Follow me on Twitter. Find me on Facebook. Email me@alphalim.me. Google me at google.alphalim.me.
Or click randomly on the shiny things below.
And when I clicked "Post", I got this in response:
Twitter has been *bad*, lately.
The real value of Twitter et al is to keep the invisible lines of connection between us alive.
Cory Doctorow is a smart thinker. Sometimes opinionated, but then which thinker isn't?
I disagree with what he said about MySpace, though. It's just ugly. Because the "designers" don't know what they're doing. Like when Macintosh introduced the world to a dozen fonts and desktop publishing.
(Many people still don't know what they're doing - witness Comic Sans being used for anything but ugly comics.)
Also read Mike Elgan's piece on the twiviality of Twitter, and why it's good and right!
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9132104/In_defense_of_twiviality
The reporting is fine; the results of her communication is sad, her loss is sad. All those factor in to the saddest thing of all, CNET, trading in humanity for some ******** page views. You bastards are disgusting. Change the title of this post.
Found a comment down the page that quite expressed what I feel.
The woman's 2-year old kid drowned in between tweets. That's like saying he drowned in between phone calls on a mobile phone. (Actually tweeting takes less attention than a phone conversation.)
Personally, I would not take my eyes off a little kid for a moment, in any potentially hazardous environment. That said, this sounds like one of those senseless, tragic accidents.
People get scared that this kind of thing could happen to them, so they try to fault the mother, in a futile attempt to foist a factor of control onto the random tragedy:
"I'd never do what she did, so this'll never happen to me." So one hopes.
Fact is, according to the mom, the kid just ran off for a couple of seconds. Maybe she's lying, maybe those are just the frightening facts. That death could come at any time, is too much for some.
Those who think she was inside on the computer while the kid was outside next to the pool are n00bs who have no idea how people tweet.
This story is sensational because of the keyword "Twitter". Idiots. Every new thing gets blamed. Blue jeans. Beehive hairdos. Drainpipe jeans. Comics. Television. The World Wide Web.
I remember how the newspapers once reported that a little girl asphyxiated when her neck got caught in some crazy laces she tied around her bedpost. The tone of the story was that crazy laces (those delightfully horrid, fat fluorescent shoelaces of my early teens) were bad. That's like parents who teach their kid to blame the floor when the toddler stumbles and falls. Idiots.
Now I'm going to hug my kid.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia sent me a direct message.
BLUE: Brand Websites
RED: Social Networks
What does this mean? Websites are media. In TV language, Facebook and Twitter are like huge networks with thousands of channels featuring hundreds of programmes tailor-made by people who share your interests.
Brand websites are like individual channels sponsored by one advertiser broadcasting a programme you may or may not like. (In other words, take it or leave it.)
On a social network, you create the content together with your like-minded social circle. You cook what you like to eat.
On a brand website, you eat what they serve. If you don't like it, you don't go there. If your tastes change, you leave.
No one would create a new TV channel just to broadcast a new TV commercial. Why create a new website?
That's an extreme example and brand websites have their place, but the (logical) trend is a shift toward social media. Because people always gravitate toward more freedom of choice, not less.
Most people don't "get" Twitter at the first go. Here's an amazing video (in terms of the ability to communicate information) on Twitter in about two minutes.
See you there! http://twitter.com/alphalim
Question: Why do some people attack you for using ghostwriters?
Answer: Because they are angry, little people who cannot generate content, so they try to generate controversy to get attention.
I love Guy. Nobody does chutzpah like Guy.
Read this FAQ of Questions he has Frequently Asked himself on his Twitter proficiency. You'll learn something.
Even if it's chutzpah.
