The Internet Is My Best Friend: Trollin’ Hurricane Sandy, Former Child Star Tumbls

It’s times like these that prove that the internet/social media is not just for cute kitten videos and talking about your lunch. During Hurricane Sandy’s treacherous run over the Northeast, I was glued to my computer with updates and photographs posted right in the moment. Lucky for me, I was sitting comfy in my home on the West Coast, but had I been in the path of destruction, these updates would have been essential.

It made me wonder what our experience on 9/11 would have been like with social media. I don’t mean to say it would be better/worse, but I think about how I sent out three emails to my family the morning of and none of them arrived. How often does email fail? Almost never. I could have announced I was okay through Facebook. More people could find out where their loved ones were. We have a lot of amateur videos, but can you imagine the in-the-moment photographs?

I don’t need to dwell too much on the hurricane, but there is plenty of coverage- Gawker has some of the best coverage, even though their main site is down due to the power outage.

I did learn that some people still have the capacity to be total dickwads during a time of crisis. Twitter user @ComfortablySmug, from what we know is a Mitt Romney supporter and enjoys headless pictures of himself in fine suits, decided to spread some rumors for the purpose of…I’m not sure. To see if he could? To boost his ego?

However, the internet-omnipotent Buzzfeed called him out and exposed him, and @Comfortable Smug actually published an apology. What? Someone on the internet admitting they were wrong? This is unheard of! I was expecting (a) Some sort of ridiculous lawsuit claiming “free speech” (b) a “fuck you, I do what I want!” reply or ( c) “sorry if you got offended, but not for what I did.”

 

I’m not condoning his actions, but I respect the apology, and his decision to resign from his job. Let’s not feel too bad, this guy probably already has a book deal in the works.

On a completely unrelated note, someone recently pointed me in the direction of instagram user camera_duels, a user who captures pictures of people trying to secretly take pictures of him. It’s fairly entertaining, and provides a lovely schadenfreude for the people who are caught.

 

Who is this person who gets so many people noticing him? Well, it’s Cole Sprouse, and the Disney channel darlings the Sprouse twins, stars of the Sweet Life of Zack and Cody. If that doesn’t ring a bell for you, the twins also starred in their younger years as Ross’ son Ben on Friends and as the child in the Adam Sandler vehicle Big Daddy. (I knew that without even looking that up. I need help.)

What has become of this former child star? I was concerned, you see, after witnessing the fates of Linsday and Amanda. But Cole is doing alright, you guys. He’s now a freshman at NYU studying archaeology, photography. His seems to be esoteric, kooky, self-counscious and academic-focused all at the same time. And has long hair. So basically, a typical NYU freshman. A recent post:

Cole, why do you post pictures of yourself with your thoughts on unrelated fields?  I do this because this is what people want to see, and once they become hooked by visual temptation, they have a higher chance of reading the actual thought.
Aristotle states in The Nicomachian Ethics, that some acts must not be committed, even under torture (1110a 25-27).  Yet how does one go about defining what cultural behaviors are to be considered acceptable or unacceptable?  The goal of the anthropologist is not to influence localized or universal relativistic/ethnocentric acceptance of any one foreign or domestic behavior, for those interpretations are left to the audience absorbing the anthropologist’s data.  One of the goals of the contemporary anthropologist should be the deconstruction of ideas of universalities and cultural or natural laws that dictate how all peoples should react to their associated environs, removing notions of static or “appropriate” ways of life, and to suggest that culture and behavior is reflexive and adaptable.

Okay….while Cole is into photography and brother Dylan is into multi-media art. That’s great! Unfortunately, it may take a while to shake the celeb status, but they don’t seem too jaded. Even Macauley Culkin finally found peace with who he is.

As usual, here are my favorite animated gifs of the week: