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So, as I was reading some online news yesterday, I came across an article in the New York Times, entitled: Once Just a Site With Funny Cat Pictures, and Now a Web EmpireIt tells the story of a man, Mr Huh, who bought an online website dedicated to pictures of cats in random poses, with misspelled "kitteh" language captions, which has become a million dollar business. It's called "I Can Has Cheezburger", as inspired by the photo on the right.
Mr Huh claims, "the appetite for oddball Internet humor is insatiable." And judging from the NYT article, he is right.
The story continues:
"Traffic to the Cheezburger blog has ballooned over the last three years, encouraging Mr. Huh to expand his unlikely Web empire to include 53 sites, all fueled by submissions from readers. In May, what is now known as the Cheezburger Network attracted a record 16 million unique visitors, according to the Web analytics firm Quantcast.
A more recent success for the company is a site called Fail Blog, which chronicles disastrous mishaps and general stupidity in photos and video. The network’s smaller sites include Daily Squee, with pictures of cute animals, and There I Fixed It, for photos of bad repair jobs."
The incredible financial success of Mr Huh's site almost inspires me to start an idiotic and topically irrelevant website:"This year alone, the company will generate a seven-figure sum from advertising, licensing fees and merchandise sales."
How can something so stupid, be so successful?
In the current tide of world affairs - including the much talked about Gulf of Mexico oil disaster that continues to spill out at 2.5 million gallons a day - how can this dumb-ass site possibly attract so many visitors?
A 41 year old knitting instructor (yes, knitting instructor) from Portland OR, who was interviewed for the article, reveals why:
"“It’s just a good, simple break from real life,” she said, adjusting the pair of sequined cat ears she was wearing. “It’s clever, but not mean-spirited.”"
In other words, it's so far removed from the depressing responsibility of worrying about oil spills (etc.), that people prefer to spend their time in escape.
In a way, I understand it. I am not going to spend my entire life worrying about all the woes of the world, and certainly indulge in my own daily distractions. However, what we give our attention to becomes our reality. What do you think? Are the visitors to this site wasting their life away, and shifting focus from critical world affairs to the outlandishly banal - or is it a legitimate distraction?
miranda, this is such an interesting topic, and coincidentally, i have recently searched out this type of blog. why? you may ask. well, one night the boys stayed over and were up very early the next morning. trying to keep the house quiet, i brought them into my office and up onto my lap. i youtubed "funny animal stories" as a starting point and was amazed at how many options came up. the interesting thing is that within about 3 minutes we were all saying that none of it was funny and were actually bored. for the next half hour, until my legs could no longer hold them, we watched "the who" perform all of their favorite songs, an important component of music appreciation and history.
ReplyDeletethis vapid entertainment is very similar to most television programming and much of what is available in the theaters. the plus is that it's not porn or violent, sexist or racist, and probably appeals largely to small children and animal lovers. as a form of escape, it's both harmless and brainless. the percentage of folks who spend time in this way is probably proportionate to the number of people who don't give a damn about anything anyway and is reflective of their reality to some degree.
no one is being pulled away from anderson cooper because another cat in a diaper is jumping butt first into a child's birthday cake. seriously.
How do you qualify what is a legitimate distraction, what is banal or a waste of one's life?
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to hear your answer, and I don't mean this in a flippant way at all.
Good question Sierra!
ReplyDeleteI guess my thoughts on this were simply - this is a site that has RECORD numbers of visitors, it is something that is so dramatically successful, it has become newsworthy. It is interesting to see that something with so little meaning (beyond fun) is what people are most drawn to. I have obviously looked at the site, and I thought some of the captions were cute and funny. But – like Maria said – after a few minutes, a new feeling came over me: a combination of shock, horror & boredom.
The fact it was even in the news is telling of our society, and its interest in entertainment! In England, news of Brittany Spears and other celebrity icons (for e.g.) would never reach headline news – and I find the quality of commonplace U.S. news too often oriented around entertainment, instead of focusing on other more serious global issues.
Truthfully, my perspective on what is a waste of one's life could be defined as not fulfilling one's inner most desires and goals. Legitimate distraction is something that feeds our joy, but without attachment. In other words, if we try to fill a void, or if we compulsively/addictively distract ourselves from fulfilling those desires and goals - then we are heading in the wrong direction.
