Perhaps it is a human flaw, a fatal one. You drive by an accident and are addicted to seeing the crash. You watch the News to see who killed who and for whatever reason on God's Somewhat-Green Earth they could do such a thing. Read the 'Inquirer' and you want to see the title, "Brad Pitt Has Michael Jackson's Love-Child.'
There may be no better way to measure this B.S. than our own Back Yard. If it is controversial in any nature, it gets attention. That folks, is a cold & hard fact. Active-Rain is no different than life itself, if there is a train wreck, we all want to be involved in seeing it.
I got yet another email late Friday, from somebody in AR who is on the mortgage side of things. They told me I should write more Real-Estate Driven Material. I'll address that in a moment.
If you want an idea on how things work, on how everything is sculpted and melted into our minds, there is no other place to start....Than The Media! Example, there is a gentlemen who works in our building selling and financing Mobile Homes. He pretty much has the market cornered at this point. His mouth runs like a duck's behind, yet I'm always willing to listen. He came up to me the other day and put his hand on my shoulder, "How are you guys doing?"
I peered at his palm on my shoulder and then looked him in his very eyes, "No immediate complaints man! How are things going with you?"
"Great, I'm making money hand over fist...it's amazing. I was worried about you guys though."
"Why were you worried about us?" I asked.....
"Well, I heard about that big lender going out of business, going bankrupt."
"What lender are you speaking of man?"
"I don't know, they are big and hold my mortgage."
Call it a fleeting guess but for some reason I knew exactly what lender he was referring too.
"Do you mean Countrywide?"
"Yeah, that's it, the ones who went bankrupt, I read it weeks ago."
Ok, most of what I have just written is as verbatim as it comes. The guy I was speaking with is a pretty wealthy chap and has been, in his own right, in the financing industry for quite some time. I thought to myself how greatly the media's output affects what's input into everybody's minds. While I don't think the guy I'm speaking of is the sharpest 80 pound Crossbow Pistol in the world, it says much about how people interpret the media that sometimes defines us. The Media is Business, Bad News is Good For Their Business. Even if they have to embellish it to a level to sell more press, accurate or not. They figured out, long ago, that Controversy Creates Cash.
Active-Rain, on a similar note, is just as susceptible to this. It goes back to the human flaw thing. When a cat fight breaks out at Michael Vick's humble abode, people react. (Especially the Dogs). They just do. It's human nature that when the proverbial crap hits, or seems like it is on the way, to hit the fan, people Stay Tuned. If you want comments on your post, be controversial! It may not garner you RESPECT, but you just may have the 15 minutes of fame everyone seems to be seeking.
In closing (My English Teacher In College Hated Using That Term...Ever), I'll go back to the email I received, once again. Let this be known, throughout the winds and airs of Active-Rain and the Internet itself. You wanna know why I don't write Hard-Core Real Estate Stuff more often? Because I am who I freaking am!!! That's why. I write whatever it is I do. I can and will write Hard-Core Real Estate info at will, but I won't unless I choose too. While Active-Rain is brilliant in the concept of providing Real Estate Information to consumers everywhere, it's also brilliant on another level. You get to know the people behind the Profession, you get to experience some of the best writers on earth...
So, you wanna know why I don't devote every waking second to writing soley about Real Estate? I live life muchacho, how about I write about that...Real Estate is just a portion of what's going on...
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