I haven't blogged for a while. I have been considering the raft of social media formats online over the last few months. Initially, when I set up my blog, I restricted comments for moderation. This seemed a logical thing to do as a lawyer.
However, I have now opened up the blog for comments. It will be interesting to see where it leads. Perhaps nowhere.
I have seen over the last few months quite a few blogs. Some are incredibly sophisticated. Links to photos, YouTube, videos and music. One such blog I would refer you to is becauseofbipolar.com.au. This is an amazing piece and well worth looking at.
I have also considered the legal aspects to social networking. There were three things that highlighted to me recently where things are perhaps heading and in reality are unstoppable.
In the film 21 Jump Street which is currently on wide release, there are a number of references to social networking. Effectively, the plot is about two adults who go back into a school to look for a drug dealer for some new drug that kills. The drug is similar to ecstasy I assume but it adds in some extra 'benefits'. The illicit drug has various phases which include a laughing phase (THC), hallucination (LSD), heightened activity (amphetamenes) and subsequent death. The actual cause of death is never explained. Presumably cardiac arrest or stroke. There is one side effect that the Americans (who made the film) leave out being heightened sexual arousal (crack or ice). In a bizarre way, the film actually gives the drug allure and almost glorify it. Despite the humour, the death scenes are rapid and almost irrelevant to the general focus of the film which really is an analysis of American pop culture as it is perhaps today.
In an ideal world, there would be no drugs. However, it would seem that this is impossible. There are certainly plenty of films that deal with the drug issue and sadly, Whitney Houston's initial toxicology report was released today. The major cause of death was drowning, cocaine use and a heart condition. This is amongst a phalanx of other prescription drugs including Xanax. The Coroner did say that the prescription drugs did not cause death.
The internet is here to stay. Indeed, parts of it are falling away as other parts take over. The real benefit of the internet is that basically it is free (removing online shopping, apps and other aspects of the net where people are trying to make money).
The other strange thing about the film was that I found myself laughing at parts of the film where the rest of the audience were not. That can be embarrassing.
The two stand outs were one scene where the older (adult) telephones one of the school girls to invite her to a party. She states that she is shocked that someone is actually calling her as everything is now done by text.
The other amusing anecdote is that the chief Detective refers to the 'Twitterarti'. This is a whole new class of people. In relation to Whitney Houston's death, the first person to release a twitter comment was Mariah Carey. It was intriguing.
In the end, it is a question of whether perhaps the internet should be regulated at all. Should there be laws about what can and can't be said on twitter? Should blogs be protected from copyright or trademarks?
Across my practice, I deal with an age range of a child right across to an 80 year old. Children are unusual cases as they rarely come up except perhaps in bullying cases at schools or in Family Law cases.
From my observations, it would seem that the demographic of 18-30 are using text messages as the main form of communication. I have watched a 31 year old receive and send over 30 text messages in less than five minutes. All of this could have been handled by a telephone call.
However, that same 31 year old then went and had drinks with his mates in a social environment.
In my mother's age group (70 - 75), some are web aware and some are not. My mother for instance knows how to use a mobile phone. However, she does not know how to text. When I recently visited, she gave me her phone to clear out the text messages. There were 35. I basically sent replies to every text stating that my mother did not know how to text and there was no point sending text messages. Indeed, one text was to announce the death of an acquaintance and the next day was a text to announce the funeral details.
After I sent out the text messages (on an old Nokia phone where I had to remember the keypad as all the letters were worn off the phone), a strange thing then happened. Phone numbers that I did not know then started sending text messages back to me stating that she must learn how to text. I then got caught in a text conversation with two telephone numbers back and forth.
Facebook is in decline. Eventually, something will overtake it and people will become bored. LinkedIn is rapidly expanding and now has 3 million members in Australia alone.
Despite my previous blogs, I have tried out some LinkedIn discussion groups. These are very useful for me as a sole practitioner. You can bounce ideas off people online.
I use a computer all day. I have been steadfast in my unease with social networking due to the insecurity of personal information and the lack of any sort of control.
However, on reflection I feel that I have made a mistake. Perhaps I must embrace everything.
My own telephone now only communicates to my computer via the Gmail server and presumably the cloud.
Finally, I have watched the opening of 'The Hunger Games'. This film is again on wide release, cost $200million to make (or a little less with tax breaks) and has certainly been hyped.
I have seen some demented films. This really takes the cake. The systematic killing of children as young as 12 is shocking. The book was apparently worse with decapitations and other forms of systematic killing.
Effectively, this is Lord of the Flies 2012. The reviews all discuss how brilliant the lead is and the development of her character into a full blown adult. They seem to miss the point that senseless mutilation of young teenagers is repugnant. In the United States, the film was cut in parts so that it could be reduced to a rating of PG 13+. The very age of the people that are introduced into the 'game'.
And the sequels are to come.
Stephen Wilcox
Australian Lawyer
