How about this for making news outlets flocking to social media: I no longer get my first dose of news from a conventional journalist-type source, but from Facebook.
In the last month or so, I have found out on Facebook that:
1) Shaquille O'Neal is retiring.
2) Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson died.
3) There was a tornado in MA, which hit very close to some of my family in CT.
4) The Vancouver Canucks won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.
5) A luxury candle company has a not-so-luxurious PR firm.
Okay, that last one just annoyed the heck out of me - I won a free candle on Facebook. I've won a lot of other stuff online too (I got a free bottle of Clinique skin tone evener on Twitter) because I'm kind of a troll that way, but the candle did not come to me for over a month. After speaking with the girl at the PR firm who handled it when the candle was two weeks late, still no candle by Memorial Day weekend - and I ended up copying the luxury candle company on my next email voicing my disappointment. I got an email from who I assume was the PR firm manager overnighting the candle to me. We'll see if it's on my doorstep for real by 3 p.m. today, but seriously? Aren't PR firms paid not to do this crap?
ANYWAY. The excitement in my life comes less from reading headlines and more from seeing what my friends are reporting. I can of course get the details from other news outlets, of course, but even Shaq took to Twitter to report his big news, and you know CNN had some peons watching Twitter feeds to report anything that might be newsworthy.
Isn't it strange how slowly, surely, the media middleman is becoming a periphery to our source of gossip and news instead of the center? I remember watching the 6 o'clock news every night with Peter Jennings when I was kid, right before Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! came on. Even more so, my parents would probably recall how they found out about the Challenger explosion through the TV; even back in 2001 when 9/11 happened, I heard about it on the radio first.
But not today. A measly 10 years after 9/11 and I no longer check CNN or BBC first; it's Facebook I go to catch up first, then review the news later. Granted, the gossipy-type news usually is filtered first through social media, not the international news or conflicts that many Americans don't choose or care to follow, but then again I have a social circle that does extend beyond the U.S., and I end up finding things that might be popular overseas before anyone here even knows about it. Amazing.
What else does social media bring me? A freaking ton of coupons, that's what. Any time I sign up for something, it's because I saw it on Facebook. ShoeDazzle, Ideeli.com, Sephora, Bluefly... this targeted ad stuff is really quite scary. I've been eying a dress for a few days and it kept coming up on every ad that I saw, no matter what website I'd go to. Eventually I got a coupon in my email and was able to purchase the dress for another 30% off, but still... how do you put on blinders to this stuff? At least we had an excuse to ignore billboards when we're driving down the thruway, but you can't avoid moving ads and audio clips when you're trying to read the news.
If you don't hear from me for another four months, just make sure I didn't get sucked into another ad vortex and am drowning in email special offers. If you'll excuse me, I need to sign up for email notifications from the newest partnership between Groupon and Expedia.
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Horse is Dead
Among gossip blogs and news outlets alike, there are a few people who are still in the news that, well, shouldn't be. Are we trying to ignore the impending health care legislation that will soon make its debut in the Senate? Ignoring the 10% unemployment rate? Whatever we are trying to get away from, I still can't believe the following clowns are still getting jawed over:
Carrie Prejean: A conservative beauty queen whose remarks about gay marriage brought her front and center, but now we just have to read about her sex tape and her anti-porn remarks. Honey, you ain't the only one with an overblown ego and still providing a worthless job for your publicist. See Kardashian, Khloe.
Paris Hilton: Ok, she actually does a few things like sell some perfume and help luxury designers keep size-11 shoes in vogue. Otherwise, this describes exactly what I think is wrong with Hollywood: Brain drain.
Jon Gosselin and Levi Johnston: Two bad fathers getting the limelight. Exactly the role models that young men need these days. Also known for neither of them able to keep it in their pants (Jon's got eight kids, and Levi does his 'Playgirl' shoot next week. If I have to read one more article about manscaping...)