Personally, I see a lot of empty entertainment out there - online, on TV, etc. It provides a need, because a lot of people live miserable lives that they want to escape from (because they are not fulfilling their desires and goals). If entertainment choices stimulate us in a way that is positive (a good laugh after a hard day, feeling the spirits lifted by music, inspired by art or someone else's life, etc.) then I think it serves a higher purpose: to align our Selves with our humanity (which necessarily includes feeling joyful, inspired, etc).
If the entertainment is something that leads us further away from our Selves (as aforementioned, in terms of attachment, distraction from reality, etc), then I think of it as a waste of precious time, in a life indeterminably short.
Well put.
ReplyDeleteMore thoughts/questions because I'm a philosophically driven nerd(and if you are tired of this topic, that's totally fine):
I'm not clear about how you are differentiating between escape, and "a good laugh after a hard day," which you see as having a higher purpose.
What's the difference?
How is some entertainment empty, while other entertainment is not?
Is this a high art, low art type of thing?
And what does "aligning our Selves with our humanity" mean?
Does hearing about global news and world affairs align you with your Self? How?
Also, you seem to feel that there is a correct way to live one's life.
How is this dictated?
Ah, in that case: we are two philosophical peas in a pod.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind “a good laugh after a hard day” was an example where entertainment provides laughter in the moment, and there is resonance with something that makes one feel joyful. When we resonate with something, we feel kinship with it, and there is a sense of connectivity to the greater whole. If we have a difficult day and find joy in laughter through entertainment, then it lifts the spirit and thus makes us feel good, i.e. life’s not that bad after all. We are able to let go of what was making us feel down, and move on to tomorrow.
However, if life is simply drudgery, and every day we feels it’s a hard day, and then turn to our televisions every night to avoid dealing with the cause of that feeling of daily misery, then ultimately the misery will never cease, because joy is dependent on entertainment outside of one’s Self. If we instead address the cause of misery/suffering, then we can free ourselves from it – but that peace/happiness doesn’t come from an external source, it comes from within.
I perceive some entertainment as empty, because it does not fulfill a need and/or it does not resonate with me. I suppose there are so many different types of people, so many perspectives, that while one form of entertainment fulfills a need for one person, it may not fulfill the need of another. It is not necessarily defined by class or ego (i.e. my art is more highbrow than yours, and therefore I am better than you). However, I do admit to finding myself judgmental when it comes to some forms of entertainment (namely violent video games, and television shows revolving around people with low I.Q.’s like Big Brother, for e.g.)so perhaps that is simply my problem to overcome! Perhaps I should stop being such a snob?
I am basing the concept: “to align our Selves with our humanity” on the idea of the fragmented self. Where we all perceive ourselves as a monolithic entity, there are actually different sub-sections within our whole being that are fragmented, and yet co-exist within us. Depending on who you ask, this may be something along the lines of spirit/body/mind, or maybe inner child/critical parent/protector (or other archetypes commonly, but not exclusively, found in trilogy).
So, back to the sentence in question, I was using “humanity” in the sense that no matter what, we are human. What does that mean? It means we have a physical body, we have responsibilities, we live among other humans, we have a range of emotions, there is a construct to our life that we must abide by (earn money to buy food and material objects of necessity or desire), we are born and we die. I just rattled those things off the top of my head, I’m sure there are others.
The Self is the inner consciousness that resides within us all. Inner consciousness is part of the whole, and yet separate from the human form (if you believe such things, as I do, this Self can be likened to spirit, essence, or formlessness). Aligning this fragment with our humanity is about awareness of our whole being. Hence, not forgetting about a vital part of the whole, and instead integrating those fragments as best possible. Thus, a higher purpose is served.
To answer the last question you pose: how is the correct way to live one’s life dictated? My answer: by connecting with the whole. If we reside in only one fragment or other, then we forget about our connectedness. The microcosm exists within the macrocosm, therefore when we are connected to/aware of/in alignment with our whole self, then we also understand that we are ALL connected, that we are all part of an enormous whole, from which there is no separateness.
From this concept of wholeness, stems our actions. So when we harm another, we harm ourselves. When we speak cruel words, we embody cruelty. Alternatively: When we act compassionately towards others, our hearts open to allow in more love (when we give love, we get love). When we live from our sense of purpose, we feel fulfilled.