Me, Osama and the Blogosphere

My birthday's coming up, so I have been reflecting on my advancing years. I feel as young as ever, but in fact I'm the same age as Osama bin Laden. How did it come to this? The same age as a wrinkled old white-haired fella with a long white beard living in a cave with his dialysis machine plotting the destruction of western civilization. Whodathunkit.

The reason I mention my age is that I have to disagree with the many who think that the internet is for young people. I am a blogger, and as you can see, I ain't young. In this YouTube interview with Bob Rae and film-maker Robin Benger, interviewer Jesse asks what role the internet will play in the next federal election... Benger in particular seems to think that the internet is mostly the realm of youth and so does not have much relevance for serious politics.

That's a common comment, and yet it's not supported by the facts. Serious politics has a huge presence on the internet, in mainstream media, countercultural media, and blogs. Of course, gaming and other youth-driven things are even bigger presences, but then, the entire internet is apparently financed by pornography, so the rest of us are just riding the tail. (Pun intended.)

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