Welcome to social networking ONLINE.
Here's a scathing documentary about online social networking, produced by a guy named Jason as a school project. Be patient, give it a little time to get going.
According to the deadpan voiceover, social networking....
...appears to be the big thing for people. No matter who you are. Whether you are a young teenager, a college student, or a 30 or 40 year old person. It is a great big sensation. It doesn't matter what race or religion or anything that you are. Even Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, the actress in Saved By The Bell, is doing it!Link to part one, Link to part 2. (Thanks for the awsm, Ari Kuschnir)
the latest
latest episodes
Scathing? Funny? Huh? I watched nearly all of part 2 waiting for it to 'get going'.
I liked this better the first time I saw it, when it was called "Gabe and Max's Internet Thing."
Exactly what part of this documentary is "scathing"? its just a completely nondescript video about social networking. also, did anyone else notice that for some reason, he was checking out the facebook page of the individual who shot all those people at Virginia Tech?
Some of the voiceover is a bit disjointed.
Also I think it would be difficult to prosecute for underage drinking as you can't prove it's being drunk by the person.
#2, you get it, bingo. That is the worthiness. An authentic specimen caught in the wild. That is all.
He totally forgot to mention that Tiffani-Amber also starred in Beverly Hills 90210!
Cylon?
honestly who googles john denver lyrics?
That "deadpan voiceover" sounds like synthesized speech to me.
Totally not funny. My favorite documentation (o.k. it is moren of a commercial) is still "Mastering the internet": http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=vEAkChFGhVI
really love the bit when "Won't Get Fooled Again" cranks up - masterfully misplaced. Nice work, Jason!
He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Comin' home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door
When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hangin' by a song
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changin' fast and it don't last for long
But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high
I think that jasonvoigt has a bright future ahead of him in sales.
"If it weren't for Myspace, we'd still be where we are, but two months behind."
It's gold, Jerry, gold!
Also attesting to this guy's sheer genius is the fact that he, an Illinois college student, has apparently signed up for and posted his videos to German youtube.
Jason talks like a robot and writes like a 4th grader.
It sucks = I don't understand the humor. But it's really liberating to publicly admit your shortcomings, eh?
Believe it or not, there are some people who wouldn't use a furious rant to prove their sense of humor.
Arguing about teh Internet funnie is even more lame than this video.
Adam,
Xeni posted the video. Actual human beings made the video. All the aforementioned souls will probably read this comment thread. You barged in here and insulted them. Sometimes when you spit bile, it blows back in your face. Welcome to the world where actions have consequences.
See the genius is: just make it bad. Some people will think it's funny because it's bad. Other people will just think it's bad. Everybody wins because everybody is write! And everybody can fight about who is wrong. It's easy and fun and you can't mess up unless you make it good. That could be awkward. But it doesn't happen very much and, if it does, you can always start over.
in no way could my comments be construed as a personal insult
You might want to google empathy deficit disorder.
I had no idea that "scathing" could be a synonym of "boring"...it reminds me of the sort of video you'd be shown in elementary school...
I
Thank you adamhyland & Antinous, you've made up for the absolute fail that was the video.
#10 Zeta, now that was funny. " And it only took ten minutes!"
what makes something funny?
Very funny, Xeni, very funny...
banana peels
Adam,
You can write whatever you want on your own blog. Your initial post was rude.
nt tk chll pll.
:-) nw tht wz fnny
Adam,
Feel free to read the Moderation Policy in gray just above Recent Comments.
"I reached my fill of sardonic internet commentary years ago"
moi aussi
No, Tak-kun, you reached your fill of sardonic internet commenters years ago. Why do you always have to bring this back to your delicate digestion?
chewing and spitting out doesn't count. I suffer from sarcobullemia.
Saying that the video sucks is insulting. I'm a moderator. I'm charged with keeping the discourse civil.
This isn't good. I couldn't even tell it was supposed to be funny, and it's not even very informative... sorry Xeni.
Though I must say that the second you post something on a popular website you better be prepared for it to be torn to shreds. Especially when it is billed as "scathing".
