Facebooking Television

Each summer I have the goal, or maybe tradition is the right word, of watching a classic television series. This summer I picked "Cheers" and as the voices of Sam, Fraiser, Woody and Carla filled my apartment, I metaphorically pulled a bar stool up and joined the community.

One particular episode, "Get Your Kicks On Route 666," got me thinking about how with today's communication standards, that particular episode would have left the audience unfulfilled. Norm, Cliff, and Sam set out on the highway for a weekend trip and find themselves stuck on the side of the road due automotive issues. The episode continues as the men try to discover the issue with the car. After hours of searching for the problem, the men sulk into a midnight somber. They awake the next morning and only moments later find Norm coming over the sand dunes, on a golf cart to ask if they would like to go get breakfast from the resort where Norm slept after sneaking away from the guys as they slept at the car campsite.

The episode ended there. Simply, the end.

Did you just find yourself wondering how the rest of the trip went? What they had for breakfast? How the resort looked?

Do not pretend you did not wonder or find yourself curious, maybe even guessing or begging for more details. I will be the first to admit, I wondered how the rest of the trip went. In it engrained  in our mind, this is how we think now. Our instant gratification, need to know everything society has resulted in ruining an American classic and one of the few episodes that does not take place in the bar of "Cheers." Instead of enjoying the irony as the men walk back towards Boston and their beloved bar, I found myself questioning everything.

Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that if "Cheers" were a show in today's reality, we would have a show where we followed Rebecca on each of her dates with Robin Colcord, her millionaire turned simple living boyfriend for three seasons; or were forced to watch Sam on his countless chases; or follow Cliff on his route.

As much as the Rebecca and Robin romance and then declining love kept the viewer captivated, viewers would have no need to go on each date and there is certainly no need to follow Cliff as he follows the Postmaster's Code of Conduct. If we were faced with the reality of being the third wheel , Cheers would have peaked in it's third season, as so many of our favorite modern shows have done; instead of running it's 11 beautiful seasons.  

Responsibilities for the Freedom of Expression in a digital world

In my junior year of college, I was introduced to PostSecret while helping a friend clean their room. The only book placed on my friend's bookshelf with any form of grace was the first PostSecret book. Beautiful in it's brown paper cover, I was welcomed by a collection of postcards that released people from their buried secrets.

When I first discovered this secret sharing, judgement free zone, PostSecret allowed for people to share secrets via Facebook. However after several less than ideal posts, the PostSecret team remembered a foundational idea in the community - a space for individuals to share their secrets, their thoughts and their fears free of judgement and anonymously.  Fortunately six years later, the PostSecret team figured out a way for people to share their secrets immediately and whenever they wished while being anonymous - an iPhone application.

Through the use of the iPhone application people were able to release their secret when they had the courage, versus holding on to the courage for sometimes years at a time. However, sadly many people abused the PostSecret application. Which resulted in a tough decision by it's founder, Frank Warren and other members of the PostSecret team. The letter announcing the change states:

The PostSecret iPhone App is Now Closed

It pains me to announce that the PostSecret App is now closed. In some ways, this is because of its success. It reached the top-selling spot in the App Store and users shared over 2 million creative secrets.

99% of the secrets created were in the spirit of PostSecret. Unfortunately, the scale of secrets was so large that even 1% of bad content was overwhelming for our dedicated team of volunteer moderators who worked 24 hours a day 7 days a week removing content that was not just pornographic but also gruesome and at times threatening.

Like the PostSecret Blog, the App was designed so each secret was absolutely anonymous. Unfortunately, that absolute anonymity made it very challenging to permanently remove determined users with malicious intent.

Bad content caused users to complain to me, Apple and the FBI. I was contacted by law enforcement about bad content on the App. Threats were made against users, moderators and my family. (Two specific threats were made that I am unable to talk about). As much as we tried, we were unable to maintain a bully-free environment. Weeks ago I had to remove the App from my daughter's phone.

Like many of you, I feel a great sense of loss from this decision but please know that we fought hard behind the scenes to find a permanent solution. We even tried prescreening 30,000 secrets a day. Deciding to remove the App from the App Store last week and holding back the release of the Android version cost us money but we feel it was the right thing to do.

