Authority and the Social Media World

 
It may have been said best by Bertrand de Jouvenel:
“The phenomenon called authority is at once more ancient and more fundamental than the phenomenon called state; the natural ascendancy of some men over others is the principle of all human organizations and all human advances.”

All societies operate on the concept of authority; as some figure or body of government has the ability and power deliver punishment on individual(s). Since the Roman civilization, authority is used as a deterrence and an instrument of justice; punishing those that break the laws of a society. In contemporary society as it relates to the rule of law, an authority figure would be law enforcement, military, intelligence services – and as we have seen in certain countries, the use of power in punishing others can be very relenting, and even the legitimacy in the authority figures and its ideology can be questioned and revolted by a society (i.e. Iran). However, without a body to enforce the rules and order of a society, then chaos is sure to arise as man can not govern itself freely. There are several differing types of authority according to German Max Weber, they are Rational-legal, traditional, and charismatic.

Social Media Urban Context

“Modern societies depend on legal-rational authority. Government officials are the best example of this form of authority, which is prevalent all over the world.”, however this type of authority is not respected much by the growing industry of ‘Social Media’, as governments find it increasingly difficult to regulate the Internet – the most prime example is the government in Iran who have failed to block certain social media sites; as the people in that country have used technology, specifically the use of IP Proxies, to get around the government crackdown. In Western countries, governments try to establish rules and laws, however much of the enforcement is scattered and not effective as there are many socially unacceptable sites dealing with underage exploits.

“Traditional authority, which derives from long-established customs, habits and social structures. When power passes from one generation to another, then it is known as traditional authority”, as it relates to social media, this is a toss-up: on the one hand it seems that the Internet community on a whole has some group personality traits; groups will isolate those that don’t fit their site ideology, and sometimes delivering disparaging comments will make one very popular. So it can be said that the customs that we develop in the tangible world are being transferred to online interactions. However, the argument can be made that the sense of anonymity and impersonal nature of what the Internet provides, has created a crude and rude culture – that has always existed in the physical world, but the Internet has exacerbated such attitudes into behaviors.

“Charismatic authority is that authority which is derived from “the gift of grace” or when the leader claims that his authority is derived from a “higher power” (e.g. God or natural law or rights) or “inspiration”, that is superior to both the validity of traditional and rational-legal authority and followers accept this and are willing to follow this higher or inspired authority, in the place of the authority that they have hitherto been following. Some of the most prominent examples of charismatic authority can be politicians or leaders, who come from a movie or entertainment background”, couldn’t have been said any better. In this social media realm, many are titled an ‘authority figure’ just on their ’swag’, their ‘charisma’. This is a falsity, and should be corrected as many people are being handed the magic wand of ‘authority’ when they have no real power other than their popularity – which in some cases can be very powerful in influencing masses. However, they can not really ‘punish’ people other through isolating other people – which can be just as damaging psychologically as a physical blow can be.

The follow-up to this will be a highlight of such ‘authority figures’ … hopefully it will teach us whom has the real power, and whom is just faking it!

.:: LiBM ::.

Verifying the Unverified Reports for Confirmation

The role of sources in a lightning fast news environment

With the whole aftermath of the passing of the King of Music (no, not ‘King of Pop’, King of Music mofo’s), on June 25, 2009, there will sure be a debate on the issue of ‘unconfirmed’ and ‘confirmed’ reports/sources. Like everyone, I started to receive txt msgs, Blackberry messages, tweets about Michael Jackson being hospitalized; so immediately I wanted validation, my first instinct was to tune to CNN. At CNN they had confirmed that he was hospitalized, in parallel, TMZ was reporting he had already passed via their ‘unconfirmed report’. The BBC, CBC, all rushed to change graphics to that he was ‘dead’, and they cited ‘unconfirmed reports’. However, CNN didn’t follow suit; they did mention the ‘unconfirmed report’, but they always followed up with “CNN has not confirmed”. At this time, BET was already dedicating 106 & Park to MJ, Fox News was saying he passed; all based on an ‘unconfirmed report’; now allegedly not from TMZ, but from the L.A. Times (where their site went down due to traffic).

Unconfirmed vs Confirmed

I deduce that an ‘unconfirmed report’ is little more than ‘hearsay’ or ‘gossip’; originating from someone that is not an ‘official’ or ‘professional’, or has not been validated by secondary and/or external sources. As like many, I was flipping news sources to see any variations and/or similarities in the coverage, then something happened that cemented why CNN can really stand by the moniker ‘The Most Trusted Name in News’, CNN’s I-hate-immigrant-workers Lou Dobbs personality chick had a live interview with the L.A. Coroner’s office that gave the official statement – confirming the ‘unconfirmed’. Of course, as we have all found out, the ‘unconfirmed report’ was accurate
This is important in an ultra fast paced news dimension of tweets, internet, and cable news where information travels lightning quick; one’s sources are paramount in lending validity. I am sure CNN felt mounting pressure to follow their cable news network peers, but doing so would of undermine their journalistic integrity – as I am sure for many news networks and websites, the goal was to get the information first versus getting the information that was correct & confirmed. I have a new respect for CNN as they have help protect the journalism community, as with life as it is with journalism, “A man is nothing without his word”, exchange the obvious with ‘news organization’ and ’sources’.

