Please Let’s Have No More Unfriendly Comments About FriendFeed

While it may not have carved out the giant slice of the social media pie that Twitter has, FriendFeed  has something truly exceptional: The individuals who make up the FF community. It is a community that is largely comprised of  good-hearted, wicked-witted and fierce-brained souls who are deeply loyal to each other.

That FriendFeed is special is something I firmly believe — even as a former member of that particular community. (A status revealed in the interest of full disclosure. Similarly, it should be noted that my reasons for leaving had nothing to do with the service or the other folks using it. If you have a year where two people to whom your family is close die in rapid succession, you too might consider spending much more time connecting with those important to you face-to-face as opposed to screen-to-screen.)

But that community is also one that has been feeling more than a little worried ever since Facebook bought up FriendFeed, a feeling perhaps best summarized at the time it happened in this witty yet wise post by Louis Gray.

Thus, it is completely understandable that the community took some offense to Robert Scoble’s comment on the current state of FriendFeed the other day. If someone hurts your friends, you get angry. You defend your friends. Simple as that. And that’s just what people did – some eloquently and some in a more brusque manner. But the reactions to Scoble’s comment that can be glimpsed below the initial post demonstrate what is best about FriendFeed – it is an excellent forum for rapid interchange and discourse rather than just a way to broadcast your own “look at me, look at me!” message. (I’m looking at you Twitter.)

It seems unlikely that Scoble realized quite how disrespectful the tone of his comment seemed or how massive the impact of one of FF’s foremost cheerleaders seemingly turning on it would be — though he almost certainly has an inkling of it now.

Consider the impassioned and articulate response to Scoble crafted by FFer Lindsay Donaghe:

“<plea>
Please, Robert, I know that you’re disappointed in what has happened to FriendFeed and you feel like you need to take out your frustrations on something, but it’s time to take your own advice and leave quietly if you’re going to leave. FriendFeed may not serve your particular needs anymore but your needs seem to be very specific, decidedly not mainstream, and difficult to comply to. That doesn’t mean that FriendFeed is not a valuable service to others with different needs. You don’t have to leave, but there’s no point in making things harder for the rest of us who support the service by trying to hammer the nails in the coffin while we are still pushing up the the lid for air.

You are actively fulfilling your own prophecy by chasing people away from FriendFeed and inciting people there to unsub and block you so that your feed is less and less interesting. And then you are insulting the rest of us by declaring that all the geeks have left when it’s your own efforts in sabotage (or lack of in pruning your feeds) that are making your experience worse, while claiming that you’re trying to spur someone into action to be FriendFeed’s new hero. But we don’t have that knight in shining armor to champion for FriendFeed and return it to its former glory. If anything, you were the most likely candidate. Now we just want to be left alone to use FriendFeed the way we are comfortable to using it. It’s time to stop the abuse.
</plea>”

How many other online communities would inspire commentary with that much depth of feeling and intelligence behind it?

Not Being Competent: Why The Peacock Network Is Looking Like A Turkey These Days (UPDATED)

If there were ever a major television broadcaster in need of reputation management (if not outright salvation), it’s the folks who have managed to generate great publicity for two other networks while simultaneously shredding their own status. And all in the space of a few days.

Oh NBC, you’re having quite the week.

The First Domino That Fell…

It was just a few days ago that NBC made the unprecedented move of canceling the well-received, brilliantly-acted drama Southland. Admittedly dark in tone, this Los Angeles police drama was under the aegis of now-former-NBC-golden-child John Wells, the same John Wells who drew viewers and plaudits to a network now hemmorrhaging viewers as executive producer of ER, Third Watch and The West Wing.

While the show’s sophomore season premiere had been pushed back to October 23rd, the show remained in production and six episodes were in fact completed. Furthermore, the premiere was anticipated by both critics and fans. As Gawker noted:

“The good-for-NBC Southland… did well in its original Thursday night at 10pm slot last season, where it debuted to an audience of about 10 million and won its time slot.”

