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If You Don’t Have anything Nice to Say, Don’t Say Anything At All!

January 6, 2009 //
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That’s what my mum used to tell me when I was little.  Whenever myself or one of my siblings would criticise each other, or anyone else for that matter, this would be the response.

But here I relate this comment, not to sibling rivalry, or petty disputes, but to the world of social media and blogging.  I have been thinking about this for a while but it was a post by new media lisa which made me realise that others felt the same and how widespread the practice was!

If you have something to say, something useful which will benefit others, then say it, if you don’t, keep your gob shut and just listen!

I have been guilty in the early days of my blog, of rushing to release a news story in the hope of being the first, without adding anything of value to the discussion.  These days I try to stop and think about whether I am adding anything of interest to the debate or just regurgitating a story, if the latter, then don’t bother.  Sit back, let the news story unfold and wait for a more interesting post to come to mind.

Similarly with micro-blogging tool twitter.  I’m at the point now when I am going to stop following some people who tweet every 10 mins with some useful gumf that is of no interest.  If you have found a good news story, fine, got a new blog post, ok, even taken a good picture or commenting on the weather, acceptable, but please don’t give me a minute by minute commentary on your day, I don’t care that much!

I tend to tweet maybe once or twice a day when I have something to say, the rest of the time I am busy doing real work!

So there you have it, as new media lisa says, be extraordinary, and as I say, keep it shut unless you have something to say!

Co-incidently, the digital lookout is now on twitter! So if you want an update each time a new post is made, then you can follow me.  I promise only to post when I have something to say!

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Twitter Reports on the Mumbai Tragedy

November 29, 2008 //
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As the tragic events unfolded in Mumbai this week the world was glued to news feeds and reports in hope that the siege would end with minimal casualties.

But one news source stood head and shoulders above the rest for its speed of reporting and breadth of coverage….twitter.

The micro blogging solution was the centre for accurate and timely updates as the drama unfolded, so much so that the Indian government attempted to block twitter as it was worried the terrorists might be gaining insight into the army’s movements through monitoring tweets.

Although the circumstances were tragic, this was a true coming of age for twitter and an insight into how its immediacy and broad spanning network can be utilised to best effect for information sharing.  We will undoubtedly see future instances of its use when similarly tragedies occur.

Well done tweeters, for keeping the world up to date.  Condolences to the injured and dead, lets hope the terrorists get their come-uppance.

I’m off to update my twitter!

more info on twitters use in mumbai

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Twitter – a threat to government security?

November 13, 2008 //
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Apparently, Twitter is a threat to government security! And terrorists could be using it to communicate and coordinate attacks! reports cnet.

According to the US army the social media tool and micro blogging application Twitter could be a serious threat to government security.  In a paper produced by the Federation of American Scientist entitled, “al Queda-like mobile discussions & potential creative uses”, twitter is described and reported:

“Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences,”

The main threat is perceived by twitters usage through mobile telephony and the ability to exchange information in real time with a selected group.  Added to this the ability to direct users to other websites, gprs services and map locations, twitter apparently provides terrorists with the perfect tool for instantaneous communication.

But are terrorists actually looking at social media tools such as twitter to organise attacks?  It seems a little far fetched to me.  Im sure terrorists are looking for any tools available to keep below the radar but Im just not convinced twitter is going to be their communication channel of choice.  The report itself quotes twitters posted relating to the Iraq war sent by individuals involved.  The powers that be obviously have the ability to track twitter posts so surely will be picking up on anything even remotely threatening to international security.  Now obviously the secret services would not be able to react to real time communications via twitter but Im sure they would be sniffing around profiles which they thought were worth keeping an eye on.

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