Why We MOG
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Artist:
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Album:Greatest Hits So Far
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Track:
The other day, someone I know – a working actor - asked me if I was on Facebook or MySpace. I said no. When it comes to social networking sites, it’s just MOG for me. He was particularly adamant about a Facebook profile being beneficial to my Hollywood business. “Contacts, man!” he crowed. “It’ll help you get out there.” As if I’m not in-your-face enough.Meanwhile, a young woman friend of mine was so sick of tending and policing and fussing with her MySpace page – and eager to stop wasting so much time on it - that she decided to shut it down, only to find that MySpace wouldn’t let her. She had changed her e-mail since she first posted her page, and she couldn’t convince the MySpace machine that she was who she said she was. Sure, she could continue to log in, put up photos, stream music, wax lyrical about her life, message “friends” and e-flirt by using her password. She just couldn’t delete the page. So she did what she thought would be the next best thing: She convinced someone she trusted to change the password on her MySpace account and never reveal it. Thus, she’ll never be able to access the thing again. (She could have first eliminated all the content and left it an empty cyber-shell. She didn’t, and it now exists as a ghost page.)Why is MOG so different from these other online communities? Why be here, rather than there? It’s pretty obvious to me. MOG isn’t about making friends, advancing one’s career, or buying and selling things – although all of that can and does happen through the site. Sure, it’s been a real treat to meet and interact with my fellow MOGgers, and business can result. But we are primarily and proactively interested in an exchange of info and culture – particularly in the realm of music. And MOG was conceived and built and is continually modified to allow us to share our love of and for music and to address anything that’s a corollary to that passion. When we blog, stream songs, embed videos or post photos, we’re usually doing it for the sake of art - not commerce, not self-aggrandizement.I’m gleeful to be a part of a cooperative where it’s de rigueur to introduce new artists and old, and to swap ideas and anecdotes – with the goal of thrilling to the magic of great and timeless music. Facebook? MySpace? All wrapped up in public image, even when profiles are set to private. Meanwhile, there’s an alternative.So why do you MOG?
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MOG it up!
Comments (65)
Real friendship is hard work, sacred almost, and people shouldn't bestow it on online relationships so readily. That's why I concur with your honesty about not coming here for the friends. That will happen naturally, if it happens at all. It shouldn't be the main focus. I blog because I'm want to entertain and share music I like...and learn something (a lot as it turns out) along the way. Top post, Mike.
I MOG because opinions can't be arrived at by logic -- so it's great fun to see how close you can come.
FluxCapacitor: We're on the same page - this one! Thanks!
zarpex: Logic? Highly overrated! ;-)
i LOVE the idea of Barbarella and the Doctor having MOG pages! i wonder what kind of music they would share?!
molli: The music of the spheres. What else? (O.K. Maybe Spacemen 3, Rocket From the Crypt and Galactic...)
well I missed this post because of some of the Issues That Will No Longer Be Named, because they are History, but I could have written most of those responses. You can essentially combine Spike's, Cody's and fistula's comments and that would be my thoughts. I've said this elsewhere, probably, but it's something about the unique combination of people who breathe music and this place. I think it's because people who breathe music can't really be ugly or fake to each other, because when you find someone who gets that exact same song that means the whole world to you, that's about as naked as it gets, it's more naked than sex, it's the inside of your brain and your heart and your soul, and when you see that part of someone else, you could never be ugly to them again.
If we could all connect in this way, there would be no more war; it's the thing all great artists understand.
Okay, enough new age shit from me for one month.
I wish I joined a few days earlier so I could have been original in my answer for why I MOG.
But alas, all my reasons were taken. The Music is #1, then the people. I've been a member for just a little over a week now and I can tell that I'm going to enjoy it here. Already I have almost DOUBLED my music catalog, all for suggestions by all the wonderful MOGGERS.
As an artist, I look to this site to expand my knowledge about my 'collegues' and to maybe promote myself, but that probably won't happen because self-promotion on a site like this is a bit offensive. (I mean, I don't think people would like it if I were to say, "HEY LOOK AT ME AINT I GGGGRRREEAAAATTT??)
People here respect music and I like that a lot. Finally I have a place where I feel like i have the freedom to say what I want/need/feel.
