Average man's cult
The phenomenal growth and rise in popularity of services such as YouTube and MySpace is just the tip of the iceberg for the emergent form of the internet
By Aziz Omar
The craving for attention and acceptance has always been at the heart of the average human being. Social groups have only endured due to the leadership of a few; the other members trying to live up to the head honcho's expectations.

Work online
Some websites and advisory services have been a blessing for those trying to find a good employer or willing to move on
By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed
Gone are the days when jobseekers would endlessly scan newspapers for job adverts and send applications to every other prospective employer. One would hardly get any acknowledgment of receipt of the application or a phone call and this exercise would continue for months. Apart from this, the cost incurred on getting supporting documents photocopied and mailed would be quite significant for the not-so-resourceful job hunters.

Blog on
Whether you're a young budding writer, musician, painter, poet, a wannabe social or a political activist the world inside your computer screen awaits you like never before
By Fizzah Hussain Rizvi
It's truly amazing how the Internet today has completely transformed and is now light years ahead of its initial 'information highway' status. The virtual world has witnessed a massive revolution in the last few years in terms of opportunities now available to users to express, share, discuss, influence and make a difference. Whether you're a young budding writer, musician, painter, poet, a wannabe social and political activist or just want to discuss mutual interests with like-minded individuals, the world inside your computer screen awaits you like never before. Pakistan's youth now has a lot less to complain when it comes to expressing their hidden talents, start a small business or show their singing abilities to the world.

Internet divides
...yes, sometimes it does -- especially in sites asserting the supremacy of one group over the other on the basis of race, religion, ethnic and gender preferences
The power of internet to reach the masses is being strategically diverted to promoting hateful and extremist ideologies. The foremost are sites asserting the supremacy of one group over others on the lines of race, religion, ethnic and gender preferences. Such sites are designed to attract individuals who are lacking a sense of identity and belonging.

At some point in time, people withdrew from the real into the virtual which brought them a sense of relief. The new machines could offset, somehow, the unpleasantness that characterised actual relationships.

A few years down the road and the virtual took back a lot of baggage that the real entailed. Socialising, friendships, dating, match-making, songs, jobs, intellectual outpourings, artworks, poetry... What's new in all this apart from technology which only gives a sense of unreal -- or virtual if you like.

Humans still do what they have always liked to do. We fear they would lie and cheat on the internet and play with people's reputations, but that they did even before the advent of internet. We grudge them their friendships and relationships but they did always have ways of going about that.

Free speech has always co-existed with hate speech in life and so it does on the internet. Chances are that there would be more of the former and and less of latter. And it has already proved to be a great equaliser in letting ordinary people earn money and fame overnight by dint of sheer talent.

Therefore, embrace it with open arms for it has embraced you already.

Millions of users every day have placed the internet into the spotlight and any negative impact is laid at its door as if the invention of the internet and the mobile phone is the real perpetrator of some palpable wrong.

Has the internet changed the world? Take for example the attacks, categorised as terror attacks which were a consequence of usage of internet and the mobile phones at some stage. In a recent documentary on the BBC it was shown how the websites have been instrumental not only in reaching out to the people especially the potential young recruits, influencing them to join the mission, it has also been said that it is used to convey messages, secret messages to its followers from the high command in a language that is coded. At the same time it is also stated that bomb making techniques and other lethal weapons capable of causing widespread destruction from common harmless items that we use everyday are being passed on through the internet.

Internet is being often blamed for child predators or older men getting access to young vulnerable teenage girls. It is being blamed for being one of the major sources that has made all sinister/criminal activity a whole lot easier.

Every technological advance is made to increase comfort and get round intractable painful processes. Technology is meant to make life easy and not to complicate it. It is only we who taking advantage of the technical innovations use it for an end that is reprehensible.

When the radio was introduced in India, particularly in Muslim homes, it was not allowed to become a part of the household items because it was feared that all kinds of information could be directly accessed by the people living in the house. And there were particular strictures where women were concerned. The fact that they could listen to the voice of a Namahrum was sufficient to dishonour the woman and bring shame to the family. Even in households that possessed a radio its listening was strictly monitored and only men especially the grown ups listened to the news before covering it up with a gilded cloth.

And the advent of television was even a bigger blow to those wanting to maintain traditional values. Ghar ghar cinema, ghar ghar fahashi. You did not really have to make an effort to even go to the cinema hall -- it was there in the bedroom just a turning of the switch away -- actually it became even easier with the affordable invention of the remote control. In the beginning only men watched television but gradually women asserted their right to see it as well, even in the presence of their menfolk. Initially they did not see it with the elders of the family, men and women both but with greater affluence and technology becoming steadily cheaper the households could easily afford multiple television sets.

And about internet facilitating the anonymity of the user -- yes the telephone before that did the same and even before that letters delivered through that was often anonymous. And that the internet has made the trading of lies easier or inevitable. It is often that people marry on the basis of information that has been exchanged over the net and most of it is quite exaggerated and overblown. Quite true, it has always been so. Even when the parents went to seek the hand of a girl for their son they very rarely spoke the truth. Their son was the most honest, upright, reliable, unerring, innocent creature that was ever born. Their family was of the bluest of stock and the earnings/income of the boy was exaggerated without batting an eye. And it also happened, not very infrequently, that the girl shown to the visiting elders was not the one who was eventually married off.

