As blogging and ways to monetize high-traffic content evolve, the pairing off of power bloggers into friends, allies, and business partners becomes more interesting.
The lotto-sized win in the battle for high-power friendships is, as everyone knows, Mike Arrington. To be a FOA (friend of Arrington) is to be anointed into a lucrative Web 2.0 economy.
As I watched the Winer-Scoble-Israel vs. Arrington-Feldman-Calcanis feud this past week, I had some of my own observations about the tricky aspects of navigating blog-related friendships and partnerships.
On one side we had Shel, tormented by puppeteer Feldman, sworn to go after Winer next, who's BFF is Scoble, whose old company fired Feldman.
On the other side we had Feldman, fallen into a potentially great mainstream deal with some non-mainstream (and I would argue some not-so-funny) content coming back from the archives to bite him in the ass, backed by the newly-retired Calcanis whose business interests align with those of Feldman, who spends a whole lot of time at the business/home/Internet-economy of Arrington.
This is the point at which I state: Blogging makes for some strange bedfellows.
The popular M.O. of the A-List guys during a high-profile Internet dust-up is to call on their friends to back them up. This means they ask their friends to call off the dogs or to incite the mob (depending upon which side of the equation they're on), to make a public statement of support or perform a public shunning (depending upon which side of the equation they're on), to absolutely and without question choose sides.
And choosing sides can suck. Because the web is hyperlinked, sides don't always make sense. (I know this is true when I find myself aligned with Dave Winer.)
We are not linear here. We are human and networked. Our relationships are at the same time deep and distant, meaningful and sometimes non-sensical.
But for many, our reputation is important.
By reputation I don't mean, "He's a great guy," or "She's a smart lady." You can have a reputation for being entertaining, obnoxious, brilliant, an asshole, an expert in a particular field, a mom, a dad, a cancer survivor, and most likely you are a rich combination of these characteristics which inform the stories you tell online.
Our archives tell our story not just chronologically, but in relationship to others, among the links in and links out. Asking anyone to read us from front to back before making a judgment as to the kind of person we are is asking a lot. People aren't going to examine all of our posts--they're going to read our front page, the last thing we said, or the thing that someone else points them to--even if that thing is old and we decided it was stupid a long time ago.
That's why emerging tools and technology for compiling and tracking our participation and reputation over time and across social media interest me.
These tools can take the legacy of our contributions and help new readers understand not just our content, but our context. We are more than a single post or video - we are our collected pixels spread out over space and time.
I think these tools will give us new freedom in our friendships, and require less side-taking requirements on behalf of friends who find themselves in compromising positions.
The ability to track our participation and reputation across the net lets us take risks without tossing our entire body of work down the toilet. It gives me the freedom to stand up like a sniper bitch on occasion without compromising my Internet reputation as a "nice lady" (cough) altogether.
I empathize with Feldman's friends for their troubles over the last week even though I think he's a cry-baby for thinking that shock-jock content might not come back to bite him as he sought out mainstream deals.
I support those who spoke out on the important issues around the whole fiasco. I also support those who didn't choose sides or participate in the discussion, even though I think the discussions it spawned were valuable and tremendous and much can be gained by taking part.
But not everyone is required to weigh in, nor should they be. If we were to pick all the issues we care about and try to participate in all of them, we could never keep up. If we were to jump into every debate, every conflict, we could lose our minds. It is up to each of us to decide what conversations are important to us, and I don't assign blame for opting out of those I think are significant.
Taking it back to friendship, this is important to me because:
I WILL NOT make a public statement every time an online friend does or says something stupid, or something I don't agree with.
I WILL NOT LET you infer from my silence that I agree or disagree with them.
I ABSOLUTELY reserve the right to remain friends with my friends - or part ways - without a defending my decision; and what I may say to them in private or public about a particular post or comment is up to ME.
Of course, there are more complexities to the company we keep online. And as time goes on, things make less sense than they ever did. I think this is a good thing, but some days I'm not so sure.
Last week was one of those days.
