It is a brave new world at last, composed solely of binary oppositions and technological realities which would have been difficult to see coming even five years ago. In only such a situation as the one we find ourselves in could I make the statement that follows. "There are two types of people in the world: those who like MySpace and those who do not."
I am in the latter category. I don't wish to make too much of it because it rarely impacts my life. (except on those rare occassions where I meet someone--in the flesh--asks me to "check out" their MySpace page for some reason. ) It isn't that online social networking doesn't interest me; it does. I even had a MySpace account for about two years when working outside the US. It seemed more practical to post bulletins which update all my friends at once rather than sending each of them an email or formatting an e-mail to be addressed to all. Eventually though, I came back to the US and after one too many "pimped" MySpace pages, I had to delete my account and stay away from there altogether. I liken it to a beekeeper who, stung by bees daily over the course of decades, slowly approaches that final day where he takes one sting too many, goes into anaphylactic shock and dies in minutes...respiratory failure, tounge swelling and throat contricting... kind of like that...you know...but with MySpace.
When I first joined SG it was a hell of a lot smaller. Few knew. SG, then, was a more interesting and informative space. The user generated content was so much better in terms of the new information and original insight that was provided. The users ranged from semiotics professors at U of Toronto to activists working overseas to aspiring writers with something interesting to actually say. These days, eh... I'm just not seeing much worth looking at. It's *NOT* as bad as MySpace, but then , it isn't a whole lot better either. Suicidegirls(TM) keeps trying to spice it up... Epstein used to interview the countercultureceleb du jour in 250 words or less. Scott Ian writes now... but I seriously wonder what that's worth. Noted commentary from the goatee in Anthrax? (And I USED TO LOVE ANTHRAX - even if Joey Belladonna was a bit of a prancing tool on stage - can anyone say: "woooaa!!!-glad to be here tonight?" as many times in 2 hours as that guy?) But seriously... I'm just wondering how many times they've reached out to Flava Flav now only to find he has an exclusive contract and can't work w/ SG. Maybe Joey Lawrence or the kids from Menudo are free? As far as virtual spaces go, this joint seems to be a cock-slinky of information to me. It's a MySpace. It's an AOL.
SuicideGirls (TM) seems to trade on cultural iconography. The users give them money, they get to look at boobies and get a space to communicate with other members via boards, blogs, listservs and a chatroom. I assume the boobies haven't changed much... 4 new sets a day is way too much for me to keep track of so I've given up on the PG13nography aspect of the site...but the user makeup definitely has. It would seem that the lions' share of folks who are members these days need this iconography in their lives--in some way--and membership/affiliation--even if virtual--with other people sharing similar needs/aesthetics serves some emotive purpose for them. But that seems to be my point: that it is purely emotive. As I write that, I think that could be the only explanation for a line of SG clothing... this is me/this is my uniform.. There is no rationality to it--not that there needs to be--but it must be pointed out. SG and intellect just don't fucking mix seems to be my point, here. This is not a new phenomenon; I have realized this many times over the years, let my membership expire and then, finding myself wth too much money in a period of feast amidst a life of famine, I throw down for a renewal to see if things have changed and maybe to see a set or two from old SGs that I try my best to kindle old crushes on.
I was just tempted to type "...and that's a shame" in regards to the content. But it's not; that's just the way of things. I (and the others who used to be here) have since found other sites (albeit without scantily-clad girls, but that is something else to be addressed) so it's not like anyone is left in the lurch. The rest of teh interwebz is much more interesting and not quite as annoyingly lavender. I'm not sure what term to use, but I see a certain amount of similarities between Urban gentrification and what SG has morphed into. Where once there was solid content, commentary, and interesting people--most all of which came from the members--honest to god originals, these days the majority on here look and read the same to me. SuicideGirls is nothing more than a porn-centered Social Networking site with not much else going for it. I'm sure membership has never been higher but then again McDonalds is enjoying record sales as well and no one would argue it speaks to the unparalleled greatness of McCuisine.
This whole diatribe has sounded somewhat bitter, but there is one great thing: Suicidegirls (TM) can't make it a good site. Thats the reality. Sean and Missy and S5 and Olivia and all the other people who worked on the site back in the day didn't make it great... for me, at least. (well, maybe s5 but only because of his commentary) The users did all of the work. It was the collective, the multitude, the swarm, the hive... not the programmers or business analysts. Not the people hired for their name and their tounge in cheek featured columns. Also, in the grand scheme of things, the world doesn't give a shit if this is a great site or not and I have doubts that it ever could be again... sad to say it should stick to PG13onography as it's about all it can be capable of now. SuicideGirls started in the pre-blog era where individuals generally went to a community-provider (such as SG, LiveJournal, etc) to communicate. The rules of information networking and even social networking among teh interwebz has radically changed though and most people have kicked off this need for the intermediary. RSS Feeds and the like have allowed us to keep up with new commentary provided by those whose opinions we respect and Social bookmarking sites have allowed us to find new content from site outside our normal retinue. Furhter, the folksonomy revolution allows us--the masses, the hive, the collective, to tag items as we see fit and place them beyond such limiting categories as "Current Events," "The Girls," "The Site" etc. I'm ever-stoked on the internet and all it has to offer in terms of the democratization of information and ideas. I just wish there was some damn way I could get the un-used portion of my annual dues returned to me.
