Podcast Proposal: "What Makes Me Mad"

“What Makes Me Mad”

My name is Madeline, but my friends call me Mad. In this series, I hope to discuss timely topics and trends that frustrate me, challenge me, better me, represent me, or all of the above. I want to share my opinion and more deeply explore what, why, and how these things make me “Mad.”

So, in this first installment, I am focusing on the “death” of technologies in the past year or so, including: Vine, AOL Instant Messenger (better known as AIM), and Blackberry.

When I started thinking back on each of these, I actually remembered specific periods of my life. Not necessarily defined by these technologies, but largely shaped by them. Being in a BBM or an AIM chat with my friends was how we communicated.

However, I am still astounded by the outpour of backlash and frustration that people have expressed with each of these announcements. Not because I didn’t think that they were important or useful technologies, but because I don’t know anybody who has used AIM or a BlackBerry in years.

Even for me, it’s funny how I actually felt disappointed when I heard that Blackberry would stop making phones. I haven’t had a BlackBerry since 2012. I chose not to get a BlackBerry after that. But I guess we always want what we can’t have. Of course, I didn’t buy an iPhone because I wanted BlackBerry to stop making phones. I bought an iPhone because it was newer and “better.” Maybe even more importantly, they were a symbol more than a tool.

I remember reading a story last year about a man who lived in Ferguson, Missouri, and he was there the night that Michael Brown was shot and killed. He wanted to share what was happening, but YouTube took too long to upload videos, so along with Tweets, he started filming Vines. The six second videos spread, and others there started filming them there as well.

Others used it as a way to kick start their acting careers. Becoming recognizable to a new generation that believes anyone can become a celebrity of sorts, because they’ve seen that in action.

I think there is a sentiment that we appreciate Vine and the others more now that they are gone. I don’t know if that’s because it is a relatively new announcement,

or if people really wanted to keep making, watching, and sharing Vines. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think that this will fade and eventually come back in style just like so many other things have.

To conclude, I want to offer a final thought. Looking back, I’m sure people were upset about the decline of Myspace, but Facebook and Instagram and Twitter took its place. Although we don’t know what will be next, we will have to get used to it and learn to use it. We’ll probably even be excited about it.

Personally, I think that this kind of evolution of technology is good and, ultimately, inevitable. I think it pushes people to create something better than what came before. I also think that at this point we are so savvy and used to learning to utilize new things. If you want to share something, there will be an outlet.