Earthblog

The road to activism today seems to have forked into the online world and the ‘real’ world. And while occupiers settle in or withdraw in the face of winter, impatient civic governments and a somewhat fatigued public, any discernible message that may have evoked real social change or even a discourse that went beyond the idea that the 99 per cent is broke and don’t enjoy it seems to have been lost among the cross talk that is Occupy.

If you have ever had the fortune of finding your parent’s childhood video game console, you can appreciate how spoiled we are. Games like pong and space invaders are laughed at by children today for their all around simplicity but in the early days of home consoles, that was it. Graphics? Yeah right. Special Controllers? A single joy-stick was as special as they came. As for sound effects, you’d be lucky to get a beep; forget about explosions, gunfire and actual words. It’s no secret that video games have advanced far beyond most entertainment sources but what do all these features and gadgets mean to society? Before we dive into the exploration of modern day consoles, here’s a little background information.

A part of growing up is finding yourself, creating your identity and expressing it. This process is one that past generations have experienced and one that future generations will continue to experience. The only difference is that in today’s world there are now many mediums available to mold the image you want to present. Tumblr, a website and microblogging platform, is one of these mediums that not only promotes self-expression but thrives of it.  

How social networking online translates offline

You’re in a crowded restaurant with a close friend. In between appetizers and the main course, she tells you she got into another argument online. And the result was a dip in her total ‘friends’ count on Facebook.

The online dispute was over a grammar error. Your friend joked with an online comrade about spell check, punctuation and syntax. But a smiley-face emoticon was insufficient to demonstrate she meant it all in jest and she was soon de-friended.