2nd Paper - 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. “Nothing will hurt Web 2.0 more than people loudly proclaiming Web 2.0 is the solution to every problem” ( Richard MacManus, Issues Facing Web 2.0 Today). With the variety of things you can find, it is possible to keep yourself occupied for a long time. Many people rely on the web for everything and 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.
The internet is one of the best and quickest ways to find information, people are allowed to bookmark anything they want which helps them get access to the site they want to visit even faster. You are able to pick the sites that you view the most and create a short cut to the site. It allows you to skip all the things you find as unimportant and head directly to the sites that you want to see. With the creation bookmarks, you do not always see the real important information that you may need to read or see. It gives a better meaning to how the web is all about you and your needs.

With the creation of bookmarks, you can quickly go to the TMZ website and read or see the latest, hilarious gossip of Lindsey Lohan. We have seen Lindsey Lohan grow up on the big screen since she was a kid. The celebrity news shows and websites never focused on her until she started having drug and alcohol problems and now we are seeing more of her family problems. Currently, there are numerous updates on her with her anger towards her father. There are headlines saying, “15,000 More Reasons to Hate Michael Lohan” and “Lohan Burns Dad – He’s the Fame Whore.” Michael Lohan is not a celebrity or known for something. He is just a father who treated his family with such disrespect and caused issues, but because he is the father to someone famous, people tend to pay attention to those types of stories.

Web 2.0 does have its benefits. With the world and everyone being able to access internet anywhere, it is easier to voice your thoughts, opinions, and talent to people globally. Web 2.0 created a technology where everyone can find their own importance on it. They may be a well known blogger, famous YouTube person, and even sells their homemade items. Whatever site or way you try to get your story or talent in the internet, it is public for everyone to see. There are billions of internet users so you may be able to get your information known or have a good amount of people to be aware of your information. The media is not always focusing on local stories. We usually see the big issues that happen nationally. With the media focusing in the big stories, we rarely hear the other important information that happens in a small town. The internet allows a person to post their tragic or important news and it has a good chance of being read by many people. Even it being an easier and quicker way of getting your information to the world, not everyone is going to take their time to search these kinds of things. Many people may rather search something to entertain them which are usually music, games, videos, or Hollywood gossip. “The internet; like everything else is a useful tool. However, you have to set limits. Not everyone can or wants to do that” (Jennifer, World Have Your Say). There are many people who much rather use their time to go on sites that they find fun so they are able to occupy their time much longer, plus with sites that are fun and entertaining, many begin to become addicted to it. When they start becoming addicted to it, it becomes a daily internet usage routine, so to help them locate the site much faster, they save it as a bookmark so they can access the site in a jip.

Steven Johnson and Brian Williams provide a good opposing argument to why and how Web 2.0 is a great idea or how it may not be so great. Steven Johnson’s argues that with the usage of Web 2.0 anyone can find their own importance in it. You can be a famous person, a scientist, or a person who is afraid to step out of the world and still find a place on the internet where you feel like you belong. It gives people the opportunity to make their voices be heard about the information that they believe are important and must be read by others. Brian Williams on the other hand discusses how Web 2.0 users are not always searching up real world wide issues. Most of the time, they are searching things that benefits their interest such as music, YouTube, video games, and social networking sites. Many of us get distracted with these types of sites that we do not bother to think about the important information. For me, Brian Williams makes a good point with how Web 2.0 is more of a distraction from the news. We get so caught up on the fun new things that we find that we overlook the latest virus or murders.

Since web 2.0 is such a big thing, the future may hold some bigger and better things for them. They may add more sites to entertain people where people are going to get more addicted to and waste their time with that. Websites that people feel so addicted to should include a small section on the side where it provides the latest important news that is happening and that can benefit a person’s life. They should even try to cut down the false information because there are so many sites that are not reliable. We are in need of more reliable and accurate sites because no one wants to be fed with false information. People may depend on it for health support or for their school papers. Sites that have blogs and videos will still be more democratic. There is no telling where Web 2.0 is going. It is already big, so for them to find even bigger information may be hard to imagine.




Annotated Bibliography
"Are young people becoming addicted to the internet?" BBC World Have Your Say. Web. 03
Dec. 2009. .
This showed other peoples thoughts about internet addiction. It gave stories and examples of what they saw from their children or from them personally. It related to my argument and how people consume a large amount of internet usage. It becomes such an addiction that it may start to be such a big part of their lives.
"Britney Spears | TMZ.com." Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Celebrity News | TMZ.com. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. .
Britney Spears is one of the most talked about Celebrities. She was first seen as America’s little sweetheart. With her being seen to the public for over a decade, we see her grow and change dramatically. We see her long struggles with her baby’s daddy and drugs. She is always doing the craziest things but people still love her.
Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Celebrity News | TMZ.com. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. .
TMZ provides all the latest gossip about celebrities. If it is controversial and entertaining, they will have the information posted first. They provide real footages, interviews, and photos of celebs. They talk about their lives because so many people are interested in it.
"Issues Facing Web 2.0 Today." ReadWriteWeb - Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social
Networking and Social Media. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. .
This provided the issues that may concern us. It talks about the most controversial things that we face or may have face while using the internet. If you haven’t come across these issues, they may help you become aware of them. It gave me other ideas of how the internet has problems.
Johnson, Steven. "All About You." Signs of Life in the USA: 446-48. Print.
Steven Johnson discusses his argument of how Web 2.0 is beneficial. Any person in any part of the country is capable of getting information to the public. It is an easier and faster way for others to become aware of the things you think should be heard. It is used in my article because it helps me and the reader see the side I oppose of in the argument.
"Lindsay Lohan | TMZ.com." Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Celebrity News |
TMZ.com. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. .
Lindsey Lohan is another one of the most controversial celebrities. She had been seen with drugs, excessive partying, drinking, becoming a lesbian, and having major family issues. We watched her grow up on the big screen since she was a kid, people loved her. Even when she has not been seen doing any acting or singing, she is still takes a big part of celebrity gossip.
Williams, Brian. "Enough About You." Signs of Life in the USA: 449-51. Print.
Brian Williams discusses how the Web 2.0 is a problem. He talks about how it is a distraction from the important news around the world. People much rather go on the internet to search things that benefit to their interest. It is used in my paper because it is my personal opinion on the argument.