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July 12, 2008
July 10, 2008
Beyond White Whine
Hank Williams has a great post in which he explores the 2008 definition or racism.
Snippet:
Hank gives rich context for his thoughts, life context, which many of Feldman's minions lack. While I'm not sure I agree with Hank that silence = support, I do believe that the social media power brokers actually saying something useful on the topic would be a Good Thing. This is a racially traumatized country, and this industry is no more healthy. They might start with asking Feldman what precisely he intends to do to execute threats like these directed at Lynne D. Johnson:
While Feldman obsesses on whether Winer made the call or Scoble made the call, the bottom line is some future enemy would have made the call if one of his past associates hadn't.
In the end, it is how it has always been: you own your own words.
---
technorati tags: verizon, 1938 Media, Loren Feldman, Technigga, Asswipe, Karma, CyberBully, Arrington Economy, Social Media, Anti-Social Media, Advertising, Marketing, Branding, Business, Tech, Web 2.0
Snippet:
Today, racism’s definition is so circumscribed, that for many it is almost impossible to find a valid use case. For many, it would require calling a black man a nigger or saying, I hate black people, or doing something equivalently overt. Of course, for some, even the use of the word nigger does not warrant the racism label, since black people use it amongst themselves. It’s not fair, defenders say, to give a word to black people that white people can’t use.Read it.
Interestingly, for many, it’s also not valid to label language as racist if it not in the form of a statement. It’s a bit like Jeopardy. Any potentially racist language is not racist if you change the form to a question, or in Loren Feldman’s case, a joke. Then you can, apparently, say absolutely anything.
Hank gives rich context for his thoughts, life context, which many of Feldman's minions lack. While I'm not sure I agree with Hank that silence = support, I do believe that the social media power brokers actually saying something useful on the topic would be a Good Thing. This is a racially traumatized country, and this industry is no more healthy. They might start with asking Feldman what precisely he intends to do to execute threats like these directed at Lynne D. Johnson:
You are an unethical piece of shit. YOU ARE A LIAR. And you did it on purpose to help fastcompany. Shame on you, I will never stop till I have your job, bank on it. - loren feldmanFrom the man who has proclaimed, "Black People Are Lame," and "Black People Can't Get It Together," I find the righteous indignation over backlash created by a Big Brand not wanting to be associated with a Web 2.0 minstrel act a bit much.
Tim she is a complete liar. And she will pay, you'll see my friend. - loren feldman
While Feldman obsesses on whether Winer made the call or Scoble made the call, the bottom line is some future enemy would have made the call if one of his past associates hadn't.
In the end, it is how it has always been: you own your own words.
---
technorati tags: verizon, 1938 Media, Loren Feldman, Technigga, Asswipe, Karma, CyberBully, Arrington Economy, Social Media, Anti-Social Media, Advertising, Marketing, Branding, Business, Tech, Web 2.0
July 09, 2008
I'm Afraid It's Not Just The Web, Louis.
Louis Gray has a great but sad post about his experience today watching Corvida and Wayne Sutton discuss the Verizon-Feldman debacle in video chat as a chorus of race baiting idiots piled on with comments the likes of which might make your racist Uncle Bob blush.Technigga-Golddigga Loren Feldman should feel proud tonight. The comments I've seen supporting him on FriendFeed show that he's got a real high-class following for his "comedy" act. Not. The cream of the crop must have shown up for this one, showing what Louis called the Web's racist underbelly.
"While both carried on a strong conversation around the issues of race, bigotry and getting ahead through hard work, their efforts were dwarfed by some of the most hateful, shameful, racist speech I've been exposed to in a very long time. ...as Corvida and Wayne talked about her family's efforts with Verizon, and how black tech bloggers are often stereotyped, with Feldman's video as an example, the Yahoo! Live chat screen filled with filth, with racist words, references to Kentucky Fried Chicken and watermelon, comments on Obama, and discussion of penis sizes."While I share Louis' anger, I don't share his shock. Sure, there are anonymous racist assholes online who have mouth-in-ass disease because they know they are anonymous and feel the thrill of yelling fire in a crowded theater. Nothing new there.
