The Census: The Unwritten Rules of Texting

#shoutout to Mashable for the interviews in Union Square...

We all text. Don't deny it. Since the advent of the smartphone (ie: Blackberries, Palms, iPhones, etc.) a few years back, texting has become almost ubiquitous. My mother texts me now (can't get my pops into it) and I don't think it's weird. Hell, I'm texting someone right now as I write this post. People have become so used to texting that phone conversation has taken somewhat of a backburner to rapid-fire fingers and day-long texting conversations. With such a reliance on the relatively new technology (the first text was send in December 1992), it stands to ask what the normal etiquette for texting is. The fact of the matter is, that with every type of communication comes a set of do's and don'ts that informally govern that communication's use. For the traditional house phone, I know if you called my home after 9 (and weren't an immediate family member, or in grave danger) you would be getting an earful. When it comes to e-mail, you generally want to be professional with people you don't know and can loosen up with friends. Communication and its different modes bring up entirely new issues than just the inception of them. So, this week the census question is, what are your unwritten rules for text messaging? Are there certain things that can be done with texting and others that you wouldn't touch with a text? What would turn you off from texting someone? As with the Census, all you guys gotta do is comment below and let the discussion begin!!

The Census: No One Man Should Have All That Power

PREAMBLE: For those of you who haven't been following the blog since last year, I had a section on it called 'The Census'. The premise behind it was that I would present an issue, then pose a question in a poll, where you, the readers would have the opportunity to vote on it for a week. Unfortunately, the voting got a little sparse, so I canned it... Until now. The Census is back, but now, rather than voting on it, I simply implore you, friends, to chime in in the comments section. One of the reasons I started Dear Whoever was to have an open forum for dialogue on what's going on in the world today. Some of that dialogue takes place through my letters, but I would love it if my readers got some time to voice their opinions. So here goes... This is the first round of the new, kinda improved, Census. Enjoy folks...



I guess the title is a little misleading, considering Justin Bieber is merely a teenager (didn't stop the Power Rangers, though). At the same time, he's not exempt from the rules that govern the social media frenzy that has everyone glued to their computers and phones now. And while we're on the topic of being glue to one's phone, please take a look below to see the kind of influence and power that we give to one man. Justin Bieber retaliated against a failed Twitter hack by tweeting that person's phone number to his 4.5 million fans (source). The fan, Detroit teen Kevin Kristopik, went on to receive over 26,000 texts ranging from laughter to outright hate. His cell phone bill is estimated to be upwards of $5000, given he doesn't have unlimited texting. Cell phone fees aside, is this the kind of society that we live in? Do the frivolities of celebrities enamor us that much that we kowtow to their every beck and call. Truthfully, what did any of those 26,000 text messages do for the people that weren't Justin Bieber. My guess is little to nothing. So I suppose the question is, how did we allow someone to gain that type of influence over people? The same thing happened to the 'chosen one,' a random Twitter user that Kanye West decided to follow. Steven Holmes had to delete his Twitter to get away from the promoters, social media hawks and random bystanders contacting him because of some supposed 'relationship' he had with Kanye. Is it just me or has social networking gotten a little too crazy?

That's what happens to your phone when you mess with Justin Bieber's Twitter...


So tell me people, where do you stand on the power of social media and how much influence we place in the hands of celebrities through that medium? Do we give stars too much pull in our lives? How is it that Justin Bieber can get thousands of fan(atics) to barrage a phone and Kanye can cause a person's social networking experience to crumble? Where do we draw the line between harmless online fun, and jeer-worthy groupthink? Please, please, please throw some comments below. I'd love to hear what you guys think!

The Census: Nuyorican Mural = Ghetto???

My homie Sherine sent this to me in a Facebook message, and I had to take notice. If you happened to be in Times Square recently, you may have seen a mural emblazoned on the side of some awning-laced building. The mural depicts numerous Black and Hispanic women in various stages of undress, adorned with long nails and the Nuyorican style so prevalent in the Bronx (my hometown), and the rest of New York City. As beautiful as the work is, it's drawing stark criticism for it's portrayal of women as 'ghetto'...