 

.:: LiBM ::.

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R.I.P. Michael Jackson

R.I.P. the King of Pop Michael Jackson (1958-2008), a lot of my current musical tastes, and even my moves in the clubs (when I get down) are heavily influenced by Michael. Some of the most key songs that I play when I hit those emotional states will be a MJ song; and listening to them this morning, I realized that how masterful those songs are - the Off the Wall album is very timeless as those songs don’t really sound old.  Everything from the vocal arrangements, the percussions, production, and to LYRICAL CONTENT, MJ was way ahead of his time – and today’s striving musician should take some music history lessons … its not hard, just listen to that album and you will be a better artist. 

Looking out at today’s average R&B/pop/hip-hop artist, it is clearly evident that Michael influenced them all. It is sad though to see the many flashbacks of Michael from childhood to adulthood; as a change is evident, and the ‘machine’ behind him & his rising popularity to iconic status – influenced him very muchso. He never really had a childhood; which as an adult, he grossly overcompensated – but with all the allegations and such, I truly don’t believe he did what was alleged, his heart and intentions were always in the right place – just by current social standards, his actions raised eyebrows.

So f— the haters, this weekend celebrate his life, his memories, and his message of world peace, and let the celebration continue forever.  So here is some great abstract fan art:

Designed by Felsus

Designed by PC Joe

Designed by Stalker1837

Designed by Carinat

Designed by Drawing Your Attention

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A bit more about Michael and his accomplishments from Wikipedia:
In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as “Beat It”, “Billie Jean” and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as “Black or White” and “Scream” made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

Sales of over 750 million records worldwide, making him the world’s best selling male solo pop artist.

Thriller sold over U.S. 28 million copies

.:: R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Great CD Artwork 2

More classic hip-hop album covers

Now, even though the artwork for these hip-hop albums may be creative and fresh, that necessarily doesn’t correlate to the actual content within the album. The MC’s are always reliable in producing some creative artwork; you know, putting some thought into how they want their material to be presented. The MC ususally is very hip to the art & design scene – most rappers just want to have an album with their jewels and women. Enjoy below:

- Yes, these two are very odd, but they produce great music; that is what drugs will do to you

- Q-Tip can always be counted on producing some interesting artwork, and music to match

- Cypress Hill was big in the 90’s, and now in the 00’s (in the future, how will we refer to this decade???) they are big in the alternative Hip-Hop scene

- T.I.’s Paper Trail album cover is somewhat creative with the artwork, I guess he is practicing being ‘reflective’; a lot of people do that in jail.

- LL Cool J’s Exit 13 is a very creative album cover, impressive. I never heard the album, and don’t even recall it being released.

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Also, check out some of the worst hip-hop album covers by Honolulu Hip-Hop; some of it they got dead on with the bad Photoshop, layering of expensive cars they can never afford – while some are kinda questionable.
Check it out here

Peace.
.:: LiBM ::.

Keep Flowing

Tips to keep the mind running

 

Following links in Wikipeda
Just search a random topic in Wikipedia, it could be a historical person/place, a terminology and/or definition, or a product. Enter in the search string and simply follow the links that are on the first page that you view; since Wikipedia references and links pages based on relationships, you can easily and quickly become informed on topics that you had no knowledge of. And we know that the more knowledge is powerful – even though it may be random topics, this technique should keep your interest for a few minutes … maybe hours (depends how much of a nerd you are).

 

Ambidextrous tries
Pretty simple task that is challenging – try to write with your opposite hand. This is an amazing challenge as it takes you back to grade school as you have to practice holding the pen, arching your elbow in the right position, and then trying to increase your writing speed – this is not an easy task. However, the benefits are paramount as you will increase your concentration and focus, and will be able to write with both hands – so if a corrupt regime cuts off one of your arms, you will be able to clearly write your memoirs.

 

Commenting
Some of the funniest and interesting part of the Internet is reading the comments that people post. The voice of the people is sarcastic, crass, lewd, rude, anecdotal, and sometimes very humorous. It seems the anonymity and impersonal communication that the Internet provides has allowed people to say things that they probably normally wouldn’t during face-to-face interactions.

 

.:: LiBM ::.