To the vast majority of people who shared their earnest secrets and compassionate replies on the App, you inspired us with your honesty, humor and humanity. Even though this good faith experiment has come to an end what you shared lives on.

While the PostSecret App is now closed, PostSecret, and the PostSecret blog, are still very much open. Thanks for helping to keep the true spirit of PostSecret alive by mailing your secrets in 2012.

Sincerely,

-Frank Warren

I found myself saddened by the news that yet again another communication outlet was stopped in its tracks by people abusing it. Another you may ask?

Facebook is full of people sharing information that quite frankly I do not want to know; and I am not just talking about the "dyed my hair" or "painting my nails with my BFF" posts, but instead the posts about someone's dating life, political views (which are always right) or the infamous drunk and completely inappropriate post. Thanks to Facebook, I can set my News Feed to not update me about the individuals who choose to only post opinions and activities to which I do no have the patience to read. However, many people choose to complain instead of editing their hearing, their reading or their opinions.

It is a basic human right to have an opinion and to share it without fear of repercussions; however, the idea of "without fear" is becoming less and less likely. Occupy: Berkley found itself protesting the Chancellor's actions when she supported the police silencing the protesters. But the point of this column is to focus on our right (and responsibilities) surrounding the idea of the freedom of speech.

The American Civil Liberties Union states that,

"Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition -- this set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom." Without it, other fundamental rights, like the right to vote, would wither and die."

I believe in all that is represented by the Freedom of Expression and because of that belief, I find myself believing in the attached, but seldom mentioned, responsibilities. Responsibility one: You have the right to ignore someone's expression that you disagree with just as much as you have the right to state your opinion. Responsibility two: You will not agree with everything that everyone ever says - just learn that now. In this day and age where you can have selective hearing, recognize that this is your responsibility if you cannot listen to other's opinions without freaking out.

All that being said, I could not agree with the PostSecret team more - it saddens me to see the PostSecret application close especially with it being the number one selling iPhone application, according to Warren's letter. It just shows how much people are hiding - funny since we have the Freedom of Expression. Nonetheless, we as a society are not mature enough to handle the freedom to share our thoughts, secrets and actions right as it is all happening. The ironic part - Facebook is making it easier to share all of these and PostSecret is back to the good old days of postcards and the United States Postal Service.

United Under Facebook

This past month, Facebook introduced its users to its whole new look - new friend lists, larger pictures on the News Feed page and the beginning of the Timeline concept.

As the new formatting began creeping into our lives, so did the upset Facebook patrons, wondering where to readjust their privacy settings, what "subscribing" means and stating their opinions on the larger pictures.

As we have all learned with any time of uproar or protest, get a few unhappy people started and few more will follow. But with outlets like Facebook a few hundred more will following. The complaints, confusion and frustrations piled onto my news feed like a line of Starbucks patrons from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. waiting for their coffee and not afraid to voice their opinion.

What I found most interesting among Facebook users is the unity to stand up and give their opinion, out in the open for all to read. I wonder if half of the vocal Facebook patrons are half as willing to share their opinions on politics, war and other controversial issues. And if so; is Facebook the match that starts the fire? Does take it Facebook and layout changes to unite our generation to voice its opinion. I certainly hope not.

Following the Facebook layout changes, several issues came to national limelight - which were completely unrelated to the change in the most popular social network. Would Americans had been as vocal about these issues if Facebook had not changed days before? Were we united with a previous national event - the changes in Facebook; really? I certainly hope not.

So what I am really asking is if our generation can only be united through Facebook; and if so, is it flame for change caused by some Facebook activity that leads to the Facebook users to make a stand against other issues in our society.

Do we only unite together because of a website like Facebook; is it that influencing? If so, Facebook should have a new change each week, so we begin our weeks with a Facebook rant and then begin to tell people how we feel about current, political and social issues, such as education, taxes and the economy.

We should be a generation who care about more than where our pictures are, where our friends can be "found" or what music someone is listening to; but instead work to change the issues we really care about - we all have something to be passionate about. So go find your passions and enjoy changing your life.