Monday, 29 June 2009

• Death Traffic

     From Me To VaneDave: Hold on, so Xanga is amateur for not featuring some news about Jacko? Really? Honestly, I'm GLAD nothing was featured. Why must we all make such a huge bloody deal about the deaths of "celebrities", when people are dying every day? People that are far closer to us than Jacko ever could be? Why should a post about his death overshadow that of a father--or Mother--of a Xangan? Honestly, the fact that Xanga stayed out of the mainstream bandwagon's path made me feel like this site was a lot more mature than the media, and the rest of the world.

     He's dead. Big deal. Many die.

     Where were the Featured posts of Farrah? Or Pryor? Or Brown?

     What makes Michael more deserving?

     From VaneDave To Me: Aww come on! This is about traffic. Pure and simple. Xanga lost loads of potential traffic by ignoring this. You may not care, but that puts you in the vast minority on this one. Like it or not, this is one of the biggest news stories of the decade.

     So, is that really what people's lives are coming down to? Garnering traffic for weblog sites? Now, I'm going to flat out say that I doubt HIGHLY that Dave means it in this manner. It'd be pure insanity on my part to immediately assume that Dave's intentions are solely in making Xanga on par with E!, or those other vacuous media outlets (FOX, MSNBC, CNN, et al.). But this statement alone... fills me with an immense feeling of... depression? Disgust? It really just doesn't look good. At all.

     How can we possibly measure someone's death based on internet traffic statistics? How can that even be IMPORTANT?! Why the HELL would any of us want Xanga's "popularity" to be based around gathering the most traffic off of the tragedies of others? Isn't that just a little... psychotic? Depraved? Insensitive?! Especially when you consider that the person in question was not just a prolific musician, but a deeply disturbed individual whose very existence was begging for an end.
     If you disagree, please feel free to research his private life. Look into his feelings towards his fame, and why he worked so hard to perfect the craft he displayed so well. It wasn't because he enjoyed the music; it was because the reactions he got made him feel loved.

     But people are blowing his death out of proportion. Does EVERY media outlet need to cover it? Really? So, you're basically saying that Jackson's death is just as important as OJ Simpson's trial was? Or that Simpson's trial was important at all?! How many people die every day who have contributed more to people's lives than Jackson? Maybe not a grand total, but there are people out there more deserving of media attention; but they don't get it.
     Instead, they're treated to a small blurb in the local newspaper. The obituaries. And thanks to the grandiose, depraved minds of our society, we've managed to turn every media outlet into another obituary column. Isn't it enough? Soon, our iPods will be podcasting every "major" death imaginable. Can you imagine, streaming the news of your favourite celebrity's death? Or what if the predicted outcome occurs? And Obama is assassinated (I've heard the whisperings around my area so much I'm scared someone's stupid enough to actually do it)? Is that what you want to hear on EVERY GODDAMN OUTLET?!

     And worse still, the argument presented wasn't that Xanga should've paid tribute to him; but that they missed an opportunity for some spotlight.

     That. Is. Fucking. MESSED UP.

     I'll admit that the last hypothetical would be more accepted as important death news. He is our president, after all. But even then, I would rather see responsible, respectful writing; rather than attention-whoring someone's death in order to further one's own personal goals. I'll also addend that Dave does mention in the actual BLOG entry we were commenting on that he was disappointed that Jackson received NO tribute on the Featured page; and didn't mention the need for traffic.
     However, this does not "turn-around" the message of the comment. At least, not if the comment was truly meant the way I am interpreting it. In fact, this only heightens my interpretation because the comment elaborates on the unsaid message of the entry. At least in the way each is worded.
  

     Dave, you're a cool guy, but what you said was beyond reproach. At least, ethically.

     And want to know what's sad? I'm willing to bet I'll get more comments on this entry, than on my heartfelt introspective piece on myself. Because really, why bother reading about someone's views on themself when they could wax idiotic about someone they never fucking knew, other than through the same media that made him the butt of mockery for the last number of years of his depressing life?
     Stay classy.

  
  

  (I, in no way, hate VaneDave; nor is this intended to bash him. I just feel his argument and statement were... completely wrong)

  
  

  • 12:55 PM
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