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Web 2.0: The Debate

First, thanks for all of the emails I have gotten about thoughts/information about Web 2.0. I am preparing for a panel for Silverdocs and have used this as an opportunity to learn more about the web and the jargon … I mean, the language … created around the new platforms that exist. Getting up to speed on this has taught me that I knew a lot more than I thought. I was a bit nervous because although I have a personal blog and am a pretty internet savvy person, I was not sure that I was ready to speak publicly about these things. Also, I was unsure how to discuss Arts Engine’s role in the whole 2.0 revolution.

I have a much better grasp on the whole thing and will not give up too many of the things I have learned because, well, let’s save the five minutes of information I have for the Silverdocs audience members. I will pass along the definition of web 2.0 because many of my friends have emailed me and said that though they would like to help me in my quest for more information, they have no clue what the heck web 2.0 is. This article gives as a great definition and has some great diagrams. An easy analogy is that web 1.0 is the Encyclopedia Britannica and web 2.0 is wikipedia. Wikipedia allows anyone and everyone to update information. Encyclopedia Britannica simply provides information. A true oversimplification is that, for the reader, web 1.0 is more passive and web 2.0 is more active.

A few days ago, The Brian Lehrer Show featured Andrew Keen, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has written a new book, The Cult of the Amateur: How today’s Internet is killing our culture. Keen believes that blogs, wikis and other web 2.0 phenomena cause a great deal of harm. Listening to him on the show, I was surprised at how pedestrian his arguments were. Haven’t we heard these arguments a hundred times:
• Bloggers aren’t “real” journalists.
• Filmmakers on YouTube are not “real” filmmakers.
• Wikis like wikipedia spread misinformation.

Maybe it was Keen’s glib tone but I thought that he would inspire some new debate.

When Lehrer spoke about some blogs that are deemed “legitimate”, written by living and breathing journalists, he referred to The Huffington Post. Keen then, completely contradicted himself and said that HuffPo is different. It functions more as an online newspaper than a blog because real journalists write it. So if “respected people” write online their work is called online newspapers but the college student, because he or she is an unknown entity, writes on this sub par format known as a blog. This is just more elitist jargon. Writing about what you had for breakfast may not necessarily be news but if there is an audience for it, I argue that maybe it is. I know people would read about what George Clooney had for breakfast if he had a blog. (Is he an eggs and bacon man or a fruit and yogurt kind of guy? These are questions I want answers to. I won't lie.)

As an entrepreneur, Keen did push the idea that many of the artists making videos on YouTube or the musicians putting their music on MySpace for free were not making smart financial decisions. Sure, their work was getting out there but they were making next to nothing financially. Plus (and this was implied) their work was not being seen in a platform that people necessarily respected. People tend to respect work that has to be vetted in some way.

As a filmmaker, I think about how I want to put my work out into the world. I have short films that I have made in film school and they are just sitting on my hard drive taking up space. At first, I did not put them up on YouTube because I want people to see them in a “proper” setting, in a film festival or on some distributors DVD that I can actually make some money off of. The problem with that idea is well, the films are too old to be in any more festivals and only a small handful of distributors take shorts (other than online ones which I have had varied success with). I can huff and puff about other filmmaker friends having their films in [insert fancy film festival here] or being distributed by [insert big name distributor here] but my films still remain on my hard drive.

I finally gave in a year ago and put my third year film school short on YouTube. After a year of doing absolutely nothing to drive traffic to it, 398 people have watched it. It’s not thousands but I could have 398 people watch my film or I could sit around and wait for some outside entity to legitimize my work. You be the judge. No I won’t get rich from this. But people outside of my inner circle will see my work. This can and has lead to success for other artists.

Again, these arguments are not new but because I was provoked to write such a long entry about it, it is clear that it is still a provocative subject. You can read more about Andrew Keen on, ironically, his blog.

Cross posted on Engine Feed.

Web 2.0?

I am going to be on a panel about Web 2.0 for Silverdocs, a documentary film festival in Washington D.C. I am putting a call out to folks about their thoughts on it. How many of you even know what it is? Web 2.0 hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web. Do you think this is true? What role does it all play in engaging new audiences? Instead of saying what I think our community is thinking, I'd love to hear it from you guys! Anyone who feels in a commenting mood, feel free to drop me a line.

A New Phrase

Reading Terminal Market - Philadelphia, 2005
Originally uploaded by Alan Barr.

I commented on George's blog and I learned a new term that is absolutely fantastic. It is called a bliss ninny. Check it out from Wikipedia:

"Bliss ninny" is a pejorative term for a person who is unrealistically optimistic, or a Pollyanna and who might seem to prefer to retreat from a difficult reality by professing seemingly irrelevant platitudes, rather than to directly engage with the difficulty at hand in a meaningful way. This word is popularly used on the internet to describe chatroom participants who, according to Flame Warrior will often attempt to interrupt a heated discussion by attempting to interject "vacuous comments.... about (their cats)." According to the Rick Ross website, within the Rainbow Tribe the term refers to "a Rainbow (Tribe member) who spends most of his or her time stoned on marijuana." This term is also sometimes used by students of A Course in Miracles to refer to a Course student who may seem to have become "overly intoxicated with", but "underly grounded in" Course principles.

