This is cool: "Back to the Land"
I’m keeping my blogging to a minimum this Thanksgiving week but I couldn’t help but enjoy the following piece in today’s NY Times. The form is what really struck me, but the content is great too. I don’t know what to call it — a Op-Ed photo journal essay article?
The piece is entitled “Back to the Land – And the Pursuit of Happiness” and is a — I don’t know a “photo essay” — with compelling prose and a fun electronic format. According to Wikipedia, Maria Kalman, the author, is an “an American illustrator, author, artist, and designer.” She’s done children’s books, New Yorker covers, and even Strunk and White.
Check it out!
Media Culture Moment
In the old world, way back when I was a kid, TV networks made the content that drove our lives. In some ways that’s still the case, but with web 2.0 (or 3.0 or whatever) more and more often billionaires are beaten by the little guy. With YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and Twitter, a simple clip can get more hits and make more web fuss than even the best advertiser could muster.
For more on this general concept, check out this awesome (though longer) video h/t to Mary:
A few weeks ago, on my favorite TV show (the only one I watch, actually) the little guy drove the big guy big time. The culminating scene at Pam and Jim’s wedding, the processional, was a play on this video:
Yes, a random awesome wedding march in Minneapolis determined the content of The Office. That is the world in which we live today. That is awesome.
Check Out These Sites
A few recommendations from around the web.
First, The God Complex, an internet radio show hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow and Carol Howard Merritt. Bruce and Carol run a fun show, but their guests are just fascinating. You can listen live and chat or call in questions, or pod cast it and listen on long runs (another thing I recommend).
Next, Enter the Bible, a new site from Luther Seminary is a great source for basic background knowledge on many things Biblical. The site won’t answer all your questions, but it’s a really good place to start when considering context, history, and criticism. The site continues the strong work of Luther Seminary online (come on, PC(USA) seminaries, you’re getting schooled).
Finally, you should join the Facebook fan page of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song. Go there to find our newest press release, some pictures of Presbyterians singing (add your own too), and other fun stuff galore. The committee is hard at work developing resources, including a new hymnal, to serve the PC(USA) and beyond.
Twittiquette; you are now warned
You may have heard last week — maybe not on Twitter — that a recent study found that 40% of Twitter tweets are “pointless babble.” According to the study, conversational messages account for 32% of tweets, and tweets with pass-along value scored a whopping 6%. Close behind, were tweets of shameless self-promotion. (This all according to Pear Analytics, based in San Antonio, Texas)
I wish I could say I was surprised by the study’s findings, but my recent Twitter experiences bare out the same: most of twitter is, indeed, pointless babble. Or, at least, I’m finding Twitter to be of much less benefit than it might be, and not without a plethora of annoyances.
I know after any new technology is developed it takes time for society to adjust and develop helpful norms of interaction — consider the transition from road rules of horse-drawn carriages to cars. But if you ask me, it all comes down to Twittequette. Twitter, like most human interactions, I suppose, thrives when people are polite and operate with certain shared values — when they think of others as well as themselves. On the other hand, when Twitter just becomes a place to sound off or give a meaningless update, it is not a tool for faithful living but a sounding board for blah.
So, dear twittering friends, I am putting you all on notice. I shall stop following you, yes even you (heck, especially you) Adam Walker Cleaveland, if I continue to get annoyed by tweets of pointless babble. This post is fair warning. My foot is down.
So as not to be too crotchety or rude myself, here’s a few pointers on how I adjudicate worthwhile tweets.
A Worthwhile Tweet:
- has pass-along value
- is something I might care about (I don’t care that you are watching a movie, for example. But I may care if you saw a movie and recommend it to others.)
