Social Media

ᔥ Sydney Morning Herald

When I run training sessions for candidates about social media I tell them to avoid it all. Mainly because your audience is only two types of people. Committed supporters and sycophants or people like me waiting to smash you up for stupidity.

Fortunately for me not many politicians heed my advice and so I get to smash them up endlessly, like Andrew Little or Trevor Mallard.

The second worst thing any politician can do is decid to sue someone for what they said in social media.

A Liberal Party candidate in Tasmania has threatened to contact the employers of Facebook users who “liked” a satirical article posted about him online.

Andrew Nikolic, the Liberal candidate for Bass, has since reneged on the threats after initially denying to Fairfax Media that he had even made them.

The New Examiner is an online satirical blog operating on Facebook and Twitter.

The story, posted by the New Examiner on Thursday afternoon, creates a satirical scenario in which Mr Nikolic is caught out claiming to have been “heroically killed in action during services in Afghanistan”. It then goes on to state that he claims to have suffered “a slow, painful death by torture at the hands of Tamil militants in 2002″.

Mr Nikolic informed the New Examiner last week that if the offending article was not taken down he would write to the employers of all the individuals who had “liked” the story.

“I hope the employers and influencers of your satirical group will be amused by the formal letters of complaint I will now send them on this issue,” wrote Mr Nikolic in a Facebook comment that has since been deleted.

The New Examiner refused to back down and retract the article.

“Threatening to contact employers is simply confirmation that Nikolic’s first response to pressure is to go on the attack, rather than consider the political implications of his actions,” the editor-in-chief, known only under the pseudonym Martin Gaylord, told Fairfax Media.

Mr Nikolic also named and shamed Facebook users who had reposted the article, in a message on his own Facebook page, which was later deleted.

“He doesn’t appear to understand that individuals [who] use social media do so for a variety of reasons, but certainly not to [expose] themselves to vindictive behaviour of this nature,” the editor-in-chief said.

ᔥ Sydney Morning Herald

It seems Australia’s head of the Catholic Church is a bit touchy on the subject of boy buggering. He has tried to sue Twitter and a blogger for a tweet…note that even in the apology the blogger kicks Pell in the slats on the way through. NFWAB.

A THREAT by Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell to sue Twitter for defamation over an offensive tweet by the Melbourne blogger Catherine Deveny has revealed the increasing threat social media poses to the reputations of public figures.

While Cardinal Pell last night dropped his threat to sue over the tweet – which falsely suggested he condoned the sexual abuse of young boys – there was a call for the nation’s defamation laws to be updated to reflect the new influence of social media.

On Monday, Deveny posted a lengthy apology and retraction on her website after receiving an email from Twitter’s legal department, alerting her to the threat.

During a Q&A debate on ABC on the existence of God last month, Cardinal Pell paused after saying: ”We were preparing young English boys … ” before adding ”for Holy Communion”.

The studio audience erupted in laughter at the unfortunate pause and the comment went viral on Twitter. Minutes later, Deveny retweeted a Twitpic poster, which she said her 16,326 followers would ”love”. It showed Pell’s face on a mock flag saying, ”We were preparing young English boys”, and omitting the clarifying words, ”for Holy Communion”.

Following the legal threat, Deveny, who has more than 16,000 Twitter followers, issued an apology on her blog for any hurt Cardinal Pell may have suffered, insisting she never intended to suggest he was a paedophile.

“Clearly it was significant enough hurt and embarrassment caused for him to lawyer up and spend the Catholic Church’s money to pursue defamation action against Twitter and me,” she wrote.

“There must have been deep deliberation over the decision to spend thousands of dollars of parishioners’ money on legal fees.

“Spending money that could have been spent feeding the poor, sheltering the homeless or alleviating suffering, instead of on defamation litigation, clearly illustrates how serious the breach I allegedly committed was in the eyes of Cardinal Pell.”

Deveny noted many other Twitter users had distributed the image and called on Cardinal Pell to “forgive” her.

Absolut combines advertising and Augmented Reality for a new ad and social media campaign:

New Zealand Green Party MP, Gareth Hughes outside the Beehive (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hypocrites that Make me Piss Blood, Number 1 in a series.

The Green Prince of Courtney Place.

Greetings brothers,

Some days I look at Facebook and enjoy catching up with the avalanche of posts from my friends. And by friends I mean;

• Family
• Friends I have met
•  Online friends
•  People of interest
•  Random names I have accepted into my online life
•  And then those people that make me piss blood and need to be kept an eye on.

Gareth Hughes is in the last category.

It is not the fact that this princeling is an unelectable dickhead, nor the fact that he is a green MP that is making me piss blood right now.

