xarkGirl

Wake up and smell the napalm

I am so over newspaper executives, industry experts, et al talking about the solutions to the burning-tail nosedive that we are in. My ire was rekindled by a piece from Steve Outing called Do Newspaper Have 6 Months? where he talks about the recent API (American Press Institute) meeting of newspaper CEOs and other Important People to address The Problems.

Outing, astutely, points out that the time for talking in broad strokes is somewhat past.  I love his graph on the Phases of a Crisis. But what follows in the comments and discussions is so more of same, I am physically uncomfortable. I have the same reaction to almost any site that is part of the Mainstream Media. Why?

Because the newspaper industry is just now waking up to ideas about media and the Internet and journalism that are almost old. Virus of the Mind (web site design is practically a fossil). The Long Tail. Cluetrain Manisfesto. Ambient Findability. Waiting for Your Cat to Bark. Anything by Seth Godin.

As happens so often, the blogosphere -- which newspapers STILL think is nothing but a collection of kitty photos and grammatically flawed rants  -- has been so far ahead of the curve, that I, for one, can't stand talking about it anymore. It's like a freshman who just discovered existentialism and makes a black-and-white film about death. 

More Motrin

I wasn't going to join in fray, but I have to now. I kinda missed the original incident, which was centered on this ad for Motrin that many women found insulting. I was Tweeted this morning with a link to a parody of the ad, which I finally watched.

The ad caused much controversy with "mommybloggers." Whatever the hell that means. (I mean , honestly, do we have "daddybloggers?" So cute, the little mommies!) But the reaction to the reaction has reeled me in. The aforementioned parody link to me took a post by one Steve Hall on a site called AdGabber.

Maybe these guys, the writer and the commenters, are not sexist jerks, but they sure are making it hard to think otherwise. Hall's opener:

This is one of those thing's that causes one to scream, "Oh for fuck's sake!" Or better yet, "Jesus, fucking Christ!" Why the harsh language? Because, yet again, America has lost its sense of humor and has gotten its underwear up its crack over an innocuous Motrin ad which pokes fun at babywearing.

Those damn women and their refusal to agree that an advertisement is funny! We did marketing studies!

Three pennies and creating reality

The question of coincidence has always intrigued me. I understand absolutely that we assign our own meaning to things. I believe the fabric of life is pattern recognition, from a biological perspective as well as a spiritual one. (One of my favorite early posts rambles on about patterns and art.)

It's a deliciously complex cycle. Things are there, we notice them, we assign meaning based on other, earlier inputs, which in turn reinforces what we will notice and call coincidence the next time. Things mean whatever we decide they mean, whether that's because we've been taught a meaning or come to our own through our exposure to ideas and experience.

Or maybe there really are no coincidences. Take this, which I lifted from Wikipedia:

Deepak Chopra and other proponents of ancient Vedic spiritual and other mystical teachings insist on the fact that there is absolutely no coincidence in the world. That everything that occurs can be related to a prior cause or association, no matter how vast or how minute and trivial. All is impacted by something related to it that is unseen or seen, cognized or not in the universe. He and many others worldwide also suggest that science, in particular mathematics, is rapidly moving towards this conclusion as well. Nonlocality theory of physics is just the latest example of phenomenon that seemed coincidental, but are in fact causal. The claim is that this and other science and mathematical conclusions can extend this to every aspect of existence.

It has also been suggested that coincidence is just the mind connecting two or more unique events; if the mind does not make the connection, then there is no coincidence.

When I find three pennies on the street in quick succession, I take it as a sign that it's time for a little I-Ching, (which, appropriately enough, is an entire system based on assigning meaning to coincidence.)

What do we do now?

The video below is funny, but it does touch on a fundamental questions about the Internet rEvolution. Will we translate our election involvement into participation in our government?

 So many of us, of all political stripes, were not only infovores, but prolific bloggers and commenters. Reading, dissecting, learning, changing. I've seen my own teenagers become informed on politicians' policy stances, histories and statements.  The snarky comment of an old white guy in my voting line wasn't only rude, it was just wrong. My kids -- and trust me, we aren't talking straight-A students interested in a future in politics -- knew the positions of the candidate they voted for. They argued  their cases, they volunteered, they voted, Lee even blogged about it.

 How will that passion and intensity be channeled now? Will we pay attention to what our policymakers are up to? We have an incredible array of new tools, of new voices, of new ways to do so, if we choose to use them.

This is hilarious

The Onion has a really funny segment on the consequences of the end of the election cycle:

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Back in action

So, to the 5 people who read this blog, my apologies for the long-time-no-post. I returned to daytime work at my place of employment and spent a few feverish days covering the election in the Lowcountry. then I actually became feverish and had to seek medical attention.

The election blog was yet another step forward in integrating all the things my tech-head friends have taught me; trips to ConvergeSouth, and the marvelous Web instructor Stephan Krug at Trident Tech.

I helped incorporate Twitter updates from some of our reporters and from technically advanced people in the online community here (which is growing and absolutely FANDAMTASTIC.) I'm so fortunate to have so many resources to draw on.

Here's hoping we all get rich off using technology to meet our community's information needs and wants. Yay!