A Commentary on Social Media

Ever hear the phrase that offers advice such as, don’t put something on the internet that you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see? Well, think of that the next time you log onto Facebook or Twitter. The two major social media institutions, which I regrettably use to shamelessly self-promote my blog, have completely turned our worlds upside down (or right-side up if you are a computer-obsessed recluse), because no, we can no longer do anything without hundreds of people reading about it. Yes, the option is there to just “Say No” and get off such websites, but after four or five years now, we, as a society have become addicted. I will be completely honest with you: I need Facebook to help promote this blog, as does everyone else I know that writes on a regular basis. While it does not account for the majority of my hits, it definitely gets the juices flowing when I post a link minutes after publishing something.

To say these two sites have gotten out of hand would be an understatement. I remember reading something a year or two ago about a teenage girl who was electrocuted and killed because she brought her laptop into the bathtub to Tweet that she was taking a bath. Hello?! Anyone there? Not to mock the death of someone, but really? To think you are that important that people would want to read about your escapades in the bathroom. That is what Facebook and Twitter have become: a place for idiots to turn themselves into “superstars”, in their own mind anyway. People may think that is hypocritical of me, but so be it—at least I make an effort to keep my statuses intelligent and relevant to something actually important in my life.

The reason why I am writing this is because I would like to respond to a blog post made by a friend of mine, Brett Bodner, for his blog. Where did I find out about it? Take a wild guess…Facebook! We have been friends forever, and generally have the same cynical and sadistic views when it comes to the human race’s downgrading of intelligence. An excerpt from his condemnation of social media reads as follows:

“Hand over your data, your life, your… soul. And enjoy eternal life in the social media universe,” said a recent Chicago Tribune article in regards to Facebook. However I say take back your life and get off Facebook.

Facebook forever changed the scene of social media when it broke out onto the scene in 2004. It gave people the opportunity to make their own profiles and to add people as “friends” so you can then see their profile. Twitter also came about five years ago and is very similar to Facebook’s statuses.

Facebook leaves nothing to the imagination anymore. You can discover so much personal information about a person just from going on their profile. People disclose almost anything over Facebook and Twitter. Phone numbers, addresses, relationship status, job status, it is all out there for the world to see.

To make things worse, people post statuses as if what they’re doing is the most important thing in the world at the moment. For example, one tweet I just read on twitter read “Spending a night in reading. Perfect end to a long and satisfying day. #winning.”

I think everyone can relate to the “friends” issue. I currently have 591 cyber acquaintances, but how many of these people have I ever really met in life or talk to on a regular basis? I once went through a purge about a year ago, when I removed nearly 100 people. However, due to my recent Civil War coverage and annual hockey-writing, the number went up. Every time the little angel on my shoulder tells me to delete people, the little devil responds, “Potential readers!” and I leave them alone. I will admit, though, that my behavior and remarks have severely changed in recent years. I went from cursing and posting my uncensored opinion on everything to thinking carefully what I am posting about. I do this because I not only have an employer and several parents of the hockey players I coach, but because I have some of those kids as well. I want to set an example that Facebook is not a place for mindless idiocy. Take for instance the various historians I have on there, who post This-Day-In-History statuses, something I try to emulate. God forbid people actually learn something.

So I will end with this: do not necessarily leave Facebook, just use it wisely. This can be a great chance for the spreading of information and ideas. Cut out the bragging and telling people what you had for lunch today and post something that takes thought. These sites are not going to go away, so why not put them to good use? Prove us wrong that the world is not going to hell in a #handbasket.

Sincerely,

@GregCaggiano

A PC American Holiday Vol. 1: Building an Inoffensive Snowman

Last night as I was watching a History Channel special titled, The Real Story of Christmas, and saw how the holiday changed over the years (mostly negatively), I began to wonder about some of America’s oldest traditions in storytelling, such as Santa Claus and Frostie the Snowman. Being the cynical person that I am, always quick to point out how easily people overreact to the smallest matter, and in today’s world, where everything we create and advertise is driven by political correctness, I pointed out that a lot of the famous pictures of Santa that we recognize today consisted of him smoking a pipe (Pall Mall cigarettes even went so far as to use the jolly old elf to market their brand in the 1920′s) and of course, you cannot complete the Frostie the Snowman rhyme without saying, “…with a corncob pipe and a button nose.”