Then there are others, folks who are The Standard -- quite literally covertly and sometimes unknowingly practicing the subtler and often more damaging form of racism that fucks not just with the mind and heart and drive, but with the wallet--the ultimate take-down/keep-down in America.
And those same people will feign shock when a pastor from the South Side of Chicago spells America A-M-E-R-I-K-K-K-A. Hypocrites.
The threat of changing the makeup of a decidedly white power structure in Washington is bringing out the best in the best of people, and the worst in the worst of people.
It's not just the Web, Louis.
And I fear it's only just begun to get ugly.
----
July 08, 2008
This One Goes Out to Loren Feldman...
I just Love the Guys (FOFs - friends of feldman) who want to paint Verizon's dropping of Loren Feldman as a free speech issue, as though Verizon has somehow ripped Loren's content off of his own site or blocked our access to it. Puhleeease.
No, not quite Feldminions. It's a brand affinity issue.
You wanted the social media economy, the Arrington economy, with all of its mainstream trappings and mainstream glory and mainstream money? Then take your minstrel act to the mainstream grocery store and see how much meat it gets you.
Mike, you got your friend wires crossed on this one a long time ago.
See Also:
He with Whom I agree*: http://whydoeseverythingsuck.com/2008/07/verizon-dumps-loren-tech-nigga-feldman.html
She with Whom I agree: http://shegeeks.net/i-requested-that-verizon-drop-their-deal-with-1938media/
The Far Less Clued:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/07/1938-media-loses-verizon-deal-over-racism-charges/
http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/07/07/protests-over-verizon-deal-with-1938media/
http://mashable.com/2008/07/08/technigga/
(*I would, however, put money on Winer having made a couple of calls. No one is better with that old-school tech weapon called the telephone.)
---
NOT to be missed: black people are lame, and black people can't get it together.
Hey LIGHTEN UP, right?
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July 03, 2008
the restless debt
thx for the pointer, rb.
faith47 yes.
vita
Faith 47 loves sounds, colors, dusty small town roads, rebellion, small gestures, big cities, grey areas, electricity wires, complexities, simplicity, forgotten grimy spaces, and possibilities. She loves to paint graffiti, illustrate, design, travel, read, and question things. She really hates the way the world economic system is set up to benefit the few and starve the many, she dislikes battery chicken farms, Hollywood blockbusters and generic fast food chains. Her most favourite thing is seeing spontaneous beautiful moments and also the Zapatista national liberation army. She´s been influenced by wealz 130, cashril, solo one, mode2, saber, buffy, silloette, nina, keti and a lot of other writers and artists. She aims to keep getting on with her work that she loves and take it where it needs to go.
July 02, 2008
You Had To Be There / Tom Was There
Tom Matrullo has an interesting post on the Lake Sarasota Community Blog about a neighborhood conference. The post is in part interesting for the words and pictures that describe the event, because Tom is a wonderful story-teller, and in larger part interests me because it explores the notion that the population not yet embracing social media, or the Internet generally, still might. And it might actually mean something.
I don't know the answer to that. Maybe he'll tell us.
But what Tom says gives me hope, that maybe the 'social' in social media can get past it's own nose into the larger world where social issues are very large indeed.
Go Tom - I'm willing to suspend disbelief one last time.
---
You "had to be there" at the Tallahassee Conference in part because the resonant messages and human guidance of neighborhood grassroots activism - at least in Florida - have not yet tapped into the powerful tools coming online through social media networking.It reminds me of what bix was doing at a grassroots level with the Portland Communique, before few were doing it. I don't think he's doing it anymore, and I wonder if that's because he got tired of trying to tell a stranger about rock-and-roll, or if he told the stranger and the stranger didn't care?
I don't know the answer to that. Maybe he'll tell us.
But what Tom says gives me hope, that maybe the 'social' in social media can get past it's own nose into the larger world where social issues are very large indeed.
