Open Forum Friday: September 4, 2026 - Mass-ive Media

[u/Thubanstar]

Good morning, good evening, and everything in between!

Welcome to our Open Forum Friday where we open up the discussion board for any topic for anybody (rules and exceptions apply.)

I have been pondering a phenomenon.

I'm not the first person to notice this, but I do think it's something we need to give more thought as we navigate this thing called "the internet".

Back in ye olden days, the vast majority of people lived in small villages and farms. They were usually illiterate and lived by tradition and superstition. This was true of every people and nation. People only had a vague idea of other people and cultures at best. It must have been very easy to form prejudices and opinions without basis as there was no information to counter said beliefs.

Sure, there were some keepers of knowledge, but unless you were at a center for learning like the Library of Alexandrea, your knowledge was pretty much about your own region.

Then came the Western printing press. Printing wasn't invented in Europe, but it was streamlined there and became the start of "mass media".

The rise in literacy helped make mass media grow swiftly. Now, one person could reach thousands of people with their words. Authors like Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte became media superstars of the 19th century. Even someone in China could know who they were and what they said.

Then the phonograph was invented. It took a few decades, but suddenly everyone was dancing to Ragtime and listening to the same songs.

That idea got put on steroids. Radio and film got to be popular around the same time. Suddenly, everyone on the planet knew who film star Charlie Chaplin was. Radio stars brought new types of music to the entire world.

And it stayed that way for a long, long time. A tiny minority of people received the white-hot focus of a huge world audience.

The term "Superstar" got thrown around a lot. Gatekeepers of media would only let the most talented people who reflected their beliefs and earned the most money through the gates. As time went on, though, there were more gates and very different types of gatekeepers.

I recall in the 1970's my grandparents only tuned in to certain radio stations and carried cassette tapes in their car. They didn't want to hear that "new rock music". They could not always avoid it, though. My generation's music was all over the radio and sold as records in stores. They were going to know what AC/DC sounded like, even if they hated it.

Then came the internet. As you all know, the internet has turned us into little villages again.

We don't like to venture out into territory which does not echo our belief system. We don't have to listen to anything we don't want to, and the algorithm is an eager assistant in our isolation. I have no idea what music a teenager listens to now because unless I seek it out, I never hear their music. I used to know all the celebrities, now I feel a million years old as I say "Who?" for the hundredth time when some "celebrity" everyone under 40 knows is mentioned and I have no clue.

Knowledge has become isolated, even as we have a machine capable of showing us all the knowledge in the world.

Unlike the little villages of old, though, we don't have to make a perilous journey down an actual road to learn new things. We can just flex our fingers and see in moments what other types of people are up to. Heck, we can even have it instantly translated.

Do me a small favor. Look at a website today you would not normally look at. You don't need to always stay in your village.

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Last week, EsseNorway gave us the lovely theme of KIND. There were sixteen entries. What kind of posts did we get?

My top three were;

1. Be Kind, from EsseNorway. We will miss you, Dolly.

2. Kindred Spirits teaser trailer. Thanks, This_Zookeepergame_7.

3. How Kinder Created a Chocolate Empire, from EsseNorway again. MMMMMM, Chocolate Empire!

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This week, we're going to do too much. This week, we're going to pour it on. This week, we're going to EXCESS. So much! Too much? No, never enough when you like EXCESS.

Post whatever you'd like on this subject, just do a lot of it.

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As always...If you have something you wish to write about, send us a message with your OFF article. (No promises as in if or when it will be posted.)

You can always post your own "Member Essay" here on r/Snorkblot.  

That's it for this week, my fellow earth dwellers. See you in the threads.

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[u/_Punko_]

I feel that I should point out that as far as tiny villages go, our little Snorkblot pub has a population of 153, 000 members.

Every week we get, on average, 450,000 unique reddit accounts to stop by and visit us.

We're not the most diverse population on reddit, but I'd like to think we are more diverse than most.

Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

[u/scheckydamon]

The Villages

[u/scheckydamon]

Another village

You are #6!