- links to another source
- is a retweet of something with pass-along value
- connects me to others in meaningful ways
- asks or answers an interesting question
An Annoying Tweet:
- tells me what you had for breakfast
- simply notes your current location (I know some phones can do this; so what, it’s pointless)
- is solely about self-promotion
- says only “good night” or “good morning”
- says simply “my flight is delayed” (now if it said, “many flights at ___ airport delayed, check your times at ___ website” that’s a different matter)
- adds clutter without class; takes away time but adds no value
So there you have it, world. For more good tweeting tips check out: 10 Basic Rules Of Twitter (And How To Avoid Being A Twanker)
Driven to Distraction
A recent (and thorough) NY Times article “Drivers and Legislators Dismiss Cellphone Risks” got me thinking about the ways of us peculiar Americans. The articles cites many a study that links cellphone use to distracted driving. But, I, at least, don’t think we need any fancy study to prove that. Unless you’re some kind of master multi-tasker (and you probably aren’t) I’m willing to say that talking on a cell phone while driving diminishes your ability to concentrate while driving. You can check the article for some studies, but I actually take that as a commonsense given. Talking takes thought, so less thought it given to driving.
So the more interesting question becomes: why do we still talk on cell phones while driving? If we know (at least intuitively) it’s less safe, why do it?
In Scotland, it’s illegal to talk on a cell phone (or “mobile phone” there 
) while driving unless one uses a hands free device. This is a national law. It’s a small sensible country — which loves their phones, by the way — and there’s been several fatalities over the years committed by people chatting or texting while driving. So, it’s illegal. That makes sense, after all. And I think it’s pretty big illegal (there was some story while I was there of a politician getting stopped for talking on his phone while driving and it was a huge embarrassment).
But in the US, while some local laws make it illegal to speak without a handsfree device, most state legislatures are hesitant to address the issue. And there’s certainly no big anti-cellphone movement to speak of.
So we know it’s unsafe. We know it kills people. We realize it’s far from a best practice. And we — well, most folks I know — still speak on phones while driving.
I wonder, then, if it comes down to an interesting question of practical ethics. Does the short-term convenience of speaking on a cell phone outweigh the relatively small risk we’ll injure someone while doing it? Is it a perception thing: everyone does it, so it must not be too bad. Is it a living-on-the-edge thing: I know this is wrong, but it’s handy and it sorta feels fun to be dangerous. Is it just a failure of leadership: nobody on the national stage is loudly leading the anti-cellphone charge. Or is it just that we can’t quite claim our better moral selves and not pick-up a ringing phone?
I don’t know, but it’s something I totally wrestle with myself. So, what do you think? It is immoral to talk on a phone while driving? Or to put another slant on it: is it sinful? You make the call.
image by Dragan Sasic
Update (a few more pertinent articles):
Mareen Dowd’s “Whirling Dervish Driver“
Matt Richtel “U.S. Withheld Data on Risks of Distracted Driving“
I'm Killing Your Newspaper and I'm Only Partly Remorseful
Looking for a first job/call in the PC(USA) is rather difficult these days (see this post), but I do thank my lucky stars that I’m not job hunting with a masters in journalism. The future does look pretty bleak — and scarily undefined — for print journalism these days.
In part, thanks to bloggers like me, but also thanks to more general changes in technology and availability of screens and instant news, newspapers all over the country are in dire straits. You’ve been under a very big log if you haven’t heard of this by now, which probably means you don’t read any news at all so you don’t care, but I do — both care and read news — and it’s a little tricky what to think about things.
I’m not for propping up businesses with failing business models — as I suggested in the case of Wordsmiths bookstore in Decatur which closed this month, by the way, and anyone who donated funds to them lost the charity creditors. But I am for a hearty healthy press since it does everyone good and keeps us all honest.
That said, a few weeks ago, I received a renewal notice for the print version of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that graces my front step every morning. And I don’t think I’m going to renew. Some of this is just timing: we’re moving at the end of May. But, also, though I read the newspaper every morning I’ve already read much of it in AJC newsfeeds on my feed reader. I’ve already read the national news — and probably of a higher quality — online. And the local story I get from several Decatur blogs.
I do really love the dead paper edition of the news, cause it’s easier to read if nothing else, but I can’t justify the ridiculously high cost of renewing the AJC. I recognize that when I read the print version, I read stories that I wouldn’t read if I was just surfing online. My horizons are further expanded by the print version. But that’s not enough to entice me to write that three-figure check for renewal.