I am in the latter category. I don't wish to make too much of it because it rarely impacts my life. (except on those rare occassions where I meet someone--in the flesh--asks me to "check out" their MySpace page for some reason. ) It isn't that online social networking doesn't interest me; it does. I even had a MySpace account for about two years when working outside the US. It seemed more practical to post bulletins which update all my friends at once rather than sending each of them an email or formatting an e-mail to be addressed to all. Eventually though, I came back to the US and after one too many "pimped" MySpace pages, I had to delete my account and stay away from there altogether. I liken it to a beekeeper who, stung by bees daily over the course of decades, slowly approaches that final day where he takes one sting too many, goes into anaphylactic shock and dies in minutes...respiratory failure, tounge swelling and throat contricting... kind of like that...you know...but with MySpace.
When I first joined SG it was a hell of a lot smaller. Few knew. SG, then, was a more interesting and informative space. The user generated content was so much better in terms of the new information and original insight that was provided. The users ranged from semiotics professors at U of Toronto to activists working overseas to aspiring writers with something interesting to actually say. These days, eh... I'm just not seeing much worth looking at. It's *NOT* as bad as MySpace, but then , it isn't a whole lot better either. Suicidegirls(TM) keeps trying to spice it up... Epstein used to interview the countercultureceleb du jour in 250 words or less. Scott Ian writes now... but I seriously wonder what that's worth. Noted commentary from the goatee in Anthrax? (And I USED TO LOVE ANTHRAX - even if Joey Belladonna was a bit of a prancing tool on stage - can anyone say: "woooaa!!!-glad to be here tonight?" as many times in 2 hours as that guy?) But seriously... I'm just wondering how many times they've reached out to Flava Flav now only to find he has an exclusive contract and can't work w/ SG. Maybe Joey Lawrence or the kids from Menudo are free? As far as virtual spaces go, this joint seems to be a cock-slinky of information to me. It's a MySpace. It's an AOL.
SuicideGirls (TM) seems to trade on cultural iconography. The users give them money, they get to look at boobies and get a space to communicate with other members via boards, blogs, listservs and a chatroom. I assume the boobies haven't changed much... 4 new sets a day is way too much for me to keep track of so I've given up on the PG13nography aspect of the site...but the user makeup definitely has. It would seem that the lions' share of folks who are members these days need this iconography in their lives--in some way--and membership/affiliation--even if virtual--with other people sharing similar needs/aesthetics serves some emotive purpose for them. But that seems to be my point: that it is purely emotive. As I write that, I think that could be the only explanation for a line of SG clothing... this is me/this is my uniform.. There is no rationality to it--not that there needs to be--but it must be pointed out. SG and intellect just don't fucking mix seems to be my point, here. This is not a new phenomenon; I have realized this many times over the years, let my membership expire and then, finding myself wth too much money in a period of feast amidst a life of famine, I throw down for a renewal to see if things have changed and maybe to see a set or two from old SGs that I try my best to kindle old crushes on.
I was just tempted to type "...and that's a shame" in regards to the content. But it's not; that's just the way of things. I (and the others who used to be here) have since found other sites (albeit without scantily-clad girls, but that is something else to be addressed) so it's not like anyone is left in the lurch. The rest of teh interwebz is much more interesting and not quite as annoyingly lavender. I'm not sure what term to use, but I see a certain amount of similarities between Urban gentrification and what SG has morphed into. Where once there was solid content, commentary, and interesting people--most all of which came from the members--honest to god originals, these days the majority on here look and read the same to me. SuicideGirls is nothing more than a porn-centered Social Networking site with not much else going for it. I'm sure membership has never been higher but then again McDonalds is enjoying record sales as well and no one would argue it speaks to the unparalleled greatness of McCuisine.
This whole diatribe has sounded somewhat bitter, but there is one great thing: Suicidegirls (TM) can't make it a good site. Thats the reality. Sean and Missy and S5 and Olivia and all the other people who worked on the site back in the day didn't make it great... for me, at least. (well, maybe s5 but only because of his commentary) The users did all of the work. It was the collective, the multitude, the swarm, the hive... not the programmers or business analysts. Not the people hired for their name and their tounge in cheek featured columns. Also, in the grand scheme of things, the world doesn't give a shit if this is a great site or not and I have doubts that it ever could be again... sad to say it should stick to PG13onography as it's about all it can be capable of now. SuicideGirls started in the pre-blog era where individuals generally went to a community-provider (such as SG, LiveJournal, etc) to communicate. The rules of information networking and even social networking among teh interwebz has radically changed though and most people have kicked off this need for the intermediary. RSS Feeds and the like have allowed us to keep up with new commentary provided by those whose opinions we respect and Social bookmarking sites have allowed us to find new content from site outside our normal retinue. Furhter, the folksonomy revolution allows us--the masses, the hive, the collective, to tag items as we see fit and place them beyond such limiting categories as "Current Events," "The Girls," "The Site" etc. I'm ever-stoked on the internet and all it has to offer in terms of the democratization of information and ideas. I just wish there was some damn way I could get the un-used portion of my annual dues returned to me.