In a roundabout way, this reminded me of a funny montage I saw awhile back that highlighted the way that the existence of cell phones have thrust a monkey-wrench into the plot devices of horror films, which universally rely on having characters isolated and cut off from civilization so they can be more easily picked off by the villain. The montage features clip after clip of horror movie characters realizing they mysteriously don’t get service in whatever location they happen to be stranded. The no-phone-service twist seems to be the only turn of events screenwriters have been able to dream up in order to create situations of true anxiety and danger in an era of constant connectedness.

Contemporary technology and social media certainly offer us convenience and immediacy, but they also homogenize daily life and lower the stakes of anxiety-provoking situations in entertainment and in reality. I suppose in real life this is a good thing, but in fiction, it’s just a boring thing.

I’m sure you all have seen those ubiquitous “25 things you didn’t know about me” lists that are clogging everyone’s Facebook feed. What, if anything, is their significance?

My feelings are that initially, the lists seem harmless and fun, because they enhance the very voyeuristic quality that makes Facebook so addictive in the first place. The lists are surprisingly candid, and it’s nice to get a peek into someone’s pyche beyond the canned-sounded items usually included in favorite book and movie lists.

But! But, there is something deep inside of me that knows that this heralds the beginning of the end for Facebook, if not in terms of mass popularity at least in terms of coolness. There is a short life expectancy for cool things on the Internet, and one could argue Facebooks’s demise began when it began allowing Baby-Boomer-age parents and middle schoolers to sign up. Or, one might argue that Facebook’s popularity has if anything just begun to plateau, since only last month did they officially catch up to MySpace in terms of site traffic.

But the creepy, chain-lettery lists are, to me, at least a signal that Facebook is becoming way too cheesy, prosaic and dare I say, Friendster-y for the cool kids to stick around much longer. Where they will go next, I cannot say.

But Facebook, your days are numbered.

In the summertime, when flipping on the TV means exposing oneself to a depressing array of bad reality programs and reruns, obsessive fans of some of the best shows on TV can find comfort on the internet. A small trend of brilliant fan-fiction-y blogs is on the rise, and they will keep even the most fanatical TV viewers entertained until September.

All the Sad Young Gossip Girls is one such blog. Its format, similar to that of Found magazine, features (fictional) notes, lists, forms, boarding school applications, Facebook pages and other pieces of ‘evidence’ about Gossip Girl characters, with each post extrapolating on a plotline or character. It is truly a masterpiece of fan fiction, and also an interesting extension of the show’s premise, which itself revolves around a blog.

Similarly, a crop of Mad Men-inspired blogs have recently begun, all in Q&A format. Each blog is told from the perspective of a Mad Men character: there’s What Would Roger Sterling Do?, which quotes the slick, slimy old boss of the Sterling Cooper ad agency, and What Would Don Draper Do?, which dispenses the wisdom of the agency’s troubled creative director.

Then, there’s What Would Joan Do?, told from the perspective of Joan Holloway, the agency’s resident femme fatale/objectified woman. Joan’s blog is particularly funny because she (having been around the proverbial block a time or two) is known for often dispensing advice to the office’s more naive secretaries. The blog really captures her matter-of-fact tone and is sprinkled with some of her best lines from the show in response to queries like “What’s the best cigarette a lady can smoke?”

Even though Mad Men has (mercifully) begun its new season already, the Mad Men advice blogs are still a funny, fun counterpart to the show for die-hard fans. (I maintain this despite the fact that NY Magazine seems to think this trend has already lost its freshness)

The point of these blogs is (like the shows themselves) nothing but frothy, frivolous entertainment. But they do manage to maintain (or perhaps even heighten) fan interest over the long, boring summer, which is no small feat.

The Internet has long been a haven for those with anti-establishment leanings. One of the web’s most secretive new developments combines this counter-culture spirit with the current social-networking obsession. The site nicknamed “Cheatster” takes on the project of distributing information for the sole purpose of connecting cheaters.