Now, I, for one, take my etymology very seriously. By that virtue, I felt it necessary to look up and properly define the word 'ghetto'.

via Dictionary.com: ghetto - a section of a city, esp. a thickly populated slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group

That's a noun... A noun that's been transformed into an adjective describing anything negative or degenerate originating from the area defined above. That said, is the mural 'ghetto'? In fact, is the mural portraying something negative? Honestly, I'd say no. The Nuyorican culture in NYC is one that's oft referenced in hip-hop and poetry. While the portrayal may seem crude and sexist to an outsider (which most of the people in Times Square seeing the mural are), to the average New Yorker, the mural is synonymous with an aspect of New York culture. The person saying that the women should be carrying 'briefcases' seems to have a ridiculously limited scope of what constitutes a 'positive' portrayal of women. The placement may be misguided, but the art itself is beautiful. That's neither here nor there, though. Readers, what do you think about the mural?? Is it 'ghetto' or are the critics ignoring the rich Nuyorican culture and history? PLEASE, chime in in the comments section below, and let me know what you think. This is the new and improved Census...

The Census (7/15 7/26): Debriefing Session

Okayyyyyy. So we have our final results for the long-ass, 2 week Census question. I'm gonna cut straight to the chase.

Which name is better?
Dear Whoever 85%

The Mailman Came 14%

Obviously, the winner by a landslide is Dear Whoever. A few people commented, saying that The Mailman Came is unique and personal, but the majority of you guys tended to go with the simplicity of Dear Whoever. With that said, Dear Whoever (feels good to say that) will have a new domain name in the near future. Make sure that you keep your eyes peeled for updates. I really, really, really appreciate the votes, the comments and the love you guys show my blog. I hope you enjoy reading it, because I enjoy writing it. Keep the word out there that heads need to open their mailboxes, because Dear Whoever is here to stay!!!

The Census (7/15 - 7/26)

Okay, I usually don't care about logistical shit like this, just because I think content should reign supreme on any blog. However, I've seen my blog gain a lot of new viewers as of late, and I want it to be easily accessible to even newer viewers, as well as make it easier to find for the rest of y'all. Also, it's kind of confusing when I tell heads my blog is called Dear Whoever, but that the url is themailmancame.blogspot.com. That said, I'm getting a new domain name for Dear Whoever (or The Mailman Came), and I need you guys to let me know what you think. Until Sunday, July 26th at 11:59 PM The Census will be devoted to this issue. Obviously, there won't be any other Census polls until after that. The Census question is as follows:

Which name is better?
Dear Whoever
or
The Mailman Came

You can vote in this Census at the bar under the big letters saying "DEAR WHOEVER". In all honesty, this means the world to the future of this blog, so please VOTE, and if you have any suggestions, comments or other random shit you wanna say, PLEASE comment on this post or shoot me an e-mail. Thanks for reading Dear Whoever, people. I hope you enjoy it, because I enjoy writing it...

The Census (7/14 - 7/20)

It's about this time of year, as a sports fan, that I start going insane. The basketball season, college and pro, has ended and summer league games are hardly televised, while the football and soccer seasons are months away. This leaves me with baseball, a sport that has a weird place in many sports fans' hearts. While I can enjoy baseball, its around this time that baseball's coverage becomes excessive and I feel like I watch Baseball Tonight at least four times a night. It's for this reason I bring up the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Weekend. The MLB's perennial power contest, which has been marred for some years by the steroids era, happened last night, with Prince Fielder winning. The Prince jacked (pause) six 400-foot bombs to win it over Nelson Cruz. With that said, what's the deal with the All-Star Weekend? Besides setting up homefield advantage in the World Series and being a popularity contest, is it even worth watching or even worth having? Here's this week's Census question:

Is the MLB All-Star Week live or lame?

- Live!! I never knew balls getting hit over a fence could be so dope!!!
- Lame!! I'd rather rock some roids myself than watch the most boring sport in the world...

