On being lazy and instant cyber celebrity
Judy Ramsook
October 11, 2007
There used to be a time when most people had ready responses for questions such as, what do you want to be when you grow up? And individuals who did not mind gathering a little perspiration on their foreheads would eagerly answer, I want to be a plumber, farmer, or something else that involved some level of labour and not too much glamour. It was a simpler, and less computer driven world then.
One that persons who learned a trade such as welding, carpentry, auto mechanic, and so on were proud of.
Enter the early part of the twenty first century where websites such as Youtube.com and google.com are everyday household words and someone’s idea of hard labour might be punching a computer keyboard at a desk in a cubicle in a corporate workplace setting.
And taking all this into consideration, is it suffice to say that most people today are after two things: instant celebrity and being in a constant state of laziness?
For unless someone likes his/her trade such as welding, carpentry, electrician, etc it seems that no one really wants to have a job that requires the use of too much physical labour anymore.
Sad to say in some circles, but this is not our parents’ or grandparents’ workplace anymore.
For the most part, what it is out here, is a computer driven, or related work day world where fellow colleagues gather at the water cooler either to catch up on the latest gossip or to casually discuss work related matters.
And others want instant fame or cyber celebrity.
All that is required to obtain such instant fame/celebrity is the use of a digital camera, and a computer with an internet connection to youtube.com and other relevant websites.
After that, one simply uploads whatever video he/she wants the world to see, and someone, somewhere with a world wide web connection, will find the video one has placed on the internet.
And if the video content is unique, remarkable or humourous enough, it will gain popularity across the cyber world that is the world wide web. Instant internet fame/celebrity usually follows.
So while the labour workforce population becomes smaller and smaller, and instant cyber celebrity just a few mouse clicks away, will there too, come a time when finding someone who likes doing what he/she does, be it plumbing or carpentry be a rare find indeed?
One that persons who learned a trade such as welding, carpentry, auto mechanic, and so on were proud of.
Enter the early part of the twenty first century where websites such as Youtube.com and google.com are everyday household words and someone’s idea of hard labour might be punching a computer keyboard at a desk in a cubicle in a corporate workplace setting.
And taking all this into consideration, is it suffice to say that most people today are after two things: instant celebrity and being in a constant state of laziness?
For unless someone likes his/her trade such as welding, carpentry, electrician, etc it seems that no one really wants to have a job that requires the use of too much physical labour anymore.
Sad to say in some circles, but this is not our parents’ or grandparents’ workplace anymore.
For the most part, what it is out here, is a computer driven, or related work day world where fellow colleagues gather at the water cooler either to catch up on the latest gossip or to casually discuss work related matters.
And others want instant fame or cyber celebrity.
All that is required to obtain such instant fame/celebrity is the use of a digital camera, and a computer with an internet connection to youtube.com and other relevant websites.
After that, one simply uploads whatever video he/she wants the world to see, and someone, somewhere with a world wide web connection, will find the video one has placed on the internet.
And if the video content is unique, remarkable or humourous enough, it will gain popularity across the cyber world that is the world wide web. Instant internet fame/celebrity usually follows.
So while the labour workforce population becomes smaller and smaller, and instant cyber celebrity just a few mouse clicks away, will there too, come a time when finding someone who likes doing what he/she does, be it plumbing or carpentry be a rare find indeed?
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