Sacha Baron Cohen recently spoke about how social media services have become the “greatest propaganda machine in history”. Much of the media’s focus, when reporting on his remarks, was on his attack on Facebook. While he certainly targeted Facebook, he also spoke about how Google, YouTube, and Twitter shape online discourse, and how they help…… Continue reading The greatest propaganda machine in history
Tag: twitter
A curious sequence of events with Google and its YouTube recommendations
Well spotted there, Google! I noticed a curious sequence of events this morning. I responded to a tweet about Donald Trump’s latest tweet where he referred to his “great and unmatched wisdom” using the Twitter app on my Android phone – I then turned to our Android TV box where we were watching YouTube… Continue… Continue reading A curious sequence of events with Google and its YouTube recommendations
Recode's article titled "How hard is it to have a conversation on Twitter? So hard even the CEO can’t do it." highlights a perennial challenge on Twitter: having a coherent conversation about pretty much anything - There simply wasn’t enough room to have the kind of nuanced conversation the subject requires. It was symbolic of… Continue reading Twitter’s conversational problem is that it’s not suited to have one
Like Twitter, but for reading (and not in a good way)
Jamie Rubin recently wrote about abridgement going too far when it comes to books in his post “Abridge, Too Far”. I’ve been thinking about abridgments lately because of an ad that keeps popping up on Facebook. It’s for a service called Blinkist. The service claims it allows you to “fit reading into your life.” It…… Continue reading Like Twitter, but for reading (and not in a good way)
More thoughts about Micro.blog as an indie social network
Brad Enslen is doing some great work over at Micro.blog, spreading the word about this innovative service. He published a post titled “The Case for Moving Your Social Network to Micro.blog”, that’s pretty self-explanatory. https://ramblinggit.com/2018/12/the-case-for-moving-your-social-network-to-micro-blog/ I think there’s certainly merit in shifting your social network over to something like Micro.blog, in the near term at…… Continue reading More thoughts about Micro.blog as an indie social network
Twitter threads make no sense to me
Twitter threads make no sense to me. I also find then to be pretty frustrating. I’ve read some really interesting, and engaging Twitter threads (you probably have too). Every time I read one, I ask myself two questions: Why is this person going out of their way to share this story/their thoughts on a format…… Continue reading Twitter threads make no sense to me
Birthday balloons on Twitter 
Some platforms present a little something special on your birthday. Twitter has balloons that float up over your screen when you visit your profile page on your birthday. I get a kick out of seeing this every year!
Tweeting to preserve history
I suppose Twitter still has its good use cases. Tweeting to preserve history isn’t one of them. I came across this fascinating Twitter thread by Marina Amaral about the Sami people, who’ve been living in what’s now Finland for thousands of years: https://twitter.com/marinamaral2/status/1005904882140925953 The thread runs for several tweets, and it includes wonderful resources such…… Continue reading Tweeting to preserve history