Those of you that have kept a beady eye on him will know exactly what I am talking about at this point.

Yup. This man is traveling the country at such a frenetic pace currently, that I fear he may bend/frack the space time continuum or Clark Kent the planet into reverse.

Sadly for those poor dwarf dolphins that he constantly blathers on about I doubt (for doubt I actually mean know) that he is not travelling on Shank’s pony or even taking the old charabanc to these empty hall meetings that seem to be happening at opposite ends of the country on an almost hourly basis.

The meetings in question are all about his maniacal need for the human race to stop. And by stop I actually mean he wants most of us to die and the remaining few to rub shit on each other to keep warm and only eat sticks and leaves (and then only sticks and leaves that have fallen of a bush/plant/tree).

Well fuck him. And the rest of the greedy born to rule arseholes that trough their way from one end of the country to another preaching about everything that would deny me and mine a prosperous/well lit/warm existence.

I want us to dig some wealth up and put the lumpenproletariat to work in Northland and Poverty Bay and anywhere else we can extract some money.

And until Gareth Hughes starts walking the walk when it comes to not being a greedy little carbon pig he can kiss my arse.

Give up the taxpayer funded flights and Koru club matey boy.

You are young enough to not be a techtard aren’t you? How about Skype, or videocall or any other method that does not require you to be one of the most expensive MP’s in the country.

Look Gareth Hughes up on Twitter if you are too embarassed to have anybody know he is a Facebook friend and see for yourself how this twat is singlehandedly keeping Air New Zealands share price up with the help of parliamentary services travel desk…

Thanks for listening, I am off to defrost a few of those Hector’s steaks now. Lime and chili dressing methinks.

Next instalment ideas I am mulling over.

• Where does Mallard fill his cialis prescriptions?
• Will Shearer resist the pressure and not give Swiss Ball the opportunity to come back and groom in the Capital funded by you and I?
• The sickening sight of the Green party co-leader going to Hitler’s playbook to try and stop his countrymen getting their money out of a farm?
• A look at how many new MPs have just set up private super schemes based around recently purchased rental property/offices?
• A tale of misery about unrequited love over a sausage sandwich at Stag Park decades ago and how it is now too late to do anything about it coz she married the bloke who ordered bacon and egg sandwiches.

ᔥ Cre8D Design Blog

Rachel Cunliffe blogs about the differences between Blogging vs Twitter and Facebook. Rachel did the re-design of this blog and I credit that re-design as one of the reasons why I am now the number 1 blogger. During the design phase Rachel provided some insights into blogging from a design perspective that I hadn’t thought of, we implemented those and they have been a big success. the blog is ever evolving…and Rachel continues to provide great advice.

Anyway that is just preamble as away of saying she knows what she is talking about when it comes to Social Media, Blogging and design. Listen to what she says:

• Blogging requires more thought, reasoning for opinions, refining, details, deep expression and reflection than tweeting. Tweets are valuable for quick (incomplete) thoughts and light conversation but we often need more than that. Tweets are snacks between meals, signposts to feasts. The real banquets are blog posts. Drew McLellan, Sean Coates, Jon Tangerine
• Blogging helps you find like-minded people to talk to and work with and a sense of community (David Rhoden, Rian van der Merwe)
• Blog conversations don’t force you into an artificial relationship like “Facebook friend” or “Twitter follower” (David Rhoden)
• Blogs are in a database that you own and control – you can edit it or throw it away at any time. (David Rhoden, Anthony Killeen)
• Facebook and Twitter aren’t a replacement for your own personal history of things you want to say online. (David Rhoden)
• Comments and discussions are there in context. (Anthony Killeen)
• Blog posts are better indexed by search engines. When was the last time you Googled a question and got a Tweet or Facebook status update which answered it? (David Rhoden, Jeremy Cook)
• Blog posts are more educational, spread knowledge and are helpful to newbies. (Clive Walker, Rafael Dohms, Court Ewing)
• Blog posts are timeless: they don’t expire. (Rafael Dohms)
• Blog posts showcase your thinking as a professional and get your name out there. (Rafael Dohms)
• Blogging takes more courage: tweets are easier to correct. Blogging opens you up to real critique and criticism. Joe Leech)

There was a sense that true blogging was (and still is) about honesty, learning, growth. It was about opening yourself up to critique and trolls but also finding cheerleaders, mentors and fellow journeyers. There was a sense that we’re missing out on good insightful blog posts being written, and a proliferation of “Top 10 ways to get people to link up to your blog”.

There was a sadness that blog comments aren’t so lively any more: the comments are disparate, brief and shallow.