While many bemoan the state of the business, others are making the distinction: print journalism may be dying a quick death, but journalism is still alive and kicking — it’ll be just fine. That makes sense to me. And I’d love to participate in a micropayment scheme to see how that works. Non-profit papers make sense to me as well. After all, I just made my NPR pledge once again.
So what’s a news-buff nice guy supposed to do in this economy? I don’t know. And to complicate matters deliciously there’s always the practice of Marva Dawn, who as a spiritual discipline does not read newspapers. I once heard Dawn say she understands the gospel message to be bigger than the hubbub of newspapers and it’s easier for her to be faithful without the din of the daily headlines.
Until my subscription runs out, I’m happy to read the AJC with my toast and coffee. After that, I just hope I don’t get any peanut butter on my MacBook keys.
image by lusi
Twitter Presentation Outline
I led a “lunch and learn” today at Columbia Seminary on Twitter. I find web 2.0 stuff really fun to think about, and enjoy teaching, so it was a good time for me — and nobody walked out, so I think others enjoyed it a bit too. Here’s the outline I used, borrowed hugely from Jeffrey Levy’s wiki here (which I found via twitter, of course). It was a small enough group that I could take plenty of questions throughout, but here’s the general flow…
Twitter Presentation to CTS Staff/Faculty
prolegomena
- I’ve only been Twittering for six weeks.
- I enjoy it, I’ve experienced it, I’ve read up on it a bit, but….I wouldn’t want to take a Carlos exam on it.
- Sort of like Montreat: really difficult to explain; you just have to experience it for yourself
- credit and thanks to: http://microblog4gov.pbwiki.com/Webinar Jeffrey Levy, Director of Web Communications, EPA (and example of use of Twitter)
here we go:
Imagine if you could….
- get quick answers to simple questions (like, what new book do you recommend?)
- throw out new ideas to get responses from people whose opinions you trust
- be supported by colleagues and friends around the world (say more….)
- keep up with the buzz
- establish a network of people involved in issues similar to yours, with the ability to check them out beyond a handshake
2. Basics
* (show simple tweet) Online, 140 characters
* (show public stream) Visible to all, in theory, but…
* Mostly, other people aren’t listening
* Create a professional account
*Differences between microblog, FB status, IM other? (this is key. show the difference.)
2b Images
*front porch
*stream/river
*cocktail party
*lifestreaming
*waterhole
*microblogging
3. Focus, or — so, how do you network now?
* (show @xxx tweet) With people you know
* So what?
o Like quick conversation in hall, on elevator
o Tweet as “look at this” / “here’s more” / “whaddya think?”
4. Professional ways to use Twitter (why use it?)
* Networking
o Meeting people in your field
o Who does @aaa follow? I’ll check out @bbb, then.
o Two-way communications
+ issue discussions
* Listening
o Early detection system
o Opinions, feedback from experts
* Broadcasting
o Sharing resources
+ Website, doc, event
+ RSS feed
o Live tweeting (at conferences)
o Public outreach/explanations
5. Following (as in, so how do I do that)
* (show a tweet from @yyy) Who’s this?
* (show @yyy profile) Aha
* (show @yyy stream) Okay, this person’s got stuff to say
(show follow) Now I can see what they say
6. Joining the conversation (Using Twitter)
* Posting
* Retweeting
Direct messages
Getting Started….if time
Additional Info:
–note mobile device/cpu divine
–twitter clients (Tweetdeck, Tweetie, Twitterific, DetroyTwitter)
–Search twitter: search.twitter.com
End with:
Doc Searls, “Screw Popularity. Just Make Yourself Useful”
“”Friends” and “followers” aren’t what matter. If you want substance, you need useful inputs. Not volume. Not style. Not popularity. Those have their places, just not in your face when you’re looking for useful and interesting stuff.”
….about being useful; Twitter as a tool for service
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