Virtually Social

The "rise" of virtual reality seems more like a dud than the latest and greatest thing. Mark Zuckerberg thinks people will come flocking back to Facebook as a result. The issue it seems, is that virtual reality is having the same trajectory as 3D movies have had. Cute trick, but not a necessary thing. 

Headaches aside, the whole notion of entering a virtual world cut off from real society is just not all that appealing. Then again, is "Zuck Bucks" going to be the right answer?

NEXT WEEK: Post Pandemic Norms

You Are So Meta

Facebook (in their infinite wisdom) has decided to re-brand themselves. In this episode, Ric takes a look at how smart this may be. Or as the conclusion gets drawn here, how very stupid this idea is. After all, lipstick on a pig is nothing more than a pig wearing lipstick. Does this plan ever work? Is changing your name to avoid controversy ever a good idea? The answer to both of those questions is a simple "no". 

Ric will explain as he has been a part of a very similar thing and the end result was still the same. No matter how far you can run from your roots, you are still the same thing. You might be wearing lipstick while you are running but, you are still a pig. Which brings up the notion regarding social media. You are the product.

NEXT WEEK: The Crazy Parade

Video Killed The Internet Star

 It is arguable whether The Buggles were anywhere near correct. To be fair, Viacom killed MTV, so there is that. Anyway, all the talk of Tik-Tok and other such video outlets has now led all of us down an interesting time line. 

First, there was Periscope, then along came Vine, Facebook video was coming along and now there is Instagram Reels. There is something they all have in common. First, they are all platforms for disposable video and the second is that they are not YouTube. Big differences here. 

In this episode, Ric takes you down this timeline and looks at the one psychological thing that is driving all of these platforms.

NEXT WEEK: Subscription Serviced Entertainment

 

Facebook's Legitimacy Issue

It's hard to say exactly who thinks Facebook is a legitimate source for anything. Seriously, who takes Facebook seriously at all? That question has since become more valid as time has progressed. That same question is also being asked by major companies who used to give the social media platform money for advertisements. 

There is certainly something to this and it seems to have started when Twitter began labeling certain tweets from the President of The United States as being devoid of any truth. So, why didn't Facebook do the same? They tried and failed. Miserably. Ric knows because he got caught in a weird algorithm that kept posting something legitimate. 

In this episode, Ric takes a look at how that works and why major advertisers seem to be exiting the company that created social media. Also, Ric tells you about an upcoming special guest and the latest from the graveyard.

NEXT WEEK: Netflix, WTF?

 

General Toxicity

Thanks to the pandemic, some people are becoming a bit more toxic than normal. In this episode, Ric tells you about an uneasy encounter with someone in his neighborhood which was a direct result of the current situation. People tend to fall into a few categories. There are those who are pretty freaked out, there are those who trying to be reasonable about all of this and then there are those who feel none of this applies to them. When you take a scroll through Facebook, it is pretty apparent as to which category everyone falls into.

Also, Ric takes a look at what a possible future will be like on the other side of this pandemic and the idea of social distancing sticking around is something he can certainly get behind.



NEXT WEEK: The flow of the news cycle.

Everyone is An Epidemiologist

Everytime there is some sort of big breaking story on the minds of society at large, it appears through social media that everyone is now an expert in whatever the topic of the day is laying before us. All of these people are laying out their solutions. "What you ought to do is...", "What needs to be done is ...", etc. It's kind of an amusing thing if you look at this with the jaundiced eye that comes from witnessing such matters.

There is a problem though, most of these so called "experts" offer stuff with zero basis in fact or science. They simply want to point out how wrong everyone else is compared to their own "superior" intellect. Sure, the whole world is on lock down because it decides the narrative you want to cast. Stop it. Plus, the bright side of quarantine.



NEXT WEEK: It got mighty quiet in the anti-vax camp.

Exclusivity Is A Damn Lie

 It's a catch phrase use far too often in media. "Exclusive". It's up there with "Breaking News". It's tired. Why is this a thing? Simple. You are being told (when you hear or read that) the only source you need is the one that has that exclusivity. It's trust building thing and it's a joke.

Our society is so connected that once you hear about something, you'll find the same exact thing everywhere else. It's always there and it will always be just about everywhere you look. If you are to believe everything you are told through the media, you are going to have problems. Just look around you.

In this episode, Ric will explain how this works and the beauty of filtering your news sources. Also in this episode, Ric discovers this show has just turned 6. And if that weren't enough, he tells you how he makes a tuna salad sandwich.



NEXT WEEK: Fear The Meme

Petty Bastard

You might think we as a society have become more petty about everything. Truth is, we are just as petty now as we have always been. So, what makes it seem like we are more nuanced about life's little ridiculous situations? Social media. The one thing Facebook does extraordinarily well is magnify every little thing and feeling people get from time to time.

The rest of us may merely roll our eyes at these posts but for the one making that post, they are deadly serious. It's kind of like when people ask for unspoken prayers. What they are actually asking for is a little bit of attention.

In this episode, Ric gets petty himself as he looks into the hypocrisy of the human condition through the eyes of social media.



NEXT WEEK: Death to the disc.

Payin' To Playin'

There is an old quote attributed to John Lee Hooker who said, "If you ain't playin', you payin'." There is a lot of truth to that statement, although he probably wasn't thinking about what is happening now in the entertainment world. In this episode, Ric takes a strong look (and aim) at the notion of pay to play business models out there. Yes, that does include multi-level marketing.

As Ric will tell you, it is a predatory practice that takes advantage of the emotional connection people have with money. He says it is sad and wrong but, it looks like we are stuck with this situation.

