DISQUS

The passive nature of TV is the draw, I think. The net is for interaction, and when that reaches the fatigue point -- to the tube!

One of the twitter people I follow said he was trying not to think of social media experts as the new hobo culture, which I thought was pretty funny. I wonder if it also applies to the populations at the networks themselves. Sometimes it feels as if there are herds all moving to the next water hole. When there's a quorum, the herds moves on.

"But the standardization breeds familiarity and trust and encourages more usage." The truth of the statement is rock solid -- and still too often unrecognized.

http://snipurl.com/568mw

Communication modes like Tumblr and Twitter are training us to think tight, to get to the meat of the matter, and as you point out, the Flip does that for video, making you do the editing in the camera. I think that might be considered a benefit and a public service.

Amazing how many similar techniques are mentioned here -- running, music,new environment. When I need to hit the reset button with 22-ounce wafflehead framing hammer, I'll try all three simultaneously, but you usually the first two work.

Do you mean Targetspot?

Just like the old advertising truism. You can't go too far wrong with babies (or animals.)

This is a subject near and dear to my heart since my first real job was as a reporter for a tiny-town newspaper. First, Idisagree with the comment that government information is a big yawn. Well, it's often presented in yawnworthy fashion, but the effects of government actions -- zonings, bond referendums etc. become a lot more interesting when your lifestyle, safety, bank account, education of your children or property values are at stake. So even though some of that stuff might seem dry, many citizens will care, at least by the time they're relatively adult. That's valuable not just as information for citizens but as a check on local governments who might behave differently knowing there more scrutiny. Secondly, though reporters don't get paid well, it does require a lot of time and a commitment to some level of objectivity. That's not to say any neighbor couldn't do it, just that every neighbor can't. The NYT has editors, and they've still had plenty of problems in recent years. Finally, and I hate admit this, but just because a community is tight doesn't mean its members should necessarily be trusted more than the general population. I'm a member of our Yahoo neighborhood group and a WOM recommendation I solicited from there turned out to be one of the worst and most expensive consumer experiences of my adult life. As for the tech of it , I agree that, dead simple is the only way to go.

Inclusion and exclusion are core editorial techniques, but I'm not sure they're the entire value of a newspaper. In as much as inclusion or exclusion of a story serve objectivity in a newspaper's reporting, I think there's increasing value there because overall objectivity as a goal is becoming harder to find across all media. I think another critical purpose of newspapers is to own the concept of local - to be an indispensable resource for the community. Newspapers can provide a common ground among neighbors in a fragmented world, and I think in this age of fragmentation and echo chambers, some will crave that. Of course, whether the newspaper is physical or virtual -- I think that's a technological and lifestyle issue beyond content.

I love the idea of the disemvoweller. I want one for some actual real-time conversations.

Admittedly, I haven't dug into the specifics of this one, but I have to say Jeremy's term is a keeper! Secondly, just based on human nature, I would tend to agree with your protectionist premise from a psychological point of view. There's such a drive to become a "thought leader" that maybe some don't recognize if they're becoming thought dictators.

Question mark as ampersand?

Such a truism. Without it, much art (in the broad sense of film, music, literature, etc.) would have an expiration date.

If the writers are asking for a percent of profits from new media, then the not-yet-profitable argument doesn't make sense to me. A percent of nothing is nothing. A percent of something should be factored in when they negotiate with Steve Jobs. What's the problem? The writers, it seems to me, are just being smart be preparing themselves for the future when the big bang of convergence happens. (Let the record reflect I buy CDs because I don't trust hard drives.)

I'm so with you on the rights and value of the writers. The last time writers walked we got reality TV, and personally, I've had enough of that. We need storytellers, and they should be paid well regardless of the ultimate medium in which the story is delivered. I feel the same way about musical artists. I doubt Rod Serling would have kept at his teleplays if no one were paying. My biggest fear is viewers might accept storyless programming, which creates a scenario very much like the one represented in the film "Idiocracy." Yipes.

It does my heart good to read this kind of post because there are times when I wonder if common sense is dead. I'm glad to see I'm wrong.

It's a fine line between weird and individualistic. If you build a big enough community of weirdness, does weirdness become normal? That would explain a lot, and is in itself a little weird.

Social media is a miracle for marketers. The information we willingly give to complete strangers about ourselves is on a level never dreamed of in the days of focus groups behind mirrored windows. I'm beginning to think people should have a spam identity, an utterly fabricated name and address, plus an identifying email, just for tracking the spam that ensues from each registration.

Isn't it "not our father's Oldsmobile?" Was that trademarked? Heads will roll!

He's got a million of 'em, and he's dead. Turns out, most of them keep pretty well.

I gotta share a quote from my son, delivered when he was 15 years old as the cut a block of cheddar into cubes. He said, "You know, I have OCD and ADD, so I think it balances out to naormal." Cracked me up, anyway.

Information overload is right. I feel overwhelmed not just by content but by the assortment of tools. The packrat mentality isn't a good thing while surfing. Also, it's frustrating when I realize I can't recall the great site I found a few days ago, but the lyrics to Funky Town are always accessible. I wish I could defrag the hard drive between my ears. Sometimes I wonder if eventually culture itself will need some defragging.

Way to stay nimble in the face of adversity. It's amazing how feedback just brings everything to a grinding halt. I think the military has a similar technology in nonlethal warfare.

You know, I had similar problems as I toyed with myspace. For whatever reasons, I could make very little actually work there. Obviously, many others don't have that problem, but I feel slightly better knowing I'm not the only one.