Man, I have read so many blogs where people talk about how amazing their lives are and how amazing their cats are and it just makes me cynical and moody. It is nice to see that I am not the only one.

Greetings btw from Philadelphia. I am here for three days for a shoot. I saw this picture on Flickr and had to share it. My fave spot in Philadelphia is Reading Terminal Market. You can get a good cup of coffee and meet some characters. We did some interviews here and tomorrow I am buying my morning coffee there and say hey to the vendors we shot with.

The New Layout

I was considering moving this blog over to my Vox blog but decided against it. I've had this address for almost three years now and I have grown used to it. Plus I don't want to deal with figuring out what to do with my old entries. I feel like this blog was the beginning of a new era for me in a lot of ways and I like having it here in its complete form.

I did decide to choose a new layout. It is less "personalized" but I think it is easier to read and less cluttered. Plus, YouTube videos are easier to watch with this layout and I know that I will be putting up more and more of them as time goes on.

I do have a blog on Vox but I really just do the question of the day. I do encourage you to become my friend on Vox though because every once in a while I post an entry there that I do not post here. Usually that entry is more personal in nature and not something I want the whole internet to know about.

On Vox, you can create entries that are only for Friends and Family and I do take advantage of that sometimes. (I encourage Vox for all new to blogging. It is free and the privacy options are unlike anything else on the internet right now. If Vox was around when I first started, I would have started there. Oh well. I still support the folks at Six Apart.) It is rare for me to post something only on the Vox blog so don't feel like you're missing out on this one.

For some reason, I felt like I owed my blogging audience some kind of explanation about all of this. I have no idea why. Anyway, consider yourself updated.

Sometimes There's An Easy Solution

I just needed a new ethernet cable. I just bought this one but I did buy it at a 99 cent store so I guess you get what you pay for. More blogging to come.

Internet Down!

My internet has been down at my house for almost a week.  They are trying to fix it but it has been hard to post since work has been busy. 

My friend has this survey up on her site.  It is taken from Vanity Fair's Questionnaire at the back of their mag that was adapted from Proust's Questionnaire.  For some reason, I was really into it and decided to answer the questions much as my friend did, without editing myself.  Here is what I came up with:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

A beautiful summer's day.  A nice swim in the ocean.  That's harder to define than I thought.

What is your greatest fear?

Not living my life to its fullest.

What historical figure do you most identify with?

I had a thing for Joan of Arc when I was younger but I think I was just a martyr.

Which living person do you most admire?

Nelson Mandela

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Insecurity

What trait do you most deplore in others?

Narcissism

What is your greatest extravagance?

Fancy dinners.

On what occasion do you lie?

Sometimes to make a story sound a bit better.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

My tummy

What is your favorite journey?

I enjoy the journey towards Prospect Park on a sunny day.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

I need a bit more info on the situation before I can answer that one.

Which living person do you most despise?

Next question.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

amazing, awesome, bananas

What is your greatest regret?

I regret not calling my brother right when I got back from Argentina. 

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

I know the answer in my heart but I won't share it with the internet.

When and where were you happiest?

I will share my most recent happy/blissful moment and that was the last day I was in Ghana.  I was staying at this amazing place and I just felt beautiful and fulfilled.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I would love to play the piano and be a black Fiona Apple.  It ain't gonna happen though.

What is your current state of mind?

Hot -- my office is a sauna.  Oh, state of mind, pretty good.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I'd take more risks.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?

I'd like to feel more connected to them. 

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

George Clooney.  It just seems so fun to be him.

If you could choose what or who to come back as, what would it be?

Isn't that the same question.  OK, I'll give a different answer and say I'd come back as a dolphin.

What do your consider your greatest achievement?

My sanity

What is your most treasured possession?

My friends

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

I don't think I am philosophical enough to answer this one.  Or maybe I just don't want to go there.

What is your most marked characteristic?

My height.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

An ability to not take himself too seriously.

What is the quality you most admire in a woman?

Sincerity.

What do you most value in your friends?

Loyalty.

Who are your favourite writers?

Zadie Smith, Charles Dickens, Edwidge Danticat, Dave Eggers, John Edgar Wideman.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Dolores from She's Come Undone.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Back to Nelson.

What are your favourite names?

Delphine, Emma, Tucker, Tess, Benicio, Cole

What is it that you most dislike?

Fakeness, cotton candy, beets

How would you like to die?

In my sleep.

What is your motto?

I need a motto.  I really do.

Blogging is like exercise.

You miss a week and your body starts to forget it ever did it.

Another week and your getting a little flabby.

A week after that and you stop being someone who exercises. You start making plans in the evenings and the people who are in dance or spin classes with you start to think that you've stopped taking the class.

So I'm at week three with blogging and week two with exercise. Both enrich me so I've gotta be better.

