The Internet, Social Media, and Society

So I've kinda noticed something about the Internet, particularly Facebook. Maybe I'm just imagining things, but it seems like people on Facebook and the Internet have been a lot more honest in voicing controversial opinions. So I have to ask if the Internet is making people braver.

One thing I've thought of with cultural revolutions in that they rely on strength in numbers. The more people there are voicing an opinion, the less likely it is to get silenced or ignored.

As I was thinking about this earlier today, I wondered something. Does Facebook attract a braver and more bawdy audience, or does the influence of Facebook make people braver and more honest? The answer's probably somewhere in between. That is, you have brave people start the trend, but one it starts it spreads like wildfire.

So what does this mean for the future of humanity? I don't know, but I'll be watching with anticipation.

Online Friends Are Valuable To Me

So I've heard that having friends online becomes less of an issue of having real conversations and more an issue of showcasing your life. I dunno about that. Can online relationships replace face-to-face interaction? No. Does that mean that the relationships you form are any less meaningful? I don't think so. I think I've formed many valuable friendships online. Let's review them, shall we?
I have friends from all over the country that I play Castle Age with. I'm part of a guild with them. We have a guild chat. I consider them family. Even after I was away for months, they never kicked me out of the Guild. They even seemed pretty happy to see me again. Yes, they remembered me.
Another valuable set of friendships I've earned has been on the FSTDT Forums. The forum is well moderated and the members are really smart and funny. We even have an IRC channel where we all hang out. I highly enjoy our friendships, and maybe I'll even meet some of them one day.
Of course, one of the most realistic chances I'll have for meeting online friends is through my Nebraska Bronies group. I'll only have to go across the state to meet most of them. One of these days I'll have to attend a meetup. Better yet, I may be able to attend a con[vention] one of these days. The people of the group are really awesome, IMO.
I think there's a reason they call it "social" media. You're supposed to use it to be social. I personally find the friendships I have forged to be very special, and I wouldn't give them away for anything.
I think what I said in the statewide brony group a few weeks ago sums up my feelings about online friends:

This group has got me thinking about a good episode idea.
I live in <location redacted>, so I can't really "attend" meetups. However, just talking to you guys through the group page has been a wonderful thing. I almost want them to do some kind of "pen pal" episode where the moral is "True friends aren't defined by distance." or something similar.

Granted, I'm dealing with DIGITAL pen pals instead of pen-and-paper pen pals, but I think the concept still remains.

Littlest Pet Shop

This post is going to be fairly short. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed watching Littlest Pet Shop this morning. It's quite amusing, and I found myself belting out a hardy laugh several times while watching it.

Oh yeah, by the way: Animaniacs is back on The Hub. Huzzah!

Internship

So I'm getting a bit of real world experience, guys! Yep. I'm interning for my hospital as a programmer. I've already learned a lot from one 40 hour week. Heck I've gotten so used to the idea of working that I actually woke up several times this morning. Each time I had to remind myself that it was Saturday.

My coworkers are very nice people and very smart. I enjoy my interactions with them and very much so feel like they've enriched me. I've also developed several good work habits that keep my mind sharp and my code nice. Speaking of code, I'd just like to say that I'm fairly certain my code is more whitespace and documentation than it is actual lines of code. After all, what good is code if it's not readable and understandable? Honestly I especially like commenting. You can review and clean up your code and reinforce your understanding of the code as you step through it again.

Anyway, this has been sitting in my draft folder for hours now. I'll just post it for now.