video in question until after I had read it was not
true.......Looking at it after the fact I have no emotional response
to the video itself.......
BUT I do to the overall idea of it......I thought it was done in
poor taste and it is personal for me......with every stunt like
this, and I do call it a stunt, it cheapens those who put very REAL
emotion into there vlogs or posts.....I know for me the 'A soldiers
Thank you" I did was VERY hard for me to do and I almost didn't post
it. It may not seem like a big deal to some but for me it was. It
was my real feelings and emotion. Most of my stuff is just goof, I
know that but that was me at my core level. When you play with
people's empathy you are slowing destroying the very thing that
makes us human.
--- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Stephanie Bryant"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Jen, thank you for chiming in NOW and not letting the "fascinating"
> discussion go on.
>
> We've had this conversation on this list before, last year when a
> vlogger faked having his kids taken away for something in his vlog.
> Now, as then, and as with every other fake emotional manipulation
in
> the blogosphere, I am not amused by it.
>
> There is an assumed "contract" between the blogger and the audience
> that what's there is in some way or another real. This is
especially
> true in video, which is easy to manipulate but seems so real.
>
> When a blog is fiction, it's best to identify it as such.
Somewhere,
> somehow, even if it's subtle.
>
> More importantly is when a blog blurs the line between fiction and
> non-fiction. For instance, when Kevin uses his real name but vlogs
his
> fake death. That's.... not right, somehow.
>
> You are fascinated by the reactions because you were not
manipulated.
> Kevin is your student and you know he's okay.
>
> I have stopped counting the number of times someone I "know" online
> (or someone they know and they forward the information) has:
> 1) Died unexpectedly
> 2) Contracted a terrible illness
> 3) Needed financial assistance for an abused pet
> 4) Been abused
> 5) Had a pregnancy/baby
>
> All of which, it turned out, never happened.
>
> What seems to happen is this:
> 1) The person posts some announcement of the terrible thing,
either as
> themselves or using an assumed identity. Various facts and "proof"
are
> offered.
> 2) The audience or community responds with a show of emotional
> support, grief, concern, and/or money or cards.
> 3) One or two people in the community respond with "Um.... this
doesn't add up."
> 4) The rest of the community attacks the skeptic, often viciously.
> [Fortunately this didn't happen here, which is a real testament to
the
> caliber of the vlogging community.]
> 5) The truth is revealed, the person never existed, the death was a
> hoax, there was no baby, etc. Jen, thank you for making this step
> happen VERY quickly-- the longer the suspense goes on, the worse it
> gets. Hopefully nobody had the opportunity to lose sleep over this.
> 6) The rest of the community splits between "You should be ashamed
for
> manipulating us!" and "you should all be ashamed for attacking the
> skeptic!" (even though they did nothing to defend the skeptic,
> either).
> 7) [Optional] The perpetrator tries to defend himself/herself
with "It
> was a joke," or "It was an experiment." My favorite is "it was an
> experiment" because it's a completely unethical method of human
> experimentation, and really obviously a cop-out from the backlash
> against manipulating people.
> 8) Next time, all those people will be more skeptical of "OMG, he's
> DEAD!" posts. Eventually, we will all be too jaded and skeptical to
> continue to see each other as real human beings. Then, we'll fake
our
> own deaths/illnesses/pregnancies, because it doesn't really matter
if
> we hurt a couple hundred people-- they weren't real anyway.
>
> Now, obviously these don't all relate to this particular case. But
one
> might ask: has Kevin never been in an online community before?
Does he
> not know about this kind of BS and how little it's appreciated or
> tolerated on the net? And are we seriously still "exploring" this
as
> if it were somehow new? This isn't new-- people have been pulling
this
> crap since the first time two modems resolved their connection.
>
> --Stephanie
> [I've decided nobody online actually dies, because every time it
> happens, it's a stupid f'ing joke.]
>
> On 4/24/06, Jen Simmons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I'm wondering whether to chime in now, or wait and watch this
> > discussion go for a while more. I find it fascinating.
> >
> > Kevin is fine and well. Probably tired and overwhelmed since
it's the
> > end of the semester, but he's otherwise perfectly fine. I just
saw him
> > this afternoon in class.
>
> --
> Stephanie Bryant
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Blogs, vlogs, and audioblogs at:
> http://www.mortaine.com/blogs
>
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