Internet has not been responsible for initiating this trend or the very fact that the internet access has not instigated people to make bombs, communicate with each other through coded messages and incite people to violence and terror attacks. The cause lies elsewhere; internet is only a technical means of achieving the end quickly and with less effort.

There is nothing wrong with nuclear technology but if a bomb is meant to decimate the opponent or just to make the defenses of the country impregnable then there is everything reprehensible about it. The fault dear Brutus lies not in technology but in ourselves. The desire to seek dominance over others is the real cause of the making the nuclear bomb and if this desire is tamed and transformed or taken out of the human system there is nothing wrong with the nuclear energy. It can benefit mankind immensely.

Nothing really has changed over millenniums -- the same basic instincts have now an outlet that is very destructive and has the power to totally annihilate the planet itself. But in the sixty odd years since this weapon of absolute destruction was invented the real thrust has really only been directed at limiting the number of its owners and holders. No real effort has been made to rid the world of this menace which now can destroy the world many times over. And it needn't be intentional -- it can well be the result of an accident.

Internet does give the cover of anonymity and it serves the same purpose as a gumnam khat or the namabar. It was and is always impossible to confess your love to the man or woman of your dreams. The tongue-tied lover is the endemic metaphor in our classical and modern poetry because it only states a human condition. So lovers wrote in the depth of night, some had the audacity to sent these letters across , fearful of being either discovered or worse still rejected, many wrote the letters and kept them undelivered for a lack of courage.

Internet may have emboldened a few because it is so easy, it does not require an effort, it is only a click away -- but the breaking of the heart on not receiving a favourable response is just as painful as it ever was.

Average man's cult

The craving for attention and acceptance has always been at the heart of the average human being. Social groups have only endured due to the leadership of a few; the other members trying to live up to the head honcho's expectations.

While in their childhood, individuals constantly seek out the attention of their parents and revel in their encouragement. As teens and adults, the desire to be acknowledged for a distinct trait or lifestyle drives them towards fame. Until recently, the only celebrities we had were those that were regularly featured in mainstream media, such as actors, musicians and political leaders. However, with the launch of video sharing websites such as YouTube and MySpace, the average person has acquired a cult following.

Although such visually interactive social-networking sites were developed by university graduates flexing their fingers in the professional arena, the true inventors are the users themselves. It is the innate desire to reach out and carve one's own sense of identity is what has been the intangible factor behind the very perceptible success stories.

YouTube started out of a small office space above a shop and was formally launched on February 15, 2005. As the site took off, it subsequently garnered investments in millions of dollars from companies that were interested in the advertising potential by tapping the huge pool of registered members and visitors. The year 2006 saw a massive increase in its popularity which catapulted the dotcom's stock to be bought out by Google for $ 1.65 billion in October.

But the co-founders becoming multimillionaires overnight aside, it was the tens of thousands of visitors uploading and viewing personal video clips that prompted Time magazine to award it the invention of the year 2006 award.

Never before has such a frenzy been seen in terms of ordinary people wanting to relate every inane detail of their lives on camera. Bedrooms, basements and backyards have become studios and your average Joe is the ace director. The stars of this video compendium have their own channel of sorts and subscribers to boot. Notables such as geriatric1927 and lonelygirl15 are the top favorites, with the latter now having been revealed as a fictitious character played by an aspiring actress.

The incredible audience reach of this portal had intrigued two small time filmmakers from California who got hold of a teenage actress from New Zealand of all places to play the part of Bree. This cute 17-year old character was supposed to have been brought up in a highly religious household and she was trying to find and outlet to express her inner sentiments. Her complicated and fascinating insights gave rise to a massive fan following which was bolstered by her webpage on MySpace.

However, it was this very extraordinary popularity that led to her being 'outed' by the Los Angeles Times as a hoax. Nevertheless, the real actor Jessica Rose, along with her creators has been extensively interviewed by dozens of channels. Jessica has even landed a role in an upcoming Hollywood film which stars Lindsay Lohan besides being chosen by the United Nations to be a spokesperson for its antipoverty campaign.

Though popular as individual figures, the video series of such persons have only had a million or so views. Viewings of independent clips can be gauged by the 40 million or so views of the piece titled an 'Evolution of Dance', the most watched one. It features a comedian by the name of Judson Laipply performing signature dance moves to 30 tracks, going from Elvis Presley's Hound Dog to N'Sync's Bye Bye Bye. Besides this eccentric dance footage, a music video of an actual band Ok Go made its debut on YouTube when MTV rejected their idea of using treadmills as props. Since its posting 6 months ago, the video has had over ten million views. Another one featuring the music of the band Sick Puppies and lead character giving free hugs has even clinched fame via the Oprah Winfrey show.

