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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2004)
°^so Computer communities VERSION 2.0 Online experience has evolved to include sites where users can create profiles, network and make new friends BY DAHVI FISCHER PULSE REPORTER Remember the good ol’ days when people were satisfied with the simple privileges of being able to surf the Internet, check e-mail and talk in chat rooms? Times have changed and it appears the Internet has evolved into much more than a simple com munication tool. The latest Internet phenomenon: people building en tirely digital communities. While online communities have been around for quite some time, it wasn’t until recently that these communities became a crucial as pect of many Internet users’ online ex perience. Online communities are Web sites people can join (usually for free) to share pictures, create profiles, network, search for other users and make new friends. University student Stacey Malstrom believes the popularity of these forms of community has a lot to do with the way people live their lives today. “As peoples’ lives get busier, they don’t have the time to go out. ■ Reporter's notebook Buzz's open mic performances prove entertaining, worthwhile Campus readings range in theme from cowboy poetry to grisly imagery BY RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR There is a big difference between liking poetry and liking poetry readings. Poetry is the ultimate form of written expression, using a stark economy of words to define humankind’s innermost emotional states. Still, poetry readings are generally pretentious horse crap, using a wide range of cliches to define a load of meaningless drivel. All forms of per formance art suffer from the same problem. For every piece of great work there are a dozen pale imita tions. Poetry, especially free verse, has it worse off than most other art forms. It is so easy to write awful po etry that the crap tends to flood out the quality work. It probably goes without saying that I went to the open mic poetry reading at the Buzz with a certain lev el of cynicism about the whole event. I came expecting to suffer through the usual amount of bombastic blandness I’ve found at previous open mic per formances, but oddly enough I found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the event. Almost every Monday at 8 p.m. or whenever enough people show up, the Buzz reading features a rotating cast of regular performers from Eu gene’s semi-venerable poetry com munity. The atmosphere is similar to most other poetry readings, only in stead of wine and cheese there is a coffee bar. Phrases were occasional ly punctuated by milk being Jes Painter performed original work of poetry during an open mic night at the Buzz. steamed and creamer being asked for, but otherwise the sound of poet ry dominated. Before the performance began, conversations about radical politics were tire mainstay, though most of , these were hardly worth the trouble of eavesdropping on. When enough people had shown up to justify the whole experience, an enthusiastic emcee took the stage and introduced the first act. A few minutes into the first performance was enough to re mind me why I make fun of these things. Every line dripped with worn out imagery and bland, literal pro nouncements of underdeveloped po litical thought. The poems were not so much poetry as a dull essay on world affairs by an over enthusiastic poli-sci major. POETRY, page 11 These communities are easy ways for people to socialize. Everything nowadays is about accessibility and easibility,” she said. Leung, who is a member of My Space, Thefacebook, Live Journal, Yahoo! 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