Vote at the panel at the top of the page, and let your voice be heard!!

The Census: Debriefing Session (7/13 -7/20)

Hey what's up people, the results are in from last week's Census and we know who's computer literate and who isn't:

Are the traditional media outlets (print, news channel, radio) losing their ground to the new age of media (blogs, Twitter, etc)?

Hell yeah!!! Who reads the newspaper anymore? Better yet, who even watches CNN? 75%

Nahh!!! You can't trust muckrakers, especially ones without Ivy League degrees. 25%

Obviously, the death of Michael Jackson shouldn't incite worldwide dialogue about the power of the new media guard on the web. However, such is the case. When Twitter essentially shut down on that Thursday, it was clear how much of an impact that the social media network could wield. The same goes for any of the social media outlets (Facebook, bloggers, Stumbleupon), where the power of the now and the unabashed contact with peers is starting to become more wieldy than traditional, stagnant news media. What needs to be done now, is that the new media needs a way to regulate itself, in a way that makes sure the truth always comes out, but that collateral damage is at a minimum. You can read another article on the impact of new social media (especially on young people) here. I think Twitter is here to stay (at least until some new ish comes out), and will thrive until people start doing this:

The Census (7/6 - 7/13)

Hey people, sorry this week's Census is a little late. I had some birthday festivities to attend yesterday, so bear with me. Anyways, this week's Census is a go:



Two weeks ago, the illness, and subsequent death of Michael Jackson caused a huge uproar in the media world. While some heard of the incident via The Media Zone (TMZ), which quickly transferred to Twitter, others waited on the official word from media outlets such as CNN and the New York Times. Throughout the whole wait for official word, media purists touted the lack of validity that TMZ supposedly had, alluding to numerous stories on the website that may have been shunned by other outlets. However, TMZ dropped the story about an hour before the rest of the media even knew of the story, much less could confirm Jackson's death. That said, the question of the week is:

Are the traditional media outlets (print, news channel, radio) losing their ground to the new age of media (blogs, Twitter, etc)?

Hell yeah!!! Who reads the newspaper anymore? Better yet, who even watches CNN?
Nahh!!! You can't trust muckrakers, especially ones without Ivy League degrees.

Vote in this week's Census (it'll be up a little longer because of the delay) and let your voice be heard!!!

The Census: Debriefing Session (6/30 - 7/6)

The results from last week's Census are in!!! Check the suffrage:

Is Drake signing to Young Money a good or bad look?

GOOD!!! Drake wants the money, cars, clothes, and hoes, but better hyped to switch his name up to Drizzy F. Drake to honor his new CEO...
30%

BAD!!! He's going for the independent vibe, but he's signed. That has contract litigation written all over it...
69%

Well, it seems like you guys don't dig the whole signing to YM thing. I feel like at this point, it doesn't matter where Drake signs. Because he's gotten so far in the business by himself, he has a hefty amount of bargaining chips on the table, and a whole lot of pull in terms of where his career goes. While I commend him for trying to stay independent, I feel like major labels will always find a way to make the artist pay, whether by influencing its direction, pushing it back with litigation or logistics, or just not promoting it in the way it should. So really, he has a distinct set of challenges ahead of him as an 'independent' artist. He won't have to worry about distribution, but better make sure his shit is good or else both Universal and Young Money will have some words for Drizzy Drake...


Stick with me, and I'll make you almost as big as Memphis Bleek!!

The Census: Debriefing Session

The results from last week's Census are in!! You guys are finally exercising your right to vote out here:

Are the Iranian election results fair or not?
Yes 14%
No 85%

From the votes, it's obvious you guys don't trust the Iranian government's coverage and handling of their general elections. To tell you the truth, I don't either. I feel like if there is such a dispute and a government wants to keep its dignity, revealing and explaining the election results could only help its credibility. All that the violence, secrets and shielding of the results are doing is making the Iranian government look more and more guilty of altering the voting in some way. If they were to come clean with everything, there would not only be a more peaceful resolution to be had, but the rightful leader would emerge. Although far-fetched such an occurrence would be a welcome one, especially if the U.S. doesn't have to get involved. Regardless of the results, I hope the violence stops soon...