And then, suddenly, the network – which surely was already acquainted with the raw and authentic tone of this remarkable show – suddenly found it “too gritty” for a 9 p.m. timeslot – a space the show was forced into because of NBC’s headscratchingly daft decision to have Jay Leno on at 10 p.m. five nights a week.

Reaction

Clearly, the network was not prepared for the size or venom of the backlash to follow.  As NPR’s Linda Holmes noted in a particularly stinging analysis of the situation

“All ribbing of Jay Leno aside, NBC’s decision yesterday to cancel Southland, a police drama that was to return to the schedule later this month, signals an abandonment of a decades-long commitment to drama that’s regrettable for the network, its viewers, and the creative people who continue to try to make things that are good and interesting and worthwhile.”

Nor did the cast and crew go quietly. Michael Cudlitz, who shone as John Cooper, a tough, mentoring cop who happened to be gay, expressed his profane and distinct displeasure via Twitter and tried to rally fans of the show to support a pick-up of Southland by another network.

Making the Other Guy Look Good, Part I.

The campaign seems to be working. According to The Hollywood Reporter, TNT a basic cable network with a natural pairing for this show in the form of Kyra Sedgwick’s off-beat procedural The Closer seems interested in scooping up Southland:

Four days after the abrupt cancellation of sophomore series “Southland” by NBC, chatter intensifies that the gritty cop drama may find a second home at TNT. TNT was an obvious choice as it shares a corporate parent with Warner Bros. TV, which produces the critically praised series with studio-based John Wells Prods. But sources on Monday indicated that talks between the two sides are advancing. ‘We continually look at all programming opportunities that fit our portfolio of brands,” TNT said in a statement.’

So if TNT does indeed take in Southland, they look smart by taking in a show that already has completed half a season’s worth of episodes, improve their line-up and win the gratitude of those of us who are sick of so-called reality television and can’t quite seem to appreciate the charms of Jay Leno.  While NBC looks cheap for preferring the much less costly talk show option — and foolish if Southland achieves great ratings on another network.

Less than Gleeful – or Making the Other Guy Look Good, Part II.

As if all that wasn’t bad enough, yesterday the news broke that NBC allegedly heavy-handed Macy’s into rescinding an invitation to the cast of the witty, wonderful show Glee. Could it be that the rating-challenged broadcaster of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade does not want the talented kids starring in rival network Fox’s hit appearing? Seems like it according to an article in The Washington Post:

“An NBC insider said the network traditionally works with Macy’s to decide what performers are approached about doing numbers during the parade. In this case, says the network insider (who also did not want to be named because the person also would get in trouble), Macy’s had extended the invitation to “Glee” before informing NBC. A Macy’s rep wasn’t going there — and would only tell the TV Column that the event’s “bookings process is fluid and because of that we don’t confirm [who's performing] until Nov. 1.” Which is hooey, according to people we talked to at other non-Fox, non-NBC networks that have had cast members from their shows perform in the parade in years past and who say those bookings are often locked in as early as mid-October. Which is, of course, now. For the record, NBC and 20th Century Fox TV declined to comment for this column.”

If you’ve seen the kids starring in Glee, you know they are incredibly talented and truly adorable. This was a move akin to clubbing baby seals – and may have resulted in the cast doing a tour instead. More money for Fox and more good publicity for Glee while NBC is once again left looking like a true turkey.  At least it’s just in time for Thanksgiving….

UPDATED:  Whoops!  NBC seems to have inadvertently given the Glee cast even more positive exposure According to the Los Angeles Times, they will be performing the National Anthem at the third game of the World Series.

UPDATED AGAIN: Looks like Southland is indeed going to TNT. (The irony is, of course, I have no idea if it will be picked up by any Canadian channels….)

Hiatus

It’s summer and I have a small child to chase hither and thither.

As such, there will be no new posts before Autumn.

But please do come back and check in when the calendar turns to September.

Be well & happy.

An Environmentally Friendly Cigarette? Are They Blowing Smoke Up Our….

Flipping through May’s issue of Toronto Life, I was rather surprised to be greeted with a full-page ad for du Maurier cigarettes.

