In some of the articles we read earlier this semester, they talked about how the printing press made more people into publishers. Things that had been accessible by only a small population is now open to more people.
Did it really?
In Clay Shirky's second book, "Cognitive Surplus" (we are reading the first book in this class later this semester) he talks about how publishing, which had at one point been accessible only to a small population of people, has now turned everybody into publishers. Blogs have turned everybody into writers.
Does it really?
Instead of just simply being "published" there are now tiers of publishers, writers, actors and anything else that can be accessed by the general public. What's the fun of turning everyone into a publisher/writer/actor? With every step of technology, the stakes of becoming a publisher/writer/actor also increases. Sure, you can self-publish now, but most people still won't consider you to be a writer until you have a publisher backing you up. With the rise of small, independent companies, even that is not as credible as the huge corporate companies.
We still consider "movie stars" as people who are endorsed and paid millions of dollars and show up on the movie theater screens across the world. This is how we wade through the millions of amateur videos on the internet. Anyone can be a musician now, but we have the highest respect for the ones we hear on the radio.
With the accessibility the internet gives us, this does not make us equal. To be honest, not everybody would make a good writer, or a good actor or a good musician. Now that anyone who wants to be any of these professions can, we have a flood of less than desirable information on the web. How are we supposed to sort it all out?
In my opinion, no matter how much power the internet gives us, there is always going to be a higher elite above that. While there is still some bad (in my opinion) music/movies/books in that "elite" industry, I don't think it's such a bad thing to have requirements in order to be considered professional. I don't think this will ever change anyway.
I don't think that it's so much a matter of who backs you as long as you are getting the same sort of exposure that all of those people are getting. Look at all the viral internet video stars there are, such as Jenna Marbles, who is nothing more than an exotic dancer who decided she was going to post funny videos to youtube. Now she's an internet sensation. While it is slightly maddening, I don't think it makes those people any less funny. As long as you are getting good exposure, it's up to the opinion of the populace how popular it becomes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carie; it really is a sort of celebrity popularity contest that is, in some ways random. But it was like that before the internet, wasn't it? Maybe, maybe not. It's hard to tell when the internet has grown up at the same rate you have.
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