Talk Radio

Although I was unable to write a review on Amazon.com because I have never purchased anything there, I still have one:

I listen to talk radio all the time. Mostly sports radio where the hosts, like 'the Big O' on WEEI's Big Show, have huge personalities who aren't afraid to say something to a caller. When listening to these shows you are not thinking about anything except for what each person is saying. When reading Eric Bogosian's "Talk Radio" it really puts you in a different mindset. You are actually in a radio station with the point of view of looking out. The callers are still important to you, but in a different way. They are important to you because of your relationship with Barry. Not that you have a relationship with him, but a sort of reader's relationship. It captures the essence of talk radio and makes you listen to talk radio differently in the future.

Stimulating

"The fact of the matter is that it is not John Ziegler’s job to be responsible, or nuanced, or to think about whether his on-air comments are productive or dangerous, or cogent, or even defensible. That is not to say that the host would not defend his “we’re better”—strenuously—or that he does not believe it’s true. It is to say that he has exactly one on-air job, and that is to be stimulating."

Stimulating-"to rouse to action or effort, as by encouragement or pressure; spur on; incite: to stimulate his interest in mathematics."

If being stimulating is his only on-air job then, by definition, John Ziegler seems to be very good at his job. I don't know if I exactly agree with the idea that he doesn't have to be responsible for what he says, but from the article "Host" Ziegler seems to be very stimulating. Whether his audience is agreeing with him or disagreeing with him, he naturally 'spurs them on.'

Host for Truth

For someone who comes off somewhat opinionated in the article “Host,” John Zeigler is just objective enough to be a very intriguing radio host. He doesn’t have an on air persona like almost all radio hosts and the standout difference between Ziegler and other radio hosts is that he seeks and wants the audience to know the truth. He criticized the media for not airing the Berg tape, “denying Americans ‘a true and accurate view of the barbarity, the utter depravity, of these people." He was also outraged that the Berg tape wasn’t as big of a deal as it should have been, when the U.S. press has been going crazy over the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. I will say this: Zeigler is definitely pro-American, but he is objective enough so that anyone with any opinion can listen along and agree with some things and disagree with some things. He does not offend callers, but is not afraid to defend what he thinks is true.

Twitter Dissapointment

This week was my first Twitter experience and to start I 'followed' some famous people including the likes of Shaq, Bill Simmons, Chad Ochocinco, and Roger Ebert. Right off the bat I was troubled and discouraged by the fact that people pose as other people. Why would somebody pose as Shaq? Why would somebody pose as Roger Ebert and tweet fake half-ass movie reviews? Don't people have better things to do?

I have heard so many good things about Twitter since it came out, and the first thing I see when I start my account is that there are ten versions of every celebrity. Yeah I understand that I can find the real one by shuffling through and looking at how many followers each one has, but that's bullshit that I even have to do that. Twitter needs to find a way to control this.

Another thing about the celebrities is that only a few of them actually post things themselves. You can tell when it is actually them. I wanted to follow NBA basketball journalist Michael Wilbon and he has a twitter ,but it is just a machine that quotes everything he says in his daily ESPN television show 'Pardon the Interruption.'If I wanted to know what he said on his show then I'm just going to watch his show.

I guess I am just confused with a lot of the hype. Maybe if I start getting some followers and follow people I know then it might be a more useful experience, but for now I am dissapointed with Twitter.

Commenting Articles vs. Facebook

There seems to be reoccurring patterns in both article commenting and facebook commenting. First I looked at what kind of articles to comment on and there are only a few different categories. There are sports articles on ESPN and other sites, there are news articles on large news sites like CNN and small newspaper sites as well, and the other category people use is blog commenting.

Sports commenting, particularly on ESPN, has interactive commenting meaning some of the ESPN writers actually comment back, and there are legitimate conversations going on. If I comment on an article about the College Basketball AP top 25 then I am going to get someone who almost immediately comments either agreeing with me or contradicting me or both. There are some comments that don't add to the conversation like anything on the web, but I feel like they are the most easy to look over on these type of articles. In news articles people get too into it, offended almost; and on blog commenting I wouldn't consider it a conversation because it takes too long for other people to rebuttal comment. People will comment on a blog but that's it; one and done. So I think it has to do with the speed of it all, the faster the more interactive.

Facebook is a whole different thing. People only comment on their friends' posts. I commented on a post one of my friends wrote on another friends wall. The post said: "I wanna do a road trip down to AZ soon." I and two other of my friends talked under this post about how we want in on the road trip. Whether the road trip happens or not even the idea of this kind of plan gets people excited. It is a great way to make plans with friends you haven't seen in a while, and to make fun of friends you see all the time. The way I see it, it is my generations new AIM. AIM is apparently dead. I still use it, but I only talk to about five buddies. Away messages of movie quotes and jokes that I would put up now go up as my facebook status, and I can talk to more people on facebook easier.

Some people like the fact that no one knows who you are when you are commenting on articles or blogs on the web. Some people get scared by that. Facebook has created a comfort zone for every type of person, and that is why it has boomed.