So there we had two staples of Christmastime promoting tobacco use. I thought it was pretty funny and was almost amazed that the lyrics of Frostie had not yet been changed because the youth of America may see his pipe as a sign that it is okay for them to smoke, thus creating an entire generation of little children addicted to pipe tobacco. As for Santa’s pipe, cartoons drawn of him today seem to omit the tool that he always use to light up after he sat down from a long, tiring journey of spanning the world to drop presents off to little children.

Political correctness has gone way too far in this country, and to write about that would require enough space fitting of a doctorate thesis, but I just hate the fact that everything is “Happy Holidays” now. You can’t say the word Christmas, or even Hanukkah or Kwanzaa for that matter, because you may offend someone who does not celebrate that holiday. Where this mentality came from, I have no idea. I’ve said “Merry Christmas” to Jewish people, and maybe you’ll be surprised to find out that they did not punch me in the face for doing so. Furthermore, Jewish people have said “Happy Hanukkah” to me, and that just gets me so angry that I want to say it in return to them.

Nevertheless, last night I decided to post on Facebook what I was thinking about Frostie: “How long before politically correct America lambasts Frostie the Snowman for having a corncob pipe, because it promotes tobacco use in children?”

I expected a few laughs, but nowhere near the twenty comments this simple status received. It was hilarious what people wanted to change about Frostie in order to fit him into today’s society. I enjoyed what my friends had to say so much, that I doctored up this Photoshop to get the idea across at how silly being politically correct is.

Warning: If you are allergic to snow, do not click to enlarge. I can’t afford to have a lawsuit from the ACLU on my hands.

Isn’t this world we live in today great? I would like to know where it all started to go downhill for the Christmas Holiday season. Watching that documentary last night, and seeing clips of people’s home movies of Christmas morning from the 1950′s and 60′s almost made me sad, because life (and the toys children were receiving) were so much more simple back then, and everyone made due with what they had, and had a lot of fun doing so as well. Today, I look at children and see mostly spoiled brats, who don’t deserve nearly a quarter of what expensive, electronic gifts they receive. So I’ll propose the question to you again, and feel free to leave a comment or send me an email: Just where did it all go wrong?

This is Volume 1 of what I hope will be an ongoing series. As more ideas arise, I will jot them down. As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to me. One more thing: lost in all of this was how much I thoroughly enjoyed watching that History Channel special. Hats off to them, because for the first time since the late 1990′s, they have redone all of their holiday shows, including ones on the origins of Halloween and Thanksgiving. The old ones, hosted by Harry Smith, were excellent, and I have them saved on DVD, but for a general history lesson, these new one needed to be made. I highly recommend giving it a view.

Jim Butler Reports on the Strange Occurences at the Monmouth County Fair

Each year in Freehold, New Jersey, the Monmouth County Fair is held. This is the biggest fair the county has each year, and draws thousands of people like clockwork to play games, go on the rides, eat junk food, and just have fun. But there is another side to the fair, as Jim Butler, my boss at the hockey camps I coach at, recounts to us below. In a series of updates on Facebook for the five-day duration of the fair, that lasted from July 21-26, Jim tells us some of the funniest and downright weirdest things he witnessed. This is just a small selection of the many observances made. Please enjoy:

Day One

-If you get in a golf cart with someone and they immediately almost drive into the trailer in front of you, get out of the cart. The ride isn’t going to get any better.

-I am doomed to have a conversation explaining that chicken on a stick is a kabob every year to some vendor at the fair.

-When watching weather radar you cannot wish a storm in another direction.

-It is an amazing feat for a man to remember both his raincoat and an umbrella. Less impressive when you leave those items in your car.

Day Two

-The Gravitron can still make small children puke.

-It may be time to replace the last car on the “Dragon Wagon” kiddie roller coaster now that the tail is held on by duct tape.

-I have become that guy that overhears teenage conversations and sees how they are dressed and shakes his head.

Day Three

-Not all tattoo ink has been well used.

-No matter how hi-tech the world becomes there are still certain problems that can only be solved with a well placed hammer blow or duct tape.