Fair and square winner, or totalitarian cheater??

The Census (6/29 - 7/6)

Well, the wait is over: After weeks of speculation, Drake has chosen to go with the home team and sign with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Records, according to a source close to the situation. The deal breaks down as a joint venture between Young Money and Cash Money, with Universal Republic distributing. Drake’s management was adamant that he should be viewed as an independent artist, although Universal will distribute the project.

It's official. Drake has signed to Young Money Records, in what was one of the most vicious bidding wars in rap. Atlantic, Universal Motown, Warner Music Group all reportedly put $2 million up front to sign the Toronto rapper. Yet all that is moot now that Drizzy Drake is now labelmates with Weezy F, who some say has influenced the direction of his music since collaborating with him in 2008. With that said, here's this weeks Census question:

Is Drake signing to Young Money a good or bad look?

GOOD!!! Drake wants the money, cars, clothes, and hoes, but better hyped to switch his name up to Drizzy F. Drake to honor his new CEO...

BAD!!! He's going for the independent vibe, but he's signed. That has contract litigation written all over it...

Vote in the Census in the tab above and let me know how you feel. Lord knows we need to do something to rinse our ears of "Best I Ever Had"...

The Census (6/22 - 6/29)

What's up people? We got this week's Census on deck, and its pretty serious. I want to see more votes and some comments talking about it. At Dear Whoever, it's not just about sneakers, music and the such. We dabble in world issues, and this week's Census is on that par. Holla:


A Mousavi supporter being sprayed with tear gas...

Unless you've either been living under a boulder, don't have a Twitter or are just plain ig'nant, you've heard about the Iranian elections and the violent protests against its results. With reports coming in that over 3 million of the record 40 million votes were fabricated (via NY Times), supporters of the supposedly-defeated Mir Hossein Mousavi have been taking to the streets for the past week and a half, engaging in numerous scuffles with not only supporters of the incumbent winner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but also riot police and a guerilla military group called the Basij. The Iranian government, amid these new reports has been attempting to silence the protesters, who have become increasingly dependent on technology such as Twitter, SMS messaging and Facebook to organize their protests. The confrontations and the government's silence up until now have made the results seem all the more disreputable. With that said, Dear Whoever readers, here's the Census question for the week (the answers are simple too, so everyone should vote):

Are the Iranian election results fair or not?
Yes.
No.
It's too early to tell.

Make sure you vote in the tab below Dear Whoever's title, and put your two cents in by commenting on this post. The poll will be up until next Monday and we'll be debriefing this heavily, especially with news coming in every day about the election. Step your suffrage up, people!!!

The Census: Debriefing Session (6/15-6/22)

What's up people? This past week's Census results are in!!!

Fuck yeah!!! I'm about to go cop some new G-Unit gear now!!! 0%
No. Power of the Dollar was better anyways... 100%

It seems like you guys really, really, really hate the new 50 Cent. Your utter lack of respect for Curtis is evident in the landslide voting this week. Honestly, I agree my damn self. The new mixtape, while it had its moments, really didn't impress, and left me feeling like Curtis was still trying to hearken back to his pre-beef mongering days. The funny thing is, we still have no earthly clue when Till I Self Destruct is coming out, while 50's arch-nemesis Ross is sitting pretty with a Gold album worldwide and eating crab meats. 50, what's the dilly? Are the Dear Whoever readers right about you? Whatever the case, 50 looks like he's gonna take a hit in album sales, considering how lame the first single off "War Angel" was.


Dude better hold on to every stack he has with the looks of that mixtape...

The Census (6/15 - 6/22)

So, we had a few technical difficulties this morning, which kept us from putting out this week's Census. Bear with us though. Shit will be better soon!!



