Hasselhoff and Homogenization

John Batelle explains how the Hasselhoff video scandal outlines one of the great ills of TV: cultural homogenization.

Even though we often watch alone, television is in esssence a shared medium. We watch it together. If it’s on, in a bar, on our homes, in our airports, well, it’s on for anyone who comes in the room. Collectively, we must form an opinion that individually, perhaps, we might form differently. We are forced to find common ground. And honestly, really, well, I don’t *want* to find common ground with a bunch of strangers in an airport about David Hasselhoff. No, really, I just don’t.

Online, it’s different. Online, I control my space. Yup, it’s my space.

I feel his pain. I don’t want to be forced to find common ground with people just because I’m physically near them. That’s a recipe for a watercooler gang, which breeds mediocrity. I want to connect with people based on what I think, not where I am. That’s why I share my online space with you, through my blog.

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