10 Reasons Why the Internet is Good

Some days, I just have to gush about why the internet is good. Today is one of them. For those of you who don't already know these examples, enjoy:

1. Ask A Ninja
   
   Sheer brilliance. Watch the Net Neutrality piece...then subscribe. Ninja will make you happy to be online.
   
   
2. Better Bad News
   
   So, here is the deal. You send in your 'news' and talking heads read it for you off of the teleprompter. I still want to send in a piece.
   
   
3. Snakes on a Plane
   
   Everything that happened around this movie, blog and overall frenzy happened because of the internet. Imagine someone in 1980 telling this story. Crazy, beautiful things like this travel well through this medium.
   
   
4. Blogs that make fun of the digerati
   
   Okay...so some of them have imploded or just been left like a ghost town in a midwestern drought, but nonetheless, the fact that we've created a virtual world where people dedicate any amount of their energy and lives to the gossip of the geekworld totally rocks. I'm visiting my family this weekend and Chris and I mention Robert Scoble. My brother and cousin ask, "Who is that?" We say, "He's only, like, one of the biggest bloggers. Read by tens of thousands of people." They both shrug, non-plussed. They are both young, online guys. "Techcrunch?" I ask. Nothing. Heh. Yep. My Mom still thinks it is cute that I blog.
   
   
5. If you can dream it up, someone has created a website for it
   
   I won't point to the variety of sites I think of right off the bat...but believe me...whatever floats your boat can be found online.
   
   
6. The Pinko Marketing Blog
   
   Stay with me here. This blog was not my doing - and this is why it's so significant to me. It could be any blog, started by anyone who picked up an idea they read about online and actually took it on with their own passion. Paul Fabretti, the author of the PMB is doing a bang up job. He's doing what I'm too lazy/busy/etc. to do - case studies, practical applications, news, tracking, talking, etc. about the concept of being part of the community your serve. In fact, there are now 115 contributors on the Pinko Marketing mailing list. Good stuff, too. I feel bad. I've been neglegent to my own movement. But this group is way smarter than me anyway. ;)
   
   So, #6 reason why the internet is good is that it allows for seeds that are planted to grow...across continents.
   
   
7. Flickr, Upcoming, Dodgeball and RSS
   
   I love running into someone and them saying, "How did the move go?" or "I saw your shots of Bangalore, how was it?" I didn't have to blast everyone with my daily goings on. We can all pay as much or as little attention as to what the people we care about are up to even when we get too busy to get together regularly. Like Irina once said, "...so now, when i check flickr, i see so-and-so is in paris for les blogs or so-and-so is at syndicate or so-and-so is working on tab browsing in flock or such-and-such is having lunch with joe montana…….i know it’s not perfect, but it’s really become an easy way for me to figure out what people are doing..."
   
   Yep...a total opt-in world where we are engaged in our friends lives, even when we can't be.
   
   
8. The endless supply of betas
   
   I know this may seem inane to some - even frustrating - but I really love that there is so much creativity going on around the world. Sure, most will fizzle, but hell, keep the ideas coming! It shows a turned-on world in my opinion. It's all part of that goal of engaging people and creating as many independents as possible.
   
   
9. Red vs. Blue
   
   A videocast of video game characters acting out real life issues in a tongue and cheek way...this is priceless...from their FAQ:
   
   Q: What the hell?
   A: Yeah, we know.
   
   Q: No seriously. What the hell?
   A: Oh. We just write scripts and then use videogames to act them out. It's a new style of animation that some people call machinima. It allows to make weekly pieces of animation with a small group of people.
   
   
10. Wikipedia
    
    Seriously...the most rockin' thing ever to happen online. It was dreamt up by one guy but built by everyone. Wikipedia is the ultimate embodiment of the Wisdom of Crowds. It is also the ultimate example of how the community takes care of its own.
    
    Funny case of recent times: Dan Fost called us when we were coming back from Seattle to tell us that the BarCamp entry on Wikipedia was marked for deletion. First of all, we didn't even know that there was a BarCamp entry. We sent an email out to the BarCamp planners list discussing this, but said, "It's not up to us to edit it." Sure enough, it not only did NOT get deleted, but the biggest initial critics of the entry actually did their research and augmented the hell out of the entry, making it way better than it would have ever been untouched. Story on the BarCamp blog (post drama) and on Dan Fost's blog.

I'm sure I'm missing all sorts of other reasons (and awesome sites that prove) why the internet is good. And I know there are loads of reasons why the internet is bad (and, IMHO, the crappy stuff is the mainstream stuff - the mundane that exists offline, too).

But, on today, as I sit in a part of the world that is a long way away from the Valley (and close to my roots), I can really appreciate what is good and right with my online universe. ;)