50 Cent - Redrum

If you've been following the blogosphere lately, you know that 50 is coming out with a new LP called "War Angel," one of his first mixtapes in years. His ideals look lofty judging by the cover and how hard he came with the first single "Redrum" (doesn't mean the song is good, he just promoted). With that said, our question for this is clear: Will 50 be able to get back to his "Get Rich or Die Tryin" days? Will the pride (and curse) of South Side Jamaica Queens shed the Vitamin Water and failed MTV show failures and get back to that ol' gangsta shit that made everyone bump GRODT like it was family reunion music? Vote in this week's census and let me know what you think!!!! Make sure you peep the D/L link for the mixtape below (I'll post it later, since 50 is on CP time), the updated tracklist and a cut of the first single from it:

The Census (6/8 - 6/15 Debriefing Session)

Well, well, well. I guess you guys are beginning to like the idea of suffrage because we got a few more votes for this week's census. But the results are in, and I can't say that I don't agree:

Fuck Jay-Z!!! I'm working on my remix to "Buy U a Drank" right now!!! 54%
Fuck all these Parliament wannabe's!!! 45%

With the advent of Jay-Z's "Death of Autotune," the auto-tune era seemed to be on its way out. However, there's been a lot of backlash to Jigga's movement. Artists like Jim Jones (well, he hates everything Jay does) have been speaking out, saying that one man doesn't have the clout to just kill a fad (yes, it is a fad; things that are here to stay don't reappear every 20 years). I tend to agree with Jimmy on this one, as do you guys. While some of the music (coughroncoughcoughbrowz) has been less than stellar, a lot has been eye-opening to say the least. It gives way to new vocal styles and a much less stagnant sound for a lot of artists. Is it really right do dismiss autotune and make the users out to be one hit wonders? At least we know one artist who's made a career out of it:


T-Pain is eating... literally

The Census (6/8-6/15)

ATTENTION ALL RAPPERS: DO NOT REMIX THIS SONG!!! Wait, too late. Less than a week after the original came out, AZ had to be the first to remix "Death of Autotune," the song that everyone's talking about. How many different remixes do you think are gonna come out on this one? Or better yet, do you think that this song will change anything at all? That's the question for this week's census. Will autotune die? Will the phenomena that made T-Pain a millionaire, Kanye a homosexual for a few months, and Ron Browz into a one-hit wonder finally be put to rest? Vote in this week's Census in the bar above this post and let me know what you think!!! Hey, if you're feeling extra froggy, maybe you can write a comment and really say what you want about the craze that people love to hate, but love to listen to. Oh yeah, and peep AZ's remix to "Death of Autotune," because we all know imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (coughcougheverybodycoughcopiedcoughT-Paincoughcough)...

AZ - Death of Autotune (Remix)

The Census (6/1 - 6/8 Debriefing Session)

Alrighty, so we got another week of the Census in the books and you guys officially SUCK at voting. No, I'm serious. You guys really made me wonder whether you can actually read, especially since this was such an easy question. Even chicks should have been able to throw their 2 cents in. But that's neither here nor there. We gotta keep grinding. Here's the Debriefing Session for last week's Census:

Kobe and the Lakers 42%
Dwight and the Magic 28%
David Stern's Wallet 0%
ESPN's Wallet 28%

So, the few of you that did vote made it clear. Y'all think Kobe and his boys are gonna be the ultimate winners this Finals. After last night's heartbreaker, it's hard to see the Magic coming back, much less winning a game. They must have had four or five solid chances to put the game away (ahem Courtney Lee, you suck) and then, I guess their bench was so thin that they were turning to JJ Redick (aka the worst all-time ACC scoring leader to come to the NBA) for clutch plays down the stretch and in overtime. I hate to say it, but Stan Van Gundy has been fucking up and Dwight Howard's been playing like the bitch we all know he is. Wrap this one up fellas. I'll leave you with this image to sum up what Orlando is probably looking like going into Game 3 and probably a 3-0 hole:


JJ's asleep, Courtney's peepin the Laker girls, and Dwight is his usual bitch-ass self...