-After long hours at the Fair I’m going to moderately insult someone at about 8:25pm each night. It seems unavoidable.

-I haven’t lost my touch picking winners in the Pig Races. If only they would finally legalize gambling on them.

Day Four

-No matter what the weatherman tells you, human beings do not spontaneously combust when the temperature gets near 100 degrees.

-Of all the food choices at the Fair, the Jumbo Turkey leg seems the oddest. I can’t help but think of Vikings when I see someone gnawing at one.

-Watching Scooby Doo on a 40 foot movie screen just makes Shaggy look like an even bigger stoner.

-When someone with gravel teeth sticks their head in your golf cart to chat it’s not professional to recoil in horror. You may have to tell yourself this many times like a mantra.

-Park Rangers in full dress gear including polyester pants, t-shirt, button down shirt, and campaign hat don’t want to hear about how hot I think it feels while wearing my fair t-shirt and shorts.

Day Five

-A man will spend years restoring a vintage car, spending thousands of dollars, then take two hours to polish the car and display trophies the car has won. He will then sit next to that car as it is being judged in a classic car contest wearing no shirt with suspenders holding up his jean cut-off shorts.

-If the inside of your pockets show when you wear your cut off jean shorts you have cut them too short.

-One kid on a leash is amusing. Twins on matching leashes, that’s just funny.

-Pie eating contests… gross. Humans have opposable thumbs for a reason. We’re not designed to eat that way.

-Girls that can’t walk in heels shouldn’t wear them on dirt roads at the fair.

-The Wicked Witch must have had offspring because each year I see more people that must melt in the rain the way they react to it.

And the best question of the week goes to my coworker, and lightning fast runner, John Sperduto, who asked Jim, “Is $10 enough to buy food?”. I’m sure that generated a good laugh.

On the Sixteenth Anniversary of the Rangers Cup Victory

Amidst a day where New York Rangers fans around the world will be celebrating the sixteenth anniversary of the famous drought ending championship of 1994, I offer no joy to you today. I have already seen it on Facebook and around the Rangers blogosphere, but how can anyone really be happy about it?

Sure it was an incredible moment in the franchise’s history, perhaps the single greatest shining moment this team, and possibly even the city, had experienced. I am not trying to downplay the significance of the moment, but rather, the significance to the moment today.

The Rangers are the only team, who year after year, honor their cup winning team. MSG Network shoves it down viewers throats every chance they get, and there are constantly in-studio guests from the 1994 team, as if they are trying to jam it at us further.

The New York Rangers have not won another Stanley Cup since 1994. They have not really accomplished anything at all in these sixteen years, except for an exciting conference finals appearance in 1997. But since then, in those thirteen years since the last great moment this team has had, the Rangers have made the playoffs only four times.

These sixteen years have witnessed Neil Smith dismantle and destroy the team’s farm system in favor of trying to trade prospects for aging stars. When he was fired, the situation was further exacerbated when Glen Sather tried to correct the problem by dolling out big money contracts to even more aging, sub-par former stars.

The franchise has been a disgrace, and a model of incompetence since the Cup victory that was the most watched Stanley Cup Finals game ever played until that point. That game featured a hockey team, for the first time, that was on top of the world in sports. The lockout that followed halted the team’s momentum, and they never really recovered. Matters would only get worse, and the team is where they are right now– reeling.

So when you see people on your Facebook and Twitter post videos from 1994 and recount how exciting it was, just keep in mind the present. I am all about history; I am majoring in it in college, and hope to have a career involving it, but for the first time in these past sixteen years, the Rangers must finally move on from that history. They must put aside 1994 and look to the future, and that involves us fans too.

Every year I watch Game 7 of the Finals and get goosebumps, first during the National Anthem when sung by John Amirante, and then again at the end when Sam Rosen exclaimed, “This one will last a lifetime!” He may very well be right, because it just may be a lifetime before this team experiences the success they had sixteen years ago.

This year, however, will be a change of pace. The DVD player will be kept off, as will MSG Network, in case they show the game on Rangers Classics.

Sixteen years of anniversaries. Sixteen years of embarrassment. Sixteen years of incompetence. Sixteen years of New York Rangers hockey.