Tweet... will you accept this apology?

John Mayer is a celebrity... but recently he is famous for all the wrong reasons. In an interview for the March issue of Playboy, John dished out all kinds of inappropriate information. He began by using the "n-word", as well as telling intimate details of his previous relationships with Jessica Simpson and insulting another former fling, Jennifer Aniston, for her age.

If it wasn't for the internet, however, I doubt Mayer would have had nearly as much of a mess to clean up. After the interview, news sources and everyday joe's like you and I took to the public sphere to express their disgust. This blog explains the situation for those of you who would like to know more.

On Twitter, Mayer has over 3 million followers, many of whom were not too happy with the "star's" remarks. One follower tweeted that Mayer should enter rehab, to which he replied, "they don't make rehab centers for being an a**hole." After the interview came out, Jessica Simpson tweeted, "Interesting day so far... Hmm. At least I am boxing 2-a-days this week." With so much action on Twitter, I guess that's the reason why Mayer felt the need to issue his apology via this social networking site. Of his multiple tweets, they all went something like, "I will never ever say the N-word again." Check it out for yourself to see all of his attempts at reconciliation...

Would you accept a tweeted apology??

Remixing has served as a great example of how the public may utilize their creative voices when discussing a current issue. Here's an example of a remixed YouTube video - this one takes sound bites, pictures, and music from Mayer mixed with some personal touches. Countless other videos have been posted discussing the event and some even reenacting an interview with John Mayer.

It's crazy how much of an impact the public sphere can have on one person's life and reputation - especially that of a celebrity. From remixing compromising statements to tweeting apologies, we have a public sphere that is ready and willing to take on the world.

r-r-r-r-reeeemix

Remixes. They are everywhere. They're a part of our generation. We love them. We dance to the new beats, we sing along, we mash up videos, and in some instances we even create our own.

With the regularity of remixes, it never occurred to me there could be legality issues concerning ownership. However, after watching RiP: A Remix Manifesto, I became concerned. This film brought to light a lot of contemporary issues surrounding remixing - what specifically caught my attention was the downloading of music and also the controversy surrounding the remixing of songs. Girl Talk (who was also featured in the film as an example of "fair use"), one of the most popular mashup artists, has an astounding - and quite frankly frightening - career. I always knew who he was and what he did, but I was not aware that he and his family are literally wondering when he's going to run into trouble. Apparently much of his work is illegal.

There were so many things that came to mind while watching this video. My immediate thoughts surrounded my own life. Being in university, we as students are asked countless times every year to look at the work of others and to create something new from it. I couldn't help but wonder how this is any different than remixing a song or video. In essence, it is the exact same as these research papers - taking the work of others to create something new. I linked this example of how to write a research paper to demonstrate how one of the main steps is to "look for sources of information."

My point here is that I'm scared.

I'm scared about what we truly are allowed to do with our creativity. With so many potential limitations and seemingly harmless people being punished for using the work of others, it is frightening to fathom what the result of other creativity may be. Are budding artists on YouTube supposed to receive permission for covering the songs of their favourite singers? Are bloggers like you and I supposed to receive permission for citing the thoughts of others?

I want to leave you all with one of my favourite current mashups: United State of Pop 2009. DJ Earworm has created mashups of some of the best songs of each year, starting in 2007. This 2009 mashup has received over 12 million hits on YouTube alone. Lets hope he's allowed to create one for 2010; I guess only time will tell...