On sites like the myspaces and facebooks, I feel restricted in what I can say, mostly because you can get a lot of crap for giving your opinion.
I know from experience.
My point is even though I don't know anyone here yet, I still feel a sense of welcome- like my ideas and views are important. That's something I haven't found anywhere else.
Mike, I MOG cause I like hanging with you chumps. Most if not all of you guys are good people. We roll like donuts.
mktackabery: Glad you did drop by, Michelle. Site hiccups notwithstanding, it's such a dream to be in contact with smart people that are moved by superior sounds. I don't even mind being in the e-company of those naive souls who don't like exactly what I like and don't share all of my beliefs. ;-)
trend: Welcome aboard! Just so's you know, this thread wasn't a competition. You're right on time. Your reasons for being here are your reasons, no matter when or if they're stated. But most of us are open to any and all of your suggestions/opinions/contributions, and I'm heartened that you consider your time here well spent.
i am: Back atcha! (Mmmmm...donuts!)
Out of all the music sites where I blog, I feel more intimacy with music fanatics who know how to express themselves in the written word. I am more inclined to buy an album that I read about here than anywhere else on the web for the passion about the artist is evident through the writer.
Through Mog.com, I have learned a lot about myself and how the majority of the individuals I interact here on mog are open minded and willing to learn from one another. I do not feel that same congeniality on the other websites.
I have myspace, facebook, last.fm, fuzz.com and even a main blog but I tend to think on a more layered dimension here than when I am on the other music networking sites.
Myspace at times gets extremely dull for me because people push selling their music but they fail to get to know their fan base in exception for a few artists.
Hopefully, Mog.com will continue to grow for all the unique voices expand my musical tastes.
SerenityLife: Nicely put! I'm hopeful that this place will continue to enhance my relationships with music, the artists that make it, and the members of the MOG community. It's doing a bang-up job so far.
I just came to learn more about music, since I have very little worth contributing. Little did I know that I would find the quality of people that I have found.
MOG, warts and all, is a godsend.
all juice, no grail. that was me before mog, in regard to my geography and thus shortage of like-minded acquaintances as well as room to air good local music left unheard by the world at large.
ps- neither the need to complete a post with a track easily downloadable online or simply wanting to get a song for my own pleasure can convince me to join MySpace. everytime i have to visit a page from that site, i get a migraine. MySpace's idea of a "hodgepodge" or "buffet" of creativity must make de Kooning or Pollock turn in his grave.
thanks for asking. (:
seriously, i'm relatively new to mog, and the people are great. seriously, there's big love in the mog-o-sphere. you can go everywhere else for the snarkies.
<3
Scotch: Your presence and reflections are contribution enough. But warts? Where?
poebegone: The buffet table is overloaded at MOG, n'est-ce pas? Tasty stuff, too. Go, go, poe!
dangerdot: But seriously, what of my snark? (Love u 2!)
it all started simply for me... I MOGged because it was a place where I knew I'd find other music junkies who would educate me on the music out there I don't know & to talk about the music loves we share.
It became so much more than that - as my sisterlicious Amber said above - it's now the people that REALLY keep me here - the music is awesome, the intros are fantastic - but the people I've met either in person or here, that's what MOG means to me !!!
Ah, Lizzie! Wondered if you were gonna check in. I guess it's like quibbling over whether a scalp massage or a shoulder massage is better. I enjoy both equally. Music, cool people, cool people who love music...
Good is good, no?
exactament my good sir... that is it exactly & exstatically ;)
(if I can't spell it's cuz I had some wine & I choose not to spellcheck but my computer will love me no matter what) !!!
Forgive my length in time getting to you - I was one sick pup once again !!!
No prob. Just glad that you're up to snuff again, Lizzie.
I have a myspace and a facebook page. Facebook is for keeping up with old acquaintances, while myspace, well myspace I truly only use for promoting my music, which, right now, isn't that good anyways. I actually only used Myspace originally because Facebook would only allow college students to use it's services. I dislike Myspace.
I love mog because, like you said Mike, there is no social image people are trying to maintain. We live and breathe, eat and *&$@ music and that's what makes Mog fun!
I'll say!