Here in Bangkok, my students from Asia, Europe, Canada and Africa asked me about things they see trending on Yahoo. I can only do an eye roll and explain...that I can't explain. I can only apologize. And then I explain the eye roll video.
Thanks to Yahoo, I relearned that people can read nonverbal behavior, particularly that of Michelle Obama. I learned that a blogger can draw conclusions about what certain nonverbal behavior is reacting to, though the blogger is utterly ignorant of the context of the reaction.
Video from the inaugural luncheon shows Michelle Obama doing an eye roll after Speaker of the House Boehner says something. We can not hear what the Speaker said. Maybe he was talking basketball and Michelle may be tired of talking basketball. Maybe the Speaker was saying that gays should only be allowed to marry aardvarks. We don't know. But her eye roll video went viral and trended number one on Yahoo. How sad.
I learned a new word today. Photobomb. Bill Clinton can be seen supposedly gawking at Kelly Clarkson during the inauguration. Nice to know Bill Clinton can still recognize a pretty girl when he sees one. And knowing he still knows one when he sees one makes me.....quite shallow, actually.
With all the important things that President Obama said during the inauguration speech, so many are focusing on the trivial. It is easy to understand the trivial. Journalists do not have to analyze and provide context to the trivial. And nobody ever accused Yahoo of challenging its readers to new ideas.
There is so much to talk about as the President laid out his hopes for a second term. And intelligent people can debate those priorities. If such debate is going on, it will not be via Yahoo.
It makes me sad to see what the priorities are of people searching the internet. It is hard for me to explain to my students. Picture me doing an eye roll. Because I am.
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