Community Media - Interactive World

Viral videos are short films that reach hundreds of thousands of viewings and attract thousands of comments in a period of days, weeks, or months. Some viral videos are products of creative individuals; others spring from the corporate advertising machine which is worth $700 billion annually. Some are just fun and others aim to influence us in an open, or in a more covert, or secret fashion. A few viral videos have been products of chance, chaos theory scenarios, or a tipping point. Their sudden transnational popularity comes as a shock to their makers. But there are many common features and many unexpected success stories. I have recently made a study of the subject. Here are my findings 11 Laws of Viral Video: 1. Law of Shortness . Most people switch off after 3 minutes. Brevity is the soul of wit. People want to watch something that they can get through while drinking a cup of tea or coffee. However, some of the longer running conspiracy theory or environmental films hav...

“The biggest challenge in the present crisis [2008] is whether we can recover some sense of the connection between money and material reality — the production of specific things, the achievement of recognisably human goals that have something to do with a shared sense of what is good for the human community in the widest sense.” Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, writing in The Spectator (23 September 2008.) "The economic stimulus and the bailouts will not bring back our casino capitalism. And as the meltdown shows no signs of abating, and the bailouts show no sign of working, the recklessness and desperation of our capitalist overlords have increased." (187) "When money becomes worthless, so does government. All traditional standards and beliefs are shattered in a severe economic crisis. The moral order is turned upside down." (188) "They descended into orgies of self indulgence, surrendered their civic and emotional lives to the glitter...

Last night the camp was cleared by the police. If you are interested in these issues you can read my short essay discussing "Faith, Space and Occupation" here . Some time ago, the BBC published a selection of comments on the situation outside St Paul's cathedral in London, where a tented village had been established by "Occupy." Legal notice has just been served on the "Occupiers" who may be forced to leave in 48 hours' time.   George Pitcher, an Anglican priest and former Archbishop of Canterbury's Public Affairs Secretary comments "Talking about these camps cropping up like boils across our city, and indeed the mayor of London shouting at the protesters, "In the name of God and Mammon go!" I think that's really pantomime material and I'm glad that the Church is dissociating itself from it."