Meme Industrial Complex

Don't ask me what finally possessed me to join TWITTER. For the longest time, I made fun of a friend who maintained an account.

140 character "updates" you can post to the Twittering world. Exactly like FACEBOOK updates. Except that in Twitter, you can choose to follow a bunch of Tweeting celebrities and other people you don't necessarily know.

Completely fucking inane and damning evidence of the recklessly self-involved culture that has evolved.

(... said the guy who maintains multiple blogs alongside Twitter and Facebook accounts.)

I remember how I found out that River Phoenix died. I was hanging out in a dorm room with a bunch of folks and someone had heard—through the grapevine—that River Phoenix had OD'ed. Someone else had to make a phone call (land-line!) to another friend to fact-check this rumor.

How did I find out about Michael Jackson's death...?

Twitter.

Is it any wonder that the newspapers are dying? The news is stale before the ink can dry. Even the 24-hour News Networks can't beat the viral immediacy of Twitter/Facebook/MySpace.