I know that every time I blog, I feel rewarded: I’ve thought things through, I’ve learnt things and I’ve worried a teeny bit about what other people are thinking in response.

The best text information I find online is still via blog posts.
The best way I find out about deep thoughts friends or strangers have online is still via blog posts.
The best place to find tutorials, help and ideas is still via blog posts. I may get there via Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest, but they’re signposts to the real content.

ᔥ The Local

Angela Merkel appears to be smarter than the Labour caucus when it comes to social media:

The co-founder of microblogging site Twitter left a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel a disappointed man after she turned down his personal invitation to join the trend for public expression in 140 characters.

On his way to the meeting in Merkel’s Berlin chancellery, Jack Dorsey tweeted, “Just landed in Berlin for a visit with Chancellor Angela Merkel. I’ve been wanting to meet her for a while: the world needs her on Twitter.”

But shortly afterwards Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said she disagreed, and said the world would have to be satisfied with her text messages and podcasts.

“It will remain the case that I as government spokesman will tweet about the chancellor’s work,” Seibert wrote during a question and answer Twitter session.

“And the chancellor has access to everything that’s important on Twitter through me,” he added.

Dorsey bounced back and returned to the “twittersphere” to tell his followers about his “great conversation” with the Chancellor. “Loves SMS and has the mind of a scientist: forever curious,” he tweeted.

ᔥ Andrew Sullivan

Once again I am receiving emails from loyal readers who are sick of rubbish comments from trolls.

Andrew Sullivan, who doesn’t have comments, comments:

Dan O’Connor blasts what blog comment sections have become:

It is time, I think, for us to accept that disabling or deleting idiot comments is no more anti-democratic or elitist than refusing to engage with a person harrassing you on the street. Just because everyone is allowed to have their say, it does not follow that the bilge they say is worth listening to. I love the internet. I love social media. And the only way we will save them from themselves is by accepting that, more often than not, comments are rubbish.

Gawker is implementing a new comment system to deal with the problem. Recent Dish on a wildly successful comment section here. We’re sticking with posting the best and most informative of your emails. For the Dish, reader input plays a key role in airing debates and discovering facts from readers with deep knowledge of the subjects at hand. There is a way, in other words, to create a web space where readers add and don’t detract from the experience.

It’s called editing.

My own preference is to have a free reign with comments, but smack down outrageously racist, misogynistic or hateful comments. I have a firm belief that my “army’ will deal with any silliness. I don’t want a heavily moderated and sanitised comments section like Red Alert. I enjoy comments from Kosh now he is well trained, less so from Phil who seems untrainable and still posts tl;dr comments.

Personal unfounded attacks on me are dealt with swiftly and permanently with no recourse.

However I think that Dan O’Connor as quoted above does have a valid point.

Is it time for me to start doing this too, or do I need some volunteer moderators to deal with the more foolish of trolls?

Poor old David Shearer….Darien Fenton has said that Shearer should be sacked:

I’m wondering when Labour MPs are going to realise that commenting on blogs and in social media is a bad thing not a good thing.

While Charles Chauvel, Megan Woods and Moana Mackey have spent taxpayer cash to fly to Auckland to support striking workers Clare Curran has stayed at home in Dunedin and expressed her support….for the Port!

Clare is proving once again that despite her brilliant PR snow job she really does struggle with the basics like Facebook status updates and from what I hear also using Outlook.

The other thing she proves is that social media really is a disaster zone for Labour politicians. They certainly can’t claim any victories and there are plenty of wallopings that have come from their inane tweets and updates.

Snot is OK on Facebook but plenty isn’t, and now we know exactly how it is all moderated after details were leaked and posted all over the net:

Amine Derkaoui, a 21-year-old Moroccan man, is pissed at Facebook. Last year he spent a few weeks training to screen illicit Facebook content through an outsourcing firm, for which he was paid a measly $1 an hour. He’s still fuming over it.

“It’s humiliating. They are just exploiting the third world,” Derkaoui complained in a thick French accent over Skype just a few weeks after Facebook filed their record $100 billion IPO. As a sort of payback, Derkaoui gave us some internal documents, which shed light on exactly how Facebook censors the dark content it doesn’t want you to see, and the people whose job it is to make sure you don’t.

Facebook has turned the stuff its millions of users post into gold. But perhaps just as important as the vacation albums and shared articles is the content it keeps out of user’s timelines: porn, gore, racism, cyberbullying, and so on. Facebook has fashioned itself the clean, well-lit alternative to the scary open Internet for both users and advertisers, thanks to the work of a small army of human content moderators like Derkaoui.

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