Oh Tube, Mirror My World

I've been following the lonelygirl15 controversy like everyone. It's taken a lot of older people aback how popular this bedroom broadcasting medium has become. In fact, she is just one of many "vloggers" that have attracted audiences that some TV stations would envy. Yet most of what she says is actually pretty pedestrian and boring. What's going on? Don't people have better things to do on the net? Isn't supposed to be approaching sum of all knowledge?

When television first came out, they dreamed it would enlighten the masses, bringing far off civilisations and education into the living room. What ended up happening was families gathered round to watch sitcoms which were fictionalised mirrors of themselves - other families in domestic environments.

The internet was originally going to be the great educator, empowering everyone with all the world's knowledge. Now it's turning into a mirror too with kids watching other kids sitting in their bedrooms in front of their computer. And in the case of LonelyGirl, it's fictionalised too.