Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Constantly Connected, All Over the World

Not only are we constantly connected, but we’re widely connected. Not to hate on Lady Gaga, but her biggest contribution to my life was made possible through the very wide-spread use of technology and the internet.

This hilarious video highlights our ability to be constantly connected. (A parody of a song about being constantly connected, made possible by being constantly connected!) The men depicted are on active duty, stationed in Afganistan. This is perhaps one of the most inaccessible (to outside communication) positions on earth, and yet they are still in a position to watch music videos, video themselves, compile and edit the video, and distribute it! It is truly amazing!

I won’t say anything about the time this takes away from their other duties… Or maybe it’s great for morale? Whatever the case, these Army personnel are now able to be a part of mainstream society in a way that was completely unthinkable just a few short years ago. Now they’re stars, when in yesteryear, their only ways to reach the outside world would have been directly to a loved-one (letter, phone call), or as part of a propaganda/media initiative controlled by the “higher-ups” in the Army and politics.

These Army personnel now have almost as much societal freedom as you or I. Technology makes their lives more normal in an otherwise un-normal situation. I didn’t think of this until just now, but I wonder if this affects their adjustment in coming back home. Comments are welcome, and think of this: the more normal creepy is, the creepier normal is.

1 comment:

Josh Barram said...

Just a quick note, originally omitting the soldiers' location wasn't intentional. I thought that when I first saw the video a while ago their location was withheld.