CSotD: Twitterpated
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The idea in today's Non Sequitur that a network news organization would report on something this ridiculous on the basis of a single tweet is, of course, ludicrous. But that's what humor is about: Taking reality and exaggerating it to an absurdity.
In real life, they wouldn't report on it until it had been re-tweeted at least once.
I have no particular need for Twitter, but I'll say this for it: At least the concept of "follow us on Twitter!" makes sense, since one of the pillars of modern marketing is audience engagement. If fans want to know every thought, every rumor, every snack in your world, by all means, let them follow you on Twitter and build that loyalty.
This is in contrast with claims of "We want to hear from you!" that go back to Stone Phillips and Jane Pauley in the early days of all this interconnectedness. The notion that Stone and Jane were going to go through all those comments themselves was nonsense, and while "we" didn't, technically, have to mean Stone and Jane themselves, it was clearly implied. And I don't think anybody goes through the comments once they reach a certain mass — neither the talking heads who call for them, nor any of their staffers, interns or other minions. They care that you are engaged, but they don't care what you have to say.
I've ranted on this topic before, but let me add that the phony interaction of the wall-sized TVs in "Fahrenheit 451" seems to have melded with "Network's" Howard Beale enjoining people to yell "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" with this important distinction (almost always lost when "Network" is invoked): In the movie, the network exploits the anger Beale has brought out, but that isn't Beale's message. Simply shouting out your window into a thunderstorm is useless, and the often-replayed clips of that moment miss what emerges at this point of the movie. Howard Beale didn't just preach anger; he preached disengagement from the beast.
The other part of the clip linked above (embedding being "disabled by request") is the transformation of the evening news to take advantage of the growing mob — if you don't watch the full 4:52, at least watch the first 30 seconds to see that.
Watching the network news these days is like watching "The Best of the Internet." I haven't sat down with a stopwatch and I don't really care how many actual minutes are being spent replaying viral videos and chattering over the latest Internet sensation, because any of it is too much.
It is a bread-and-circuses distraction and counter to what should be the mission of the news, particularly since they very rarely bother to go behind the story and explain what actually happened. Like the network execs exploiting Howard Beale, they simply repeat the rumors and share in the outrage, passing on nonsense simply because they can generate ratings by pandering to the boobousie.
Which brings us back to Wiley's cartoon. Which isn't funny. Except that it is.
In other news:
I'm reposting this 2009 interview I did with Rhymes with Orange creator Hilary Price at her annual open studio, because tomorrow I am going to see her at the Paint & Pixel Festival in Northampton, Mass., and, if you are within range of the place, you should go, too. And, if you are not, then you can watch this instead, instead of besides.
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