First Draft

by: Maria Villanueva

Your Life or Their Life, TMZ

Steven Johnson and Brian Williams both discuss two opposite opinions about Web 2.0. In many ways, Web 2.0 is seen as a great beneficial to the public and in other ways it can become a distraction. In Steven Johnson’s, “It’s all about us” he discusses the transformation of the internet. The internet was first created with Web 1.0 which was used to search only information that you needed to find. Now we have seen a drastic growth of the internet. It has become the source to everything. You are allowed to watch, read, and listen to everything that you please. He claims that the internet has a better chance of getting information to the public than the news. In Brian Williams’, “Enough about You” he discusses the issues that it may have on Web 2.0 users. Williams states, “It is now possible — even common — to go about your day in America and consume only what you wish to see and hear” (Williams, 450). He is saying that many people are occupied searching, listening, reading, and watching things that fit into their interest that it is possible for them to go through a whole day without ever reading or watching the news. Although many people believe that Web 2.0 is a great resource and access to the public, Williams made an interesting point of how Web 2.0 may cause a large number of people to be unaware of the important issues because many websites fit into each consumer’s needs. Internet access has even become easier to manage especially with already booked mark websites so you are able to only see the things you choose and want to see.

Brian Williams make a good claim in which Web 2.0 may become a distraction. Web 2.0 was created for the people, in many ways this is a good thing. Many people are allowed to get their own opinions or inventions out to the public, but not everyone is doing that. There are tons of people who rather watch a video of a dancing man than an interview of a political issue. We are able to distinguish this because of the numerous hits these videos get on YouTube. Williams states, “If it has to do with you, or your life, it’s important enough to tell someone.” Anyone can post anything and everything. These sites have the tendency to become almost an addiction because it satisfies our needs or enjoy the things we see. A lot of people have become dependent on the use of internet because everyone has access and ability to put themselves out to the public to be known. It accepts unknown people who want to be famous to try and get their talents to the public. We see this as a good way to market information and ourselves. This may sound like a great thing but not everyone is searching for those kinds of things. Today people have their favorite sites already bookmarked or saved as a homepage. Many internet users make things easier for themselves so when they sign onto the web they are automatically logged into the sites they want. One thing that fascinates the public, are celebrities. TMZ is one of the post popular sites that provide the latest information on celebrities.

TMZ is a website that is used to find the latest gossip and news about your favorite celebrities. It was first created as an easy way to access Hollywood news to the public than waiting for the weekly People or Enquire magazines. It first came out in 2006 when a photographer saw and took photographs of Paris Hilton with her boy friend at the time, Brandon Davis at a nightclub. Since then it gained so much attention to the public. It because one of the most popular media sites that they even made their own television show. The videos that they provide online have even received millions of hits a day. TMZ have been the first ones to give out the latest news and gossip out to the public because they quickly update their site as soon as they gather all the accurate information. Most of the news they provide are not always celebrity friendly, it provides a lot of reports about celebrities doing drugs, getting DUIs, going to prison, playing with their kids, and sometimes giving back to charity. There are so many people who are more interested in celebrity lives that sometimes they lose focus on their own. We constantly see reports on Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan because the public love them. In the past these celebrities were seen as teen idols but are now the two most scandalous women in Hollywood because of the outrageous things they have done in their lives.

With web 2.0 becoming one of the most used resources today, many people around the world have occupied of using the internet rather than reading the news. You can find anything you can think of that may fit into your specific interest. With the variety of things you can find, it is possible to keep yourself occupied for a long time. Usually the time goes by quickly without you noticing because you may have been glued onto the site you are reading. Many people get excited about all the things they find that sometimes they keep searching for more things that they enjoy seeing or reading. If you try and search up information for school or your work, you may sometimes find yourself on a game or networking site five minutes later. Many of us sometimes feel bored of the important information that we come across because it may not have been a personal interest of your and sometimes we usually seek a different website that we like more. Of course you can go read the news online but not everyone is doing so. Even if they are, they are still seeking the news that entertain them or that they find interesting. Sometimes they still may miss out on the important facts.

Many of people’s favorite kind of news are usually the scandalous ones, especially when it comes to pop princess Britney Spears. For many years she was an iconic performer with her catchy number one music hits, and her dance movies. With her being one of the biggest celebrities, paparazzi have been on a love and hate bases with her. Many of her scandals have become more ridiculous and others with more of a positive outlook on her. Sometimes you just never know what she will do next. A ton of people have heard news about her shaving her head so her ex would not be able to trace drug usage on her, we heard Britney almost dropping her child on the cement ground, and we heard about her carrying her child on her lap while she was driving. These three are her biggest scandals and we can clearly see that these are not everyday incident or events that happen so many of us are suddenly shocked and enjoy the things we see or read. Much of the public and media love her so much that they include a lot of positive things about her. Recently TMZ have been updating events and news with headlines such as “Britney Spears – Nowhere to Go but Up.” This shows how much the media supports her. Also recently she made headlines again with her latest Twitter update. Twitter is a networking website where people create a status of what people are doing. It is a way to inform the public about their thoughts or news. A hacker went on Britney Spears’ account saying, “I give myself to Lucifer everyday for it to arrive as quickly as possible. Glory to Satan.” This caused a shock to many people. . When you read things like this, many people begin to be so glued on to what they see because they find it remarkably interesting or entertaining.

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Works Cited

"Britney Spears | TMZ.com." Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Celebrity News | TMZ.com. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. .

Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Celebrity News | TMZ.com. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. .

Johnson, Steven. "All About You." Signs of Life in the USA: 446-48. Print.

Williams, Brian. "Enough About You." Signs of Life in the USA: 449-51. Print.