Also, is Facebook viable, at all? Plus, this week's unpopular thought.



NEXT WEEK: The quest to mediocrity.

Sarcastic Bullets

 Part of what it takes to being on the air these days is healthy sense of sarcasm and being a bit of a cynic. In this episode, Ric talks about why he speaks like that. In light of the recent mass shootings, he uses that subject to display just how powerful sarcasm can be. It's the vehicle that drives others to react in interesting ways.

Some of you out there may not like what they hear in this episode and Ric makes no apologies. As he says, "You have the right to freedom of speech, but you are not free from the consequences of your speech." He'll explain as he lays out the current status of what seems to be happening in America.



NEXT WEEK: TV on the internet.

Stream This

I, like most Americans had enough of the cable companies grip on my television. So, we cut the cord several years ago. Finally, TV on our own terms. That was, until the lumbering corporate dinosaurs got smart and started bundling up your favorites again. Yeah, right back into the same old boat. Paying for stuff you'll never watch. Thanks.

Also, is everyone kind of tired of the raw, unfiltered, uncensored live streams in social media? Australia is and they want to put some corporate people in jail over that stuff.



NEXT WEEK: Jerre Dye

Stay tuned...

Willfully Ignorant

There seems to be quite a bit of willful ignorance going around. A friend of mine brought that to my attention while talking about the state of the society these days. He said he was backing away from using the word "idiot" because it wasn't quite accurate. Instead, the term "willful ignorance" is being used and it makes perfect sense.

Also, our old friend Mick Kolassa brought forth a new collection of songs and we'll hear a couple of them on this episode.



Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: Ms. Zeno

Stay tuned...

A Numbers Game and Something Better & Sara Williams

Facebook seems to have messed up pretty big. Sharing your data with others may be in their terms of service, but it seems the social media company got a little aggressive with who they shared your stuff with. Nevertheless, someone's hand is going to get slapped over this while there is massive exodus from Facebook.

Also on this show, Josh and Stacy from Something Better and songwriter Sara Williams.



Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: Howard Grimes

Stay tuned...

Jon Brewer - Monochrome: Black, White & Blue

If you are into documentaries and frankly, who isn't? There is a fantastic three part series on Amazon Prime right now. It's about the history of American music. You would think you knew a lot about this sort of thing. However, there are some aspects of the subject you probably haven't considered.

The Producer and Director, Jon Brewer called in to the show and we talked about this great piece of film.

Also, some social media mayhem.

Plus, music from The RV's.



Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: Road Trippin'

Stay tuned...

Unoriginal Creativity

We are all connected. We allowed this. We freely gave ourselves over to social media. It is a hell of a platform. You can pretty much do whatever is you want to do. You can be creative, original, unique and be yourself. The problem is, you aren't doing any of that.

Why?

Good question. We talk about that here. Plus music from Rachel Wise.

Download this episode (right click and save)
NEXT WEEK: Copyright my Trademark... or is it the other way around? Plus music from Kahza.

Stay tuned...

Buying Ones Friends

It is something I encounter from time to time. To increase one's stature in social media, you should have a lot of friends and followers. Makes sense. There are several people I know (here in Memphis) who went from having a couple hundred followers in Twitter and then, BOOM! Overnight, there are some 20,000 followers.

How did that happen and who are these people?

They are fake. And there is a very simple way of figuring it out.

Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: How is it we are all connected yet there is nothing new being talked about? Plus music from Rachel Wise.

Stay tuned...

The Facebook Show

Back on 20 July, 2017, I went live on Facebook and recorded part of this episode. What did we discuss? Facebook.

The question is this: Is Facebook as big as we are led to believe? Does it have the power to manipulate people as much as you would think? And, just how much original content exists on that social media platform?

In short, no and not much.

Plus music from Lightnin' Malcolm



Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: I got something in the mail. Plus music from Andrew Cabigao.

Stay tuned...

An Existential Crisis

It happens. Most of us choose not face these things, but when you do, somehow certain things take on a bit of clarity. This is kind of what I have gone through this week. Along the way, I did learn about a fascinating place here on Earth I never existed.

It was for me at least, a bit of an eye opener. Hence the crisis.

Mind you, it wasn't a full on breakdown or mind blowing experience. But in the proper perspective, it something I can take with me through the remainder of my days knowing these things are very real.

Plus music from Tiger High.


Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: The lost art of proper advertisement. Plus music from Trash The Brand.

NOTE: In reference to the little island I talked about in this episode, there is the video. Watch after you listen to the show.


Stay tuned...

Artificially Intelligent

It would appear that we as a society are welcoming the Internet of Things into our lives on a very deliberate and slow process. Step by step, artificial intelligence is coming into everything whether we want it to or not.

But it is not just machines I am concerned with. As ridiculous as it may sound, there are a good number of people out there who seem to be artificially intelligent. Scary, right?

I did ask Siri if she planned on taking over the world. She responded in this episode.

Plus music from Eddie Dattel & Five Empty Pockets.



Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: Something is cooking in the production studio.

Stay tuned...

I See Where You Are Coming From

This show seems to be taking on some sort of strange and organic growth. It is a joy to do and it is fun to keep an open mind about which direction it tends to go. Along with that, we tend to check on the numbers of the show. Those analytics can tell us a bunch about who you are (collectively), where you are going and where you came from to get here. The results are amusing.

Also, we get to see what the truth is about people and how that distorts our perceptions of these folks. Perceptions are a funny thing. Because not everything is as it appears. I'll prove it during this episode.

Plus, music from Deering & Down.



Download this episode (right click and save)

NEXT WEEK: Public Nuisance and music from Surviving Allison.

Stay tuned...