As Zeta said, "Mastering the Internet" is similar and way better, but
here's a better link with other funny videos by Jonah Ray. Also check out
The Freeloader's Guide to Easy Living!
Bring him to the House of Pain!
"4. Being nasty to no purpose. (This is the catch-all.)
5. Using unnecessarily exciting language. Making an argument is fine. Making your argument in language guaranteed to make your hearers see red? Bad idea. It practically guarantees that you're going to have a dumb (and therefore boring) argument. And if the argument's not going to be interesting, we don't see the point.
6. Jeering, sneering, condescending, or one-upping when there's been no provocation. Telling people they're naive idiots for caring about whatever-it-is. Like the "I'm bored" pose, it's empty attitudinizing, and it's remarkably unpleasant. "
It wasn't scathing, in any intentionally sarcastic or critical way. It wasn't funny. It was genuine in intent and badly done. You can laugh at the naivete and poor production values.
There were no banana peels; no 'High brought Low", no dramatic changes in status of the participants. It wasn't the least bit interesting, even with ironic distance.
Using a modern colloquilism, it sucked.
Doug,
If you didn't like it, why don't you just move on?
I believed the line where Xeni said, "Be patient, give it a little time to get going."
Trust me, my own upbringing taught me the meaning of 'bitterly disappointed'. But one must keep calm and carry on.
Or... because this is a boring sunday afternoon and this thread became an interesting train wreck about half way through.
well, if you're going to make a mockery of it...
@ #38
"5. Using unnecessarily exciting language."
THAT'S THE MOST AMAZING, OUTSTANDING GUIDELINE I HAVE EVER READ ON BOING BOING! IT'S OUTSTANDING! PROVOCATIVE! INTRIGUING! AND DARE I SAY IT, NEAT-O!
Please don't ban me.
can we hit you for a while?
I think Xeni set us up the bomb.
My daughter 'got it' when she was ten years old. She said, 'I was going to say this program is boring, but since you and Mom like it so much, I guess I should just say IM bored.'
Hey, some people NEVER learn.
I wanted to register on Myspace. Sadly, I have a email address ... but I don't actually have a name.
Something to do with the option ARM mortgage we took out a few years ago. Lost my name when the rate reset.
I'll read the fine print next time.
I'll read the fine print next time.
That's just un-American.
I get it! It's a joke! (describing it as "scathing" was the giveaway)
Oh mannn, I just loove reading the comments section and missing out on like 1/4 of the dialog. It's like reading a novel with a page missing here or there, totally adds excitement to the NO IT DOESNT IT F*CKING SUCKS. Half the fun of the comments on boingboing is reading the bickering and trolling and weirdos and little kid comments. I would welcome an iron fisted moderator on youtube but here it smacks of fascism. You don't get into a flamewar and erase the evidence when you lose (or at least are challenged).. thats just cheap.
The person whose comments were unpublished decided to go the sock puppet route. All his comments were unpublished for that reason, per the moderation policy. You will also notice that there are plenty of dissenting comments that have been left intact.
oooh! puppets! I like puppets!
No moderation policy is terrible, but a really strict one is worse.
The humor went over most people's heads, but that was because you had to 1) pay a lot of attention to both the voiceover and the images so you could catch how they contradicted and played off each other, and 2) you had to recognize the images, often very quickly. A more polished and professional example of this sort of humor would do more of the work for you, but kudos to Jason for a strong effort.
really strict? like with costumes?
Moderation by plushie?
@Palindromic
I'm not too sure I've ever come across a public forum on the internet that could be described as "fascist."
Idi Amin was a fascist. Slobodan Milosevic was a fascist bastard. BoingBoing.net? Ehhh... I just don't see it. I can't really imagine Teresa here sharing a boozy belly-laugh with Mussolini as they recline on a pile of dead monks, you know?
That's more of a Takuan thing, yeah, but you see my point. Don't cheapen the language by describing a semi-flaccid annoyance in terms reserved for that which leaves the whole world proper fncked.
what? now I like reclining on dead monks? Really now, be charitable - I never waste food.
Waste? Tenderize! Those monks are stringy.
I would like to thank everyone for the great and not-so great comments on this! You're all awesome...and remember be free and have fun!