internet want to hold your attention so they can target you with relevant ads." On that note, it's time for me to do some painting - I'm starting to get on my OWN nerves. Look out easel, here I come!

[@dagnabbit6187]

I guess there are other prescient original critical thinkers born in the 20th Century before 1970 . My two favorites are Frank Zappa and Harlan Ellison ? Maybe even Gore Vidal. That is it !

[@pupil8]

I didn't realize that in the early years of the internet we there were so many trolls under every network bridge

[@Oddyellano]

Back then, as Harlan said, online conversations were about what kind of internet service or software, connection, whatever, a user had. Now it's about what user ate what for lunch and a picture of it. I don't know what's more trivial or more redundant, the former or the latter!

[@marcoshark]

I'd love to say "same as it ever was" but it's gotten worse!!!

[@geinikan1kan]

I am not going to defend all online communication, but the early days Ellison is speaking of here were also a time when people (writers, citizens, technos and however else you wish to group them) were seeking ways of describing this new medium (or these new media). Remember that access to the internet in the 1990s was far from universal (it still isn't). But it gave those who had access a fairly limitless way to "publish" their comments, quickly, and more or less freely of editors (but they may have had something like moderators? I'm not sure, I really wasn't using a computer until the late 1990s). The idea of generalizing "people who post on the internet are this way . . ." seems a bit quaint nowadays. But there are still freaky things like cyber bullying and sexting (make your own list) that seem to be negative enhancements of types of behavior that had to find an outlet in other ways before the introduction of digital media. As far as I'm concerned, digital technology is the reductio ad absurdum medium of the simultaneous. Media "happens" and gets distributed right away. Maybe this is an aspect of tech that our grey matter still needs to get used to/catch up with. Or else.

[@Teabonesteak]

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