I'm In Your Fort...

5 hours ago

Notes: 16 / 8 hours ago from jnadiger (originally from robotindisguise)

jnadiger:

robotindisguise:

No caption needed

13 hours ago from jnadiger

Cats 4 Gold

(via jnadiger)

Hahaha Cats4Gold

2 days ago

Attention Media:

I cannot say that this affair comes as much of a surprise, especially given that it involves a “social media” expert at a flagging fourth-estate property. The print media has long been host to such prima donna attitudes in its approach to handling the distribution of information, and this is yet further evidence of the “we know better than you” attitude that all-too-many print workers take in dealing with matters of public discourse.

A visitor left an infantile and most-likely obscene comment, and you decide to play vigilante and get the person fired from their position? Yes. That demonstrates a true understanding of, and reverence for new media. You knew full well what the result of your phone call would be – and it demonstrated *very* clearly the lengths you will go to carry out your own brand of “justice” to whomever is guilty of felony potty-mouth.

While I’ll go so far as to agree that you might not have violated the letter of the company’s privacy policy, you did in fact violate the spirit of it. Your excuse of “it came from a school” is a decidedly transparent attempt to desperately justify your decision to quash what you considered bad behavior.

What would a real blogger…a *real* “social media expert” do in a situation like yours? Would they have gone off on their own personal witch-hunt? Or, might they have taken some time to address the issue in myriad *different* ways? Perhaps a post about the tendency of modern colloquial language to be more profanity-laced than in days gone by? I think you’d have garnered a great deal of support for bemoaning that issue, and at the very least, you could have used the situation to do what you claim to understand about the “social media” – started a real conversation about the issue.

But finally, what is most amusing about all of this is the fact that this situation has clearly underscored what the actual “blogosphere” is all about. You see, the social media you claim to understand so expertly has been utilized primarily by those disenfranchised by the same stolid, uncaring, bloated dinosaur of an institution you now firmly represent – the mainstream media. “Blogs” and so-called “social media commentators” are nothing more than the desperate attempts of an ivory-tower industry to remain relevant as they continue to hemorrhage both cash and subscribers.

I think you and your management are in for *quite* an education in the near future. Hell hath no fury like 4 chan all riled up. Welcome to the internet, Mr. Greenbaum. It ain’t a place for the dainty or weak. And you either get tough enough to deal with the occasional obscenity and prank, or you will quickly be reduced to nothing more than an object of scorn and ridicule.

I certainly hope the rest of the so-called “social media” experts employed by other newspaper organizations are paying attention to this. Because the spirit of Hunter S. Thompson certainly is…and he’s watching you, right now…and he’s most likely calling you very, very bad word.

— Paul Green
7:01 pm November 19th, 2009

From comments on stltoday.com

3 days ago