The Census (6/1 - 6/8)

That was while ago, but still... I guess that's why Dwight's so comfortable letting Nate Robinson jump over him...

Hey, hey, hey people!!! It's time for this week's census. With LeBron storming off the court last Saturday and the Nuggets bowing out without a peep after Game 4, the 2009 NBA Finals are set. Who do you guys think is gonna win the 2009 NBA Finals, which tip off this Thursday. Will it be the Lakers and Kobe, finally cementing a prestigious, yet controversial legacy as one of the league's best? Will it be the Magic and Dwight Howard, placing himself at the top of the ranks as the best big man in the league for the next decade. Will the wallets and financial aspirations of David Stern prevail, having lost one of the stars he hoped to tout this year in LeBron? Or will ESPN, the corporate giant, profit from the Finals being exclusively aired on ABC and ESPN, coincidentally in Los Angeles and Orlando, the two cities where Disney, the owner of both companies, resides? Let me know what you think by voting at the top of the page! Voting starts now and will continue until the 8th. You can send comments or explain your vote below. For now, though peep some highlights from both squads. Maybe they'll swing your votes:




Put the music on mute for this one...

The Census (5/25 - 6/1 Debrief)

Okay people so the first Census from Dear Whoever is officially in the books and we have a winner for our question: Is the 'blog era' is helping or hurting hip-hop? The results are:

Hell no!!! I've never been able to steal more music in my life!!! 75%
Hell yeah!!! Fuck these nut-hugger wearing, computer geek, backpacker bastards!!! 25%
What's a blog? 0%


So basically, most of you guys thought that the "blog era" is a good look for hip-hop. It's making the hip-hop world a lot smaller, with little left to the whims of big media. Artists are more accessible than ever and their movements and actions are now able to be scrutinized more than ever. Also, the blog era is making it easier, or better yet opening new avenues, for artists to break into the industry. While the up-and-coming artist from the 80's had local buzz to go off of, the up-and-comer of today can reach a wider audience, and control their image (unless they get snuffed by ex-girlfriends and beat in live freestyle battles). The blogs have become the the unofficial source of dissemination of the juicy details of the hip-hop world, once shrouded by overbearing record labels. In closing, the blog era is ushering in a new age in releasing music. Sites like zShare, Megaupload and Rapidshare are teeming with millions of downloads from artists of the blog era. Also, digital album releases have started to become a norm, with veterans like Joe Budden and Royce da 5'9" joining newcomers like Curren$y in the digital avenue. Though the blog era has somewhat put the gritty, thuggish MC on the backburner, some artists like Styles, Maino and Cory Gunz are segueing street fame into blog fame. This is a welcome sight, especially in light of older heads criticizing blog-supporters for the loss of street-level exposure. Whatever the case, the blog era is here and seems to be growing faster and faster every day. Peep the sidebar to the left to see some of the blogs that Dear Whoever recommends...

The Census

What's good people? Here at Dear Whoever, we're quite the ones for free speech. That's why we want to know what you think. With that said there's a new segment on Dear Whoever called The Census. Every week, we'll ask a question, and you, the readers can answer that question at the top of the page for 7 days. At the beginning of every week, we'll show the results from the last poll, debrief (yeah, nigga. US Dept. of Labor style!!!), and introduce the next weeks poll. Without further ado, the Census:


Has the 'blog era' changed the rapper and the rap fan into that??

Grandmothers worldwide have always said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. I really can't see that happening in hip-hop, where the more things change, the more they become different. As blogs become the forefront of the information age in hip-hop, a lot of old heads (go figure) have lamented at their popularity, claiming they're leading to 'everybody and they mama' trying to rap or blog, while younger fans love the idea of being connected electronically to their favorite artists and media outlets. Old heads look at younger fans like that kid who can't put his Game Boy down to play basketball outside, while younger fans look at the old heads as that old guy in the office who doesn't know how to use computers. I can't really say that I hate blogs, because I'm on one right now, but I can agree that EVERYONE has a blog now. Whatever the case, what's your take on it? Vote in the first Census above and let us know what you think: