Now I understand why my music tastes and many attitudes are more like my daughter’s, hehe. Take Pew Research’s “How Millennial are You?” quiz. Find out, if like me, you were born into the wrong […]
Category: Society
Mob Journalism shouldn’t take away an Olympic Gold Medal
As I write, 1.7 million people have signed a Change.org petition to: “Open investigation into judging decisions of Women’s Figure Skating and demand rejudgement at the Sochi Olympics”. The signatories and the news media’s response to them is classic example of “Mob Journalism”, a term first used on this blog in April 2010.
I coined Mob Journalism, or thought so four years ago, to define a populist response that is a social media byproduct. Services like Change.org, Facebook, Twitter, and others with online reach, enable the mob (referring to the masses not the mafia) to have a much louder voice. That’s quickly, too, unlike letter-writing campaigns used by protesters of earlier eras. Rapid response benefits societies, as explained in June 2009 analysis “Iran and the Internet Democracy“. The news media’s response is another matter.
Be a Better Crowdfunder
To date, my Indiegogo campaign for book Be a Better Blogger is a money loser. Costs exceed the pittance of contributions, and I appreciate every one made. Make no mistake, if you contributed—thank you! But with 11 days to go, and the campaign about 1.8 percent funded, absolute failure looms large.
So with little to lose, but more money, I hired one of several crowdfunders that emailed or commented soon after the campaign’s launch. I don’t expect much from the $149 fee, which gets me one hour consultation, press release, PR distribution, journalist outreach, and feed submission (whatever that means). But I did receive important insight, which is more a lesson about interacting with others rather than working alone.
Toxic Reporting
This exceptional report, about distorting Russia, appeared in my social shares last week, and I only had chance to read it today. Particularly looking at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, I agree: U.S. news coverage […]
Darwin is More Evolved Than This
Ten days ago Bill Nye (yeah the Science Guy) debated Christian author Ken Ham about evolution vs creationism. Their live-streamed slugfest is a social media lovehug (for the sharing) and fistfight (for fierce debate). I see posts supporting one or the other, or neither, still several times a day.
Tale of Two Cities
There is no denying that the home of the summer of love is now experiencing a winter of fear and loathing. Rory Carroll Superbly-written take on the revolt around San Francisco against tech giants like […]
Meet Andrew Bell
Meet the artist behind those lovable Android Collectibles and other cool creations from Dead Zebra. I interviewed the extremely likable Andrew Bell during Comic-Con 2012. I shot the previous video, from 2009, using a Sony […]
Tofu the Vegan Zombie
I am in one of my moods, basking in the glow of those people lucky enough to make San Diego Comic-Con 2014 pre-registration. This will be my sixth year attending as official press. From SDDC 2013, I wrote Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth. Previous years, I focused on video interviews and photos. In reviewing the vids, I see that many are stuck in YouTube oblivion, and that I never blogged them. So let’s catch up with some oldies, most of which still have shelf life.
Every Man a Hero
Yesterday I awoke to an email from The Graham Norton Show asking to use this photo from my Comic-Con 2010 Flickr set. Well, thank you for asking! My pics all carry a Creative Commons non-commercial […]
Twitter's Defiance is Good News
I love Twitter, all the more since Eric Snowden’s revelations about the U.S. government’s secret spying program. The company largely stands apart from other techs’ positions, but not completely. In December, I scolded Twitter, along with Apple, Facebook, Google, and a smattering of others for their “disingenuous and self-serving” call for global government surveillance reform.
Today, Twitter tweaks the government regarding an agreement that expands disclosure of information requests, including those that fall under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In a startling act of defiance, Twitter chooses not to disclose the number of FISA and other national security-related requests, contending they’re scope is an “overly broad range”.
Break the Rules
This news story needs a good editor: ‘Evil genius’ condemned for his tactics on Jeopardy! says he doesn’t care about the ‘haters’—he’s more interested in the $10,000 prize money. But the point matters more. This […]
What's This Thing with Llamas?
Saturday Night Live Season 39 Episode 13 includes a llama in the opening monologue. Once again, like four years ago with post “Tweet If You See a Tooting Llama“, I wonder about the apparent fascination New Yorkers have with the creatures. So I did a new web search. July 3, 2013, New York Times story “The Llama is In” explains much.
Reporter Jennifer Kingson says the beasts have an “irresistible quality” and that 115,000 are registered globally. According to the International Llama Registry, there are 634 owners in New York—and that’s not many. California, Oregon, and Texas have the most, with 2,496, 2,084, and 2,036, respectively.