MTV Doesn't Just Showcase Spoiled Rich Kids, Lets You Be One, Too
from the mtv2.0 dept
Lately, a lot of companies have been looking to virtual worlds, like Second Life, as a way to drum up some buzz for whatever product or brand they're trying to promote. Most of the time, it seems like the real payoff is in all the media talk before the company sets up in Second Life, as opposed to any benefit from being there. Now MTV is taking the concept a little further, by setting up a virtual world that resembles the setting of its popular show Laguna Beach. Fans of the show will then be able to join the site, interacting with other fans as though they were on the cast. For teens who already live vicariously through TV shows, a virtual environment to act out fantasies may prove appealing. Another interesting element to watch out for is the emergence of narrower virtual worlds. In the way that more social sites are taking a Facebook-like approach, by offering closed networks for people with common interests, we may soon see a wellspring of virtual worlds specifically designed for people of one demographic or with shared interests. MTV has struggled thus far to come up with any compelling internet strategy, so it's good to see it experimenting with new ways of getting fans to interact with its content.
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Wonderful....
Now we are giving kids even more of a reason to become shut-ins and never learn the dynamics of relationships and interpersonal skills other than those forced upon them by over-hyped media personalities and exagerated (and totally distasteful) mock celebrities.
I am all for virtual communities, et al, but there is a point where this becomes a little frightening, as more of socializing and entertainment is drawing future generations away from actual "real" personal interactions and accepted societal behaviors into one of pure obnoxious and "over-the-top" manners to generate the most hype without any consequences.
Really bad trend.
Shit, I think I sound like my grandfather...
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Re: Wonderful....
Kill the INTARWEB! Save the CHILDREN!
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Re: Re: Wonderful....
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The sun is not the big happy face in the sky who smiles warmth on our skin and bliss on our hearts - it causes cancer and accelerates aging. I'm not anti-sunlight, mind you, but I do live in New Jersey, where the air is polluted, the rain is acid and the sun causes cancer - and we aren't even the most polluted state. Now we can go into the whole "all technology must be destroyed so that we can live like cavemen the way nature intended_ routine, but that's just as silly as people who would look to Mtv for social guidance...
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