Anyone Lohan: More dysfunctional than when we were introduced to the Osbournes, this family is certified Grade-A quacky. An absentee father and money-grubbing White Oprah fight freely in the spotlight for the next headline about their daughters Lindsay and Ali, with both of the kids looking like they are as old as Mom. Last week, Michael Lohan exposed some juicy taped phone calls about Lindsay's ongoing War on Drugs (she's losing big time). Now Dina Lohan has figured out a way to get her daughter's name associated with Heath Ledger.
Anyone Kardashian: Saturating the news outlets like week-old cat pee, the Kardashians have found plenty of ways to keep the lens in their direction. Pregnancy! (Fake) marriage! Boobs! Butt! Black eyes! Reggie Bush! If you think the name sounds familiar, Google "Kardashian Simpson" and see why.
Joe Jackson: Just... no. His son dies and now he's gossip fodder - of his own making.
Bad Dads in General: Hmm. Jude Law (although Mama isn't that much of a winner either). Balthazar Getty (a married father of four frolicking with Sienna Miller). Larry Birkhead (one of Anna Nicole Smith's several paramours who dragged a DNA fight through the mud). It's too bad there's plenty more.
So why do we thrive on worthless celebrity gossip? Do we love the escape from our own lives? Do we equate this kind of life with money, power or prestige? Is it a way to bring celebs down to our level, trying to find every mistake and sex tape they've made, to bring them down off their pedestal and realize they're more like us inconspicuous folk? It's probably a bit of each. Just another few questions in my unofficial, everlasting study of American news and gossip media, its attempts at showing us newsworthy stories without a filter, and the questions we should ask ourselves when accessing it on a daily basis.
Carrie Prejean: A conservative beauty queen whose remarks about gay marriage brought her front and center, but now we just have to read about her sex tape and her anti-porn remarks. Honey, you ain't the only one with an overblown ego and still providing a worthless job for your publicist. See Kardashian, Khloe.
Paris Hilton: Ok, she actually does a few things like sell some perfume and help luxury designers keep size-11 shoes in vogue. Otherwise, this describes exactly what I think is wrong with Hollywood: Brain drain.
Jon Gosselin and Levi Johnston: Two bad fathers getting the limelight. Exactly the role models that young men need these days. Also known for neither of them able to keep it in their pants (Jon's got eight kids, and Levi does his 'Playgirl' shoot next week. If I have to read one more article about manscaping...)
Anyone Lohan: More dysfunctional than when we were introduced to the Osbournes, this family is certified Grade-A quacky. An absentee father and money-grubbing White Oprah fight freely in the spotlight for the next headline about their daughters Lindsay and Ali, with both of the kids looking like they are as old as Mom. Last week, Michael Lohan exposed some juicy taped phone calls about Lindsay's ongoing War on Drugs (she's losing big time). Now Dina Lohan has figured out a way to get her daughter's name associated with Heath Ledger.
Anyone Kardashian: Saturating the news outlets like week-old cat pee, the Kardashians have found plenty of ways to keep the lens in their direction. Pregnancy! (Fake) marriage! Boobs! Butt! Black eyes! Reggie Bush! If you think the name sounds familiar, Google "Kardashian Simpson" and see why.
Joe Jackson: Just... no. His son dies and now he's gossip fodder - of his own making.
Bad Dads in General: Hmm. Jude Law (although Mama isn't that much of a winner either). Balthazar Getty (a married father of four frolicking with Sienna Miller). Larry Birkhead (one of Anna Nicole Smith's several paramours who dragged a DNA fight through the mud). It's too bad there's plenty more.
So why do we thrive on worthless celebrity gossip? Do we love the escape from our own lives? Do we equate this kind of life with money, power or prestige? Is it a way to bring celebs down to our level, trying to find every mistake and sex tape they've made, to bring them down off their pedestal and realize they're more like us inconspicuous folk? It's probably a bit of each. Just another few questions in my unofficial, everlasting study of American news and gossip media, its attempts at showing us newsworthy stories without a filter, and the questions we should ask ourselves when accessing it on a daily basis.
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