Although MySpace contains a more expanded model of personal profiles, pictures, blogs and music clips besides video, it still receives less traffic than YouTube. The latter thus is the fifth most visited site globally with the former snapping at its heels at the sixth position, according to alexa.com which monitors internet traffic. Yet MySpace boasts its own legacy of putting several bands on the musical industry map trough its service of hosting original music by nascent bands and musicians.

The phenomenal growth and rise in popularity of services such as YouTube and MySpace is just the tip of the iceberg for the emergent form of the internet being classified as Web 2.0. The next generation of web based applications will thus derive their maximum amount of input from the users, such as is already the case with Wikipedia.

The masses that have been on the receiving end all this time are now making it clear that it is they who will define the future of audiovisual expression.

The power of internet to reach the masses is being strategically diverted to promoting hateful and extremist ideologies. The foremost are sites asserting the supremacy of one group over others on the lines of race, religion, ethnic and gender preferences. Such sites are designed to attract individuals who are lacking a sense of identity and belonging.

Web portals play upon the elements of shock, exaggerated beliefs and pseudo-facts, fabricated scientific studies and historical accounts to conjure up a sense of believability. The laws of many countries, though, now apply to websites hosted on servers within their jurisdiction. So any site deemed as propagating violent or threatening views and statements towards an entity is required to be shutdown, depending on the outcome of the prosecution. However, many websites of this nature are registered on domains controlled by US companies and are thus protected by law under the First Amendment.

The official sites of organisations such as the American Nazi Party and the Nationalist Socialist Movement are directing their material to racial tendencies in all white/Caucasian citizens of America. Such sites are extensions of their real-world parent associations and derive the dogma of white supremacy from the concept of Eugenics and the superiority of the Aryan Race of people. The Nazi part of Germany was founded on the same beliefs which propounded that only those people who belonged to the Proto-Indo-European race were worthy of German citizenship. This was in relation to the inferior or impure status of the Jewish-Semitic race thus rationalising their being expelled or removed from their occupational and residential places.

In the context of modern day America, such notions have been expanded to include people of African ancestry in particular besides those of Jewish faith as well as all non-Aryans and Native Americans.

Apart from discriminating and expressing their disgust for individuals falling in the aforementioned categories, the American Nazis strongly rally against homosexuals and those having a transgender identity. The websites americannaziparty.com and nsm88.com use the symbol of the swastika whereas the site for the American white knights of the Ku Klux Klan awkkkk.org employ the image of a burning cross to depict their religious intentions and racial lineage. The members of the Ku Klux Klan have been infamous in history as having executed and burned countless 'Negroes' and 'queers'. However, after being persecuted in the recent decades, their activities and agenda revolve around pro-white notions and call upon the deportation of all despicable people.

The web based platforms of extremist groups are typical of offering altered accounts of history, un-cited scientific studies and generalised assumptions as explanations of their assertions. For instance, to denounce African-Americans, awkkkk.org states that two-thirds of all black children of a certain age have a much lower IQ as compared to their white counterparts. But most importantly, they use biblical scriptures to specifically highlight their assumed superiority of whites over coloured people. Verses containing reference to light being pure and heavenly and darkness being characteristic of sin and unfruitfulness greet the visitor of the website.

Ironically, the site even dismisses the current leader of the Christian world, Pope Benedict XVI as a heretic on the basis of him forgoing the true legacy of Christianity by acknowledging modernist ideas and concepts.

Sites such as stormfront.org don't present information regarding their ideology upfront, but rather the topics are discussed in message boards and user forums. Such web-based applications are a key element in motivating the members and interested visitors in giving their own views regarding White power and Christian pride. They clearly express that any individual not believing in the Holy Trinity form of God is a pagan and thus an outcast. Genetic superiority of people of Aryan blood is purposefully explained in detail by users seeming to be from the general following but may as well be one of the founders contributing under different pseudonyms.

The 14 word phrase "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children" is a common slogan on sites fronting White nationalist groups. Such groups and other umbrella entities such as the National Alliance actively make use of their web based presence to market their products incorporating their core values. T-shirts, posters and other items displaying their hallmark symbols based on the swastika are regularly distributed.

Yet more popular is the pro-white music that is promoted under the label of resistance records. This type of music has samples available for download on the record label's site resistance.com, and is especially recorded in youth oriented genres such as rock, heavy metal and pop. The lyrics are representative of the essential themes of white revolution, holy war against non-Aryans and nationalist take-over of the American state. Resistance Records has even gone to the extent of developing a 3D computer game called Ethnic Cleansing. In it players can choose to be in the role of either a skinhead or a hooded KKK member and can go about on a bloody rampage in a ghetto setting killing blacks and Latinos.

The essence of the internet is to bring people from all backgrounds closer to each other in a virtual sense. However, some groups are working towards using its pervasive power to do just the opposite and create religious and ethnic divides leading towards absolute hatred. Although closing down sites of this nature seems to be the only option, this will only drive such organisations further underground and render their activities covert and hard to monitor.

As long as they are in the open for everybody to see, it will be easier to educate the average internet users of their intentions and keep them from becoming susceptible to their ulterior designs.