This turning toward others drives new links -- consider, on the level of individuals, the explosive power of Facebook, or mySpace, which claims 110 million active users a month. People are discovering common causes; their communities of interest are self-organizing online and passionately sharing best practices. And unlike the real world -- where today's mainstream media reports are tomorrow's hamster fodder -- these new media voices, dialogues and activities continue to persist in the ever-present, open and transparent digital record.Wouldn't it be interesting if social media became socially relevant? If it blew open the dome on its own biosphere and began to make a difference in real people's communities, neighborhoods, and lives.
Go Tom - I'm willing to suspend disbelief one last time.
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July 01, 2008
pool summer pool summer pool summer pool summer
can i just say that it brings me so much joy to be waterfied and sunified?
in the water i float on my back, waves rocking me, i sing songs to the sky, i pray, i smile, i do weightless jumping jacks i couldn't do on land, i trace clouds with my eyes, amazing grace, i am whole.
June 30, 2008
June 27, 2008
June 26, 2008
Loren Feldman Gets a Web Design Refresh from Dave Winer
Dave Winer, who is the registrant of 1938media.net has created a new homepage for Loren Feldman, whose Don Rickles mocking shtick has become about as old as... Don Rickles. Dave's homepage design features some of Loren's best work!
Looks like some similar domains are available for those involved in the latest parody parade looking to launch an offensive defense strategy.
I don't know much about the origin of this feud, but it's going to be interesting to watch how this plays out. Especially with Dave entering from stage right.
---
Looks like some similar domains are available for those involved in the latest parody parade looking to launch an offensive defense strategy.
I don't know much about the origin of this feud, but it's going to be interesting to watch how this plays out. Especially with Dave entering from stage right.
---
well i missed the subway kid dying on twitter thing...
I guess I was too busy getting kissed to death by a grateful little dog (few posts down friends) to catch the jared-from-subway-died twitter mishap today.
Louis Gray Not Blue has a good rundown of what happens when the echo chamber tunes in to its own reverb, and suddenly twitterers were all a-twitter tweeting the news of the subway guy's demise.
Except that the whole thing was urban legend and Subway-Jared is just fine.
Cindy McCain on the other hand is probably still sneaking Vicodin. I took one after my surgery. I can hardly blame her, addict-thief that she is...
But I digress.
Louis noted that the ripple effect of popular twitterers tweeting bad information in this case had tens of thousands of followers of Kevin Rose of Digg and Adam Ostrow of Mashable mourning Jared's death before lunch.
Louis thinks that those who twitter should fact-check before tweeting 'breaking news' as a solution to the potential harm of false tweets (known pre-1999 as rumors). I think 1) fact checking online is overrated, 2) twitter is not a news-breaking service but ubiquitous IM and inherently untrustworthy yet entertaining overall, 3) that you can always count on the self-correcting nature of the Internet.
That's how you'll know when I tweet, "Surgeon General reports 140 character thinking causes brain damage," that I might be telling the truth.
---
Louis Gray Not Blue has a good rundown of what happens when the echo chamber tunes in to its own reverb, and suddenly twitterers were all a-twitter tweeting the news of the subway guy's demise.
Except that the whole thing was urban legend and Subway-Jared is just fine.
Cindy McCain on the other hand is probably still sneaking Vicodin. I took one after my surgery. I can hardly blame her, addict-thief that she is...
But I digress.
Louis noted that the ripple effect of popular twitterers tweeting bad information in this case had tens of thousands of followers of Kevin Rose of Digg and Adam Ostrow of Mashable mourning Jared's death before lunch.
Louis thinks that those who twitter should fact-check before tweeting 'breaking news' as a solution to the potential harm of false tweets (known pre-1999 as rumors). I think 1) fact checking online is overrated, 2) twitter is not a news-breaking service but ubiquitous IM and inherently untrustworthy yet entertaining overall, 3) that you can always count on the self-correcting nature of the Internet.
That's how you'll know when I tweet, "Surgeon General reports 140 character thinking causes brain damage," that I might be telling the truth.