Some events during my blogging lapse:

* My best friend had her baby!!! He is a little cutie and everyone is happy and healthy. He is so tiny.
* Now that she is doing well (as well as a new Mom can be), I can now say that I was really anxious about her having the baby. I have a serious, serious fear of hosptials. I did not know it was so bad until the week before she gave birth. The last two times people I loved went to a hospital they did not return. I intellectually knew that my friend was going to be fine but emotionally, not so much. I was having some serious anxiety and not sleeping. I wanted to be a good friend and help her through this difficult and scary process but I had my own issus around it. I didn't hear from her for a few days and I started freaking out. But what I am proud of is the fact that I figured out what was going on with me and acknowledged it instead of acting like it wasn't going on. I was able to even talk to my friend about it and she sort of knew that I was feeling that way and was really amazing about wanting me to be a big part of the process so that I could feel more at ease. It really helped and I think it brought us even closer.
* Britney dumped Kevin Federline! This made me so so happy and I have no idea why. The Artist Formerly Known As Mr. Spears is the worst performer EVER!!! He needs to go away. NOW!!!
* At work, we finished a film that we hope gets into a big festival. Keep your fingers crossed.
* Reese and Ryan split up too. That one is sad. I don't think Ryan can act but I heart Reese and wish her well.
* I am working on a script and it's going pretty well. I think I finally understand that I need some structure in order to write. A treatment is my friend!
* The Democrats rule and Rumsfeld quit. I woke up having so much hope!
* But it was really, really warm that morning as it has been for a few days which would be great if it did not remind me that global warming is upon us.
* I went to a new media conference in Boston that was great. It turned out to be a great networking opportunity which I did not anticipate. There is still a lot to figure out when talking about video on the internet but I do want to be a part of that discussion.
* Ed Bradley and Gerald Levert died! What a week! So incredibly sad. Both were fairly young.
* Lindsey Lohan got into yet another car accident. Someone revoke her license please. She must be stopped.
* I saw a sneak preview screening of the new Anthony Minghella flick, Breaking and Entering with Jude Law and Robin Wright Penn. I enjoyed it but it's not a perfect film. My gal, Vera Farmiga does it again. She's hysterical! I have strange feelings about Jude. I think he can act but there's something about him. You just can't get in there with him. Maybe he's too pretty. I'm not sure. The nanny thing does not help.

Book Meme

I got this from Pilgrimage to self and figured why not? Here are the instructions:

1. Grab The Nearest Book.
2. Open The Book To Page 123.
3. Find The Fifth Sentence.
4. Post The Text Of The Sentence In Your Journal/Blog Along With These Instructions.

Don't Search Around And Look For The Coolest Book You Can Find. Do What's Actually Next To You.

I closed my eyes and hit a picture book that I got from my old boss called Hearthrob: A Hundred Years of Beautiful Men. Needless to say, there was no fifth sentence on page 123.

Here is the quote from the next book I grabbed:

“No doubt he’ll continue to do the slick thing, vetoing legislation like the Family Leave Act and an unemployment benefits bill while pulling the wool over our eyes with opportunistic black politicos like Thomas."
Bulletproof Diva by Lisa Jones.

It amused me that this book was written in 1994 and that the stuff she is talking about still applies. Oh, and she is talking about Bush Sr. Too much!!!

100 Things About Me

I have wanted to do this for a while. I am part of a blogging mentor program where a bunch of us are mentoring young girls with different assignments. (We aren't posting the url because we want everyone to be able to be uninhibited when they write.) Anyway, this was the first assignment they got and I figured I would give it a go as well.

I do not think I can do 100 in one sitting. It just seems waay too ambitious an undertaking. Today I will do the first 25 and maybe in a day or so do 25 more. I am doing this while watching Capote. I'm not sure why I am mentioning it other than to say that Phillip Seymour Hoffman is really as brilliant as they say.

1. I am very tall.
2. I used to say I was 5'10" when I knew I had already hit the 6'0" mark because I thought being 6'0" made me a freak.
3. I'm stubborn.
4. I can admit when I am wrong.
5. I don't comb my hair as much as I should.
6. I love coffee and I am not giving it up. Ever.
7. I'm not sure I will ever get married.
8. And I'm not sure I care.
9. I will raise a child one day.
10. I could be online all day and have.
11. I like being alone a lot.
12. But I like hanging out with friends a lot too.
13. I hate the dentist and almost would rather have my teeth fall out then go.
14. I hate most doctors too. I'm not sure they know that much more than I do.
15. I love oatmeal.
16. I was on Romper Room for two episodes.
17. I can be jealous. Very jealous. Not in romantic relationships really. I can be jealous of people, things they have.
18. I am messy.
19. My parents have passed away.
20. I don't think regrets are that big a deal. They teach you things.
21. I've never read any Faulkner.
22. I'm not sure I have a favorite author.
23. It used to be Gloria Naylor.
24. The strangest place I've had sex was in a park.
25. I'm against the death penalty.
26. I'm not into inspirational quotes.

something cool

Check this out from one of my fave blogs.