But what held my attention was a marketing move so audacious that it was hard for a second to decide if it was demented genius or utter stupidity that inspired it.

The advertisement- which can be seen here via a piece in the Toronto Star - claimed that the brand had, in effect, gone green: “We have updated our packaging to reduce its impact on the environment,” the copy trumpets.

It then goes on to describe how the foil in the packaging had been replaced by paper “making it kinder to the environment.” Further, emphasis was placed on how the brand’s new cardboard packaging “meets standards supporting sustainable forest management.”

While that’s all well and good, didn’t any of the folks who signed off on this campaign see how ridiculous signing off on greenwashing a cigarette brand is?

I’m not against smoking or smokers – they have enough scorn to deal with, as well as an addiction that can be all-consuming – but I am really riled by the fact the company would consider the public so stupid that they would not see this as a blatant case of using a genuine concern about the environment in the name of making a few extra bucks.

I suppose it is admirable that the packaging is less harmful to the planet, it’s just a pity that the product itself still is.

Social Media And Its Role In The Panic-demic

As former member of the fourth estate, I feel quite elegiac about the sound of the presses slowing towards an inevitable stop. Ever since I saw His Girl Friday as a very small child, I wanted to be a reporter. [And who wouldn't - Roz Russell was gorgeous, bantered beautifully with even more beautiful Cary Grant and got to do good through the power of the word!]

Today, however, I find myself in the surprising  and uncomfortable position of being more than a little miffed at my paper- and broadcast-based journalistic brethren. Their eagerness to point the finger at social media as panic-mongers of DOOM as the Swine Flu crisis develops.

REACTIONARY REACTIONS?

An example of the digi-pointing can be found in a blog by Milo Yiannopolous of the UK’s Telegraph who notes:

Twitterers are saturating the Twitterverse with scaremongering and nonsense about swine flu via the #swineflu hashtag. Let us be clear: swine flu aint some hot internet meme. It’s not a lolcat or a great flash game. It is a serious disease.

The speed with which idle chatter about swine flu is propagating, at the hands of those (it seems almost wilfully) ignorant of the facts, is terrifying and may cost lives. It has now become impossible to separate hysteria from vital news. For perhaps the first time, Twitter has become a hindrance and not a help to newsgathering and to the public seeking information.

And closer to home, the usually level-headed and excellent news source NPR has also chimed in, with  Evgeny Morozov noting that

despite all the recent Twitter-enthusiasm about this platform’s unique power to alert millions of people in decentralized and previously unavailable ways, there are quite a few reasons to be concerned about Twitter’s role in facilitating an unnecessary global panic about swine flu.

You’ll forgive me if I state that this sounds a bit like sour grapes. True, one of the justifiable concerns about social media is that there is a dearth of fact-checking. And yes, there are idiots out there who will play the Web 2.0 version of the game of telephone, terror edition.  But has there never been a panic caused by a broadcast network or a newspaper? Truly? Rumours never have flown because of a hyperbolic headline or an over-emphatic piece on a 24 hour news network?

ANOTHER LOOK AT SOCIAL MEDIA IN RELATION TO SWINE FLU

No one is downplaying the fact that this is a potentially deadly illness and that people have been tested positive for it on several continents. The threat is real and frightening.

However, it is also true that almost nobody has looked at the positive ways social media has been used in the course of this porcine pandemic.

Just to offer a few examples:

The Centre for Disease Control has been offering updates on Twitter such as

“20 confirmed cases of swine flu in U.S. 1 hospitalized. All have fully recovered. http://bit.ly/uycgL #swineflu”

And over on FriendFeed, one of its users has created a Swine Flu room which aggregates “various real-time information streams on swine flu from across the web,” making it a reliable and timely source of information.

The CDC has also used YouTube to present a video by Dr. Joe Bresee of its Influenza Division dealing with the signs, symptoms, transmission and treatment of Swine Flu.

So, in fact, social media has been a means for calming the public and providing it with a stream of accurate and useful information – which is not a story you are likely to see in your local paper, if in fact you still have one.