---
June 25, 2008
Only In Amerika...
...where anyone can be President, and any any any really any anyone can be first trollop, I mean lady.
Cindy (not brady) McCain said at a recent rally that she is and always has been proud of her country (unsaid: unlike that obama bitch). TBogg says why:
-
Cindy (not brady) McCain said at a recent rally that she is and always has been proud of her country (unsaid: unlike that obama bitch). TBogg says why:
Where else could Cindy McCain get away with stealing drugs donated to help impoverished Third World people in order to keep that damn monkey off of her back. And where else could she walk away unscathed? To be fair, she was under a lot of pressure at the time because her husband was up to his wattled neck in the Charles Keating Affair, and now look, he's going to be the Republican candidate for President. So not only is this a great country, but it's also a very forgiving country, and that has to count for something...-
-
o this little dog
And I mean to tell you it's the laaast thing we need.
Truly. I don't have to tell you about the price of gas and how you have to drive everywhere in this megalopolis just to l-i-v-e. (FWIW, when was the last time a large bag of Lays potato chips -- which I didn't buy but did admire in amazement -- cost over $4? Answer: NEVER.) And did I mention healthcare bills up the ying yang? I know I'm singing to the choir here my sisters and brothers.
So when my sister told me about this starving, lonely, neglected mother dog next door to her (one puppy dead, one 'gone,' and the other now belonging to my sister) who wasn't being fed or watered (except when she'd sneak over to do it), and when she told me the owner told her to just find someone to take it--he didn't care as long as it was gone soon--and when she asked me to look at it with her while I was visiting last weekend, my question to YOU, dear readers, is why the heck did I not drive away?
Why did I go back to that dog pen in the glaring sun with no shade in the 100-degree heat and see this 4 pound shaggy black little mama dog sitting there so scared and so lonely? No babies, no friends, no family, nothing but flies and muddy water.
This is a matter of mathematics. We already have two dogs, two cats, one (currently) hamster, one beta, and a variety of insects who consider themselves kin. I should not have walked back there. I should not have picked her up. I should have driven away.
And that's what I did. With four little paws on the floorboard of the van, planted near the air conditioning, with two of the most grateful eyes I've ever seen looking up at me.
And we're calling her daisy.
She eats cheap dog food and runs around naked despite the list of Walmart dog clothes Jenna had in mind, and she eats out of jenna's old baby bowls and sleeps in a cat carrier. And I think she thinks she's in heaven.
---
Truly. I don't have to tell you about the price of gas and how you have to drive everywhere in this megalopolis just to l-i-v-e. (FWIW, when was the last time a large bag of Lays potato chips -- which I didn't buy but did admire in amazement -- cost over $4? Answer: NEVER.) And did I mention healthcare bills up the ying yang? I know I'm singing to the choir here my sisters and brothers.
So when my sister told me about this starving, lonely, neglected mother dog next door to her (one puppy dead, one 'gone,' and the other now belonging to my sister) who wasn't being fed or watered (except when she'd sneak over to do it), and when she told me the owner told her to just find someone to take it--he didn't care as long as it was gone soon--and when she asked me to look at it with her while I was visiting last weekend, my question to YOU, dear readers, is why the heck did I not drive away?
Why did I go back to that dog pen in the glaring sun with no shade in the 100-degree heat and see this 4 pound shaggy black little mama dog sitting there so scared and so lonely? No babies, no friends, no family, nothing but flies and muddy water.
This is a matter of mathematics. We already have two dogs, two cats, one (currently) hamster, one beta, and a variety of insects who consider themselves kin. I should not have walked back there. I should not have picked her up. I should have driven away.
And that's what I did. With four little paws on the floorboard of the van, planted near the air conditioning, with two of the most grateful eyes I've ever seen looking up at me.
And we're calling her daisy.
She eats cheap dog food and runs around naked despite the list of Walmart dog clothes Jenna had in mind, and she eats out of jenna's old baby bowls and sleeps in a cat carrier. And I think she thinks she's in heaven.
---
June 23, 2008
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