A Brief History of Vokle, Part I: Conception
Projects tend to take a life of their own, so it would be fitting to start at conception before moving on to birth.
Conception.
I recall that in the summer of 2007, a friend and I were perusing random youtube memes; watching clips that perfectly characterize a lazy Saturday afternoon such as the obligatory bear attack or drunk David Hasselhoff eating a cheeseburger.” It was only after watching this gem, that my friend intuitively, almost unknowingly, scrolled down to read the trademark comments that live in the subterranean nether regions below Youtube videos.
We skimmed enlightening comments such as:
Communication, no matter how inane, is an innate desire in most all sentient beings; from chirping grasshoppers to chirping birds, to chirping twitter aficionados. We see this pronounced throughout the web in response to all manner of stimulating content. In other words, the digestion of content naturally calls for a healthy dosage of communication; this is where passive consumption blooms into active thought.
Think about the prevalence of this marriage of content and communication in the material world. For example, after watching a film at a local movie theater with a friend, what is one of the first things you say once once you amble out?
“So, what did you think?”
Movie (content) + opinion (communication).
Though admittedly, I tend to walk out and ask, “do u think we can get our money back?”
If the film is particularly atrocious (or directed by Michael Bay), you might coerce your friend into lighting the movie screen on fire, and watch it go up in a blaze of glory. I’m sure Michael Bay would be proud.
The ultimate point is that it struck me at that moment that the Internet is nothing but a giant pastrami sandwich. If content is the deli meat, our voices and opinions are the delicious french bread that blankets it. Communication —word-of-mouth, takes said content to a higher level.
Note: I was eating a pastrami sandwich at the time.
Yet, for the internet being so “social,” it’s remarkably silent isn’t it? Oftentimes, our comments, our opinions, are relegated to 140 character blurbs and punchlines, and buried a thousand feet deep. Despite these limitations, millions of mavens still try to reach out to the amorphous internet abyss in the hopes striking an actual discussion that might lead to a genuine relationship, or at least something more substantitive beyond a couple “thumbs up” points.
It then struck me: Online communication is broken! And until we fix it; until we make the internet more intuitive, we will continue to be disjointed from one another. If you scroll up and check out that screenshot of the youtube comments again, you’ll note that there are 26,370 total comments.
Are all comments made equal?
What about Joe Blow who tried to express himself on page one, and is now buried under 2600 pages? Do you think anyone will ever excavate his statement? What about Jane Blow who commented only 3 pages ago; will she ever be heard? Will Joe and Jane ever meet? Not likely.
But, what if a global society could actually connect with each other? Gauge chemistry. Express their opinions as inuitively as just speaking. What are the impacts of being vocal, and coming together? Can this serve a greater good? How does this change the game; how does it change the world?
These were the questions I pondered as my friend pulled up the following clip:
This is harnessing the power of the internet as an activist communication platform.
And it certainly has changed the world, especially in the case of this obscure Congressman from Texas whom, in any other election, would be lucky to pull 1% at the polls. The Ron Paul Revolution was surging strong at the time, and, in many ways, is still growing in magnitude by the day. Now, up the stakes. Indeed, if a minority can tip the scale, imagine what a majority can accomplish. If Washington can’t hear our figurative voices, then perhaps they ought to listen literally.
In order to achieve the sort of rhetorical “change” that career politicians only talk about, we’ll require technology more effective than text comments buried 1000 pages deep. We, the people, require a more profoundly powerful way to communicate.
These were the kinds of thoughts that had blazed thorugh my subconscious mind within a span of about 5 seconds. And, before my friend could read the next video comment, I blurted out, “why doesn’t someone create a proper video communication platform already, so we don’t need to sit here and read pages of punchlines and actually speak to one another?”
My friend furrowed his brows and scanned my agitated expression, before replying, “yeah…someone should.”
A few seconds of silence later, I shrugged my shoulders and mused aloud, “I’ll just do it. Why not?”
My friend and I sat in silence for a moment, and eventually chuckled at the absurdity of the question.
Why not?
Maybe the fact that I didn’t have a dime to my name? Or that I wasn’t a web developer. Or that I was knee deep in USC film school loans and needed an actual job asap. Oh, and nevermind the fact that I’m completely under-qualified. ;)
But, seriously:
Why not?
pt.2 coming soon.
