Four this week. So what…
Brangelina Is Big News, so Spare Me Your Condescension
I rarely have time for memes, but the I’m finding the latest to be as tiring as any: since news broke of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s divorce and the predictable over-coverage by so-called news media, some folks wishing for us to follow more substantive news items (like Donald Trump Jr comparing refugees to Skittles– deep!). So, people are grousing online that those posting such dumb things should pay penance by displaying knowledge of something more serious, but completely unrelated.
I love a good grumpy rant as much as the next guy, but I don’t think these posts are winning any hearts and minds (ok, hearts. Minds are of less relevance, which is part of the issue). I have seen a ton of these, but I will pick on Alex Howard, as he is a damn good tech journalist (now an analyst, I recalled after doing some investigative journalism for this post) on his own, a good guy,* and his post is public:
OK, another one, for variety, from a Chicago Tribune writer:
Free idea: Brangelina news only accessible if you type in the date of the next presidential debate
— Alison Bowen (@byalisonbowen) September 20, 2016
Again, not picking on the individuals- actually, I am picking on them, but I’m not saying they are being bad people. I understand the impulse to protect and promote the idea of “real” journalism, but we are not going to sway people to think better by making fun of their beloved pop-celebrity news stories. We are not going to convince CNN not to cover such stories when they have a 24/7 news cycle and not nearly enough real news. Let people have their cake.
I prefer my take; if you are going to post celebrity gossip, I want to know that you are a true aficionado:
Please only Tweet #Brangelina news if you can name your five favorite outfits at this weekend's Emmy ceremony #journalism
— Doug Haslam (@DougH) September 20, 2016
1. Kerry Washington's black cut out dress, 2. Tina Fry in green, 3. Khaleesi Emilia Clark in nude Versace sequins (more)
— Deanna Davis (@deannad) September 20, 2016
4. Taraji in yellow Vera Wang and Kristin Bell's nude fall floral #brangelina
— Deanna Davis (@deannad) September 20, 2016
Thanks, Deanna! You may post.
How Many Ads Would AdBlock Block if AdBlock Serves up Ads?
Let me get this straight: Google, who has a big ad business, had a relationship with ad tech company ComboTag, but broke off breaking bread with them over a deal they had to help AdBlock Plus serve ads. Do I have that right? Makes sense to me. I think.
I never bothered with ad blockers, as I block ads WITH MY MIND.
Photo credit: Steve Snodgrass
YouTube Gives Commenters More Stuff to Flame– I Mean, YouTube Community; Yay!
YouTube has announced the launch of YouTube Community, which will create a tab on YouTube channels for creators to share additional content. It’s easy to make fun of a social network play from the company that brought you Google Plus <sad trombone>; it’s also easy to remind folks that comments on YouTube are one of the legendary Great Cesspools of the Internet (along with Yahoo! Finance stock boards and now, apparently, Twitter).
But if a YouTube creator is tending a good channel, there’s no reason to think they shouldn’t be able to moderate a positive community, given that the tools work well. I am actually interested to see how this looks in action.
Twitter Goes Long
We have heard rumors in the past about Twitter allowing 10,000 character Tweets (ugh), but this other rumor, now being put into play, is actually quite good: now Twitter will not count images and other media against the 140 character count.
To me, this is not about making it easier to Tweet (it is! When I Tweet these posts, including one of the images will not be so much of a pain), so much as it is about Twitter lifting itself from its origins as a text-based service. That’s why it was 140 characters in the first place- that limit is largely superfluous now. However, I still like the limited text for Twitter- it forces you to be concise and creative within a strict limit- removing the “image penalty” for adding media is going to make things a lot easier for those of us who use the service- though it’s doubtful it will attract new people by itself. I’m still waiting for Twitter to find a way to make me use “Moments,” which I like but never remember to use.
*Yes, I used an Oxford comma; I thought it was warranted for clarity in this case. Now begone with your judgment.