Subculture it!

 Technology has become a way for people to express themselves over the web and for a vast amount of people to hear about what others have. Since technology has increased so rapidly, subcultures have formed over the web. Subcultures are a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture they belong to. This can include hackers who steal credit cards online or people who make their own websites for people to communicate the so called “truth” about what they believe.

Blogs have become a culture of their own. People are able to discuss their lives and their views for anyone to see. Blogging has become a new type of writing in our generation that has never been experienced before.  Stories like The Diary of Anne Frank took years to be written let alone published. Now our personal diaries can be published online to be read by those who want to hear our personal everyday life stories. These blogs can change people's lives and we do not have to wait anymore for them to be published in a book.

Online webcams have also become popular in our generation. We are constantly using youtube or skype to view people's lives. This can include funny videos and even heartfelt videos. We can relate to these videos and have feelings for those in the videos even though we have never met the people viewed. We no longer need to wait for the scheduled programmed news to come on the television to find out what’s happening in the world.  It most likely will be posted via a video of some sort on the web seconds after it occurred. The other weekend my mom laughed and laughed about a talking dog video that was posted. Another video showed in class was of a boy confessing he was gay online. It received a lot of media attention and people began to support him.   We can support other people we have never met because the web allows this. Online video can elicit instant truth in the eyes of the beholder because there aren’t all the FCC regulations standing in the way

There are consequences though to all this online technology. Because we have become so evolved in technology, we now have hackers and cybercrime. Sexual predators are now seducing younger children over the internet through IMS. Hackers can now steal your identity because all of our information is available and always exit out of websites.  The internet has become dangerous in a way we are only beginning to really discover.  Just consider all the financial information, bank accounts and National Security documents that are on a website……

As I stated before, the web is a tool that can hurt us AND bring us together as we join online communities to support each other.  For example, as teen suicide has increased because of cyber bullying, other teens have been able to come together and combat these bullies over the web. The web will increasingly be used for the good and the bad because anyone and everyone have access and are allowed to use it. Regulation is impossible because it is so enormous and so instantaneous. The internet is unique in the fact that everyone has a say even those we believe shouldn't.