Cheatster is difficult to describe because it is so elusive. Currently, it operates on a limited invite-only basis. An ever-changing IP address and anti-search engine strategy allow it to live online almost completely under the radar. Worldwide there are fewer than 1,500 users; but despite its complete lack of advertising and relative unavailability it is safe to say that it is becoming an increasingly sought-out commodity. Thus far, Cheatster has enabled hundreds of (mostly college) students to fake their way through take-home exams, term papers, presentations, and outlines covering topics on almost every subject in an undergraduate coursebook. Conveniently, the site includes an unusually accurate translating function, thus encouraging international cheating.

Unsurprisingly, a backlash from academia is arising. Professor Hellmut Spangenberg of the University of Frankfurt, Germany is one of the most outspoken opponents of the site, calling Cheatster an ‘enemy of higher learning’. Other critics have written off the site’s body of ‘expert-submitted’ essays and academic papers as nothing but a “cornucopia of mediocrity”.

Despite the alleged mediocrity of the site’s body of knowledge, Cheaster aficionados are reportedly faking their way to A’s world-wide and basking in the site’s ingeniously secretive status.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures online is scouring the section of craigslist.org called Missed Connections

Even the most mundane postings are, in my opinion, riveting.

Part of the appeal of Missed Connections is the romantic notion that you might be reconnected with someone you’ve seen in passing on a city street or random subway car, if they fatefully happen to be looking at the right site on the right day. While I’m all in favor of this romance, I am a bit dubious about the percentage of Missed Connections postings that have actually resulted in a happy union between strangers (though the site is currently compiling Missed Connections success stories, possibly for a documentary). But regardless of how effective it is in coupling people off, Missed Connections remains a fascinating phenomenon for multiple reasons:

1. In a city distinctively adorned with status symbols and frequently separated by race/class, Missed Connections transcends the boundaries of socio-economic background, sexual orientation, and even age. There are postings from every corner of every borough, some describing well-groomed Park Avenue beauties, some about Williamsburg hipsters, some written by jaded middle-aged people, some from wide-eyed twenty year olds, gay people, straight people, etc. It’s just as much a melting pot as the city itself is.
2. It’s a collective art project: some of the postings are as elegantly crafted as a haiku or limerick. It’s obvious that the authors put effort into their creations with the knowledge that the general public has access to their words, not just the object of their affection. It is a true forum for self-expression instead of just an online bathroom wall to be anonymously scrawled on.
3. Many postings are written by men and women who are utterly hopeless that their crush will ever read their piece, or by people who have no intention of ever confronting their crushes (the “You’re my married neighbor, so this would never work” or “I am your boss so this would be entirely inappropriate” category) but who are still desperate to spill their guts. So in this sense, it is a public diary where the anonymity of the Internet allows people to profess their feelings of tenderness for strangers, co-workers, ex-wives, etc. In this way, Missed Connections is a receptacle of emotion that probably helps to keep scores of edgy, repressed New Yorkers more psychologically fit than they might otherwise be. It’s like therapy, but free.
4. In a roundabout way, it promotes togetherness: although both the process of viewing Missed Connections and creating a Missed Connections post are completely anonymous, its function is to lessen the anonymity both of the city and of the Internet itself. Many popular so-called ‘social-networking’ sites encourage users to bask in the anonymity of the Internet (think about how easy it is to stalk people on MySpace or Facebook from the comfort of your own home). Missed Connections does the opposite by encouraging users to leave the comfort of online interactions and venture back into the real world.

I’m considering starting to submit daily Missed Connections posts about people I encounter on my way to work. They would be more friendly than lovelorn, I think—while I don’t routinely fall in love on the subway, I am a careful observer of other people’s clothing and choice of reading material. Something along the lines of “This morning on the Q train. You: bespectacled man reading Kafka. Me: brunette in yellow blouse. I just wanted you to know I liked your bowtie”. It might be a nice way to give back to a website that has provided me with countless hours of entertainment.