"Write now is good."

Searching for tweet-blogging

Image via Hjem

As I microblog (tweeting here) when I have a lot of non-blog writing to do, I've been looking for a way to feature choice tweets (of mine) on my blog. I tend to tweet interesting links I find, and I've been thinking about having a function to incorporate more lengthy discussion around a tweet.

At this point, there is no fluid integration which allows tweeters/bloggers to pick a tweet and have it automatically published on their blog. The tweet/blog conversation space I would like to see — and I think many others would, too — doesn't exist yet. If anyone knows of this functionality, please drop a comment. Based on comments I read at Get Satisfaction, I think TypePad may be working on this.

A tweet of 140 characters or less is a completely different way of communicating from a thousand-word blog post. A tweet, however, can be a conversation starter, but only if a space exists for users to carry on digitally, instantly, and easily. Also, I'd like to archive some tweets and present them later for further discussion, which is a blog's function, not that of a Twitter account.

Yesterday on Twitter, I followed a link from @anildash's tweet on his blog post "If you didn't blog it, it didn't happen." If you tweet or are simply interested in microblogging, I recommend reading it, as it brings up many issues for writers and technologists to consider about digital publishing in any format.

I also learned from Anil's post that Twitter will let users retrieve only their last 3200 tweets. While my tweet amount falls far below that threshold now, it will continue to move towards that limit. What do I do once I reach it? While I don't need to save all my tweeted minutiae, there are some that I'd like kept. Perhaps Twitter should incorporate an archive function within it, much like the "favorite" function, and a warning to users once they are within their limit, much like an email account (i.e., "You are using 80% of your allotted space. Please consider deleting files."). Anil also mentions ThinkUp, a social issue media app that "captures your posts, replies, retweets, friends, followers, and links on social networks like Twitter and Facebook." For archiving our social media lives, this is definitely on the right track.

When tweeting fluff becomes microblogging short-but-important missives, users will want a way to keep them. My homemade solution is to choose tweets I want to feature on my blog and then manually (not automatically and integrated between sites) make a post around them. This will help me extend the conversation my tweets have started while I'm doing lots of non-blog writing but still want to blog.

If anyone has any other ideas, please drop a comment. Meanwhile, my first tweet-post is in the works.

Print-your-own warning labels for bad journalism

These journalism warning labels created by self-described "geek comedian" Tom Scott resonated across the Web. I saw them at popular design blogs like Swissmiss and NOTCOT, which have massive audiences and tend to propel their finds to Blogville's collective focus.

What other products in our lives have warning labels? Cigarettes. Alcohol. Toxic substances. High doses of radiation. Medication.

It is telling that labeling media with similar warnings seem to ring true with so many, and that is hopeful because it means that people recognize the compromising influences on journalism.

Bonus question: The primary function of journalism is _____________________?

If you'd like to print these labels, there are PDF versions for the UK and the US; volunteer translators have also created them in nine additional languages — check them out here. (The original Illustrator file is available for additional translations.)

PSFK Conference on April 2nd, NYC

Heads up, Creatives! The PSFK Conference in New York City, this Thursday starting at 9AM, offers an inspiring lineup of speakers in digital publishing, tech trends, green design, the arts and communications. A bit about its background:

Tailored for creative professionals, strategists and the media, we will host 12 lectures and panels on topics that include arts & culture, design, digital & mobile technology, marketing & advertising, sustainability, social media and publishing.

Attendees come to our events to share ideas with likeminds, so beyond the talks we will curate interactive experiences in the venue that bring our core themes to life.

PSFK Conference New York is the 8th conference hosted by PSFK following successful installments in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Singapore.

Past speakers and panelists include creative visionaries and innovators from companies like Apple, BBC, Microsoft, MTV, NASA, Panasonic, Starbucks, Wieden + Kennedy, and the Guardian, and globally-recognized and inspiring creative minds including Shepard Fairey, Kate Moross and Jeff Staple.

Tickets are still available. If anyone reading this attends and blogs about it, drop a comment back by here so I can (a) read your blog post, and (b) link to it so others can read it. Thanks!

Education magnified: lessons from a news hunt

Photo: "magnifying glass" by chrisjohnsonbeckett

NewsTrust has wrapped up last week's education news hunt, and I've put together some preliminary thoughts about what I learned from co-hosting it. I'll soon post additional links and quotations from other NewsTrust editors to add more context, and will include relevant stats from the hunt.

UPDATE (February 12, 2009):
--- Complete news hunt results and analysis, including the top-rated stories, are located here: "Top Stories on Education" by Derek Hawkins, with Fabrice Florin and Kaizar Campwala.
--- I co-hosted this news hunt with fellow NewsTrust editor Dale Penn, whose most insightful take-away from the week is located on the NT blog: "From our host, Dale Penn".

-----------
After participating in the news hunt, I feel much more informed about current issues and major opinions in education. The best articles captured more subtle aspects about how truly complex a school, classroom or a student's life can be; these pieces went beyond a quick, simple, pro-and-con issue treatment.

Regarding which stories I chose to review, I realized I'm often drawn to local stories because I want real examples to learn from; theory only goes so far in the classroom. Local stories often looked at specifics of problems. As reviewers—and as educators, parents, teachers and students—we're interested in case studies, as successful ones could be models for use in other—even our own—venues. Many national opinion pieces primarily discussed national policy, and they are sometimes confirming or enlightening, but are often not practical or useful in solving specific educational problems.

In rating quality stories, a well-written, solidly sourced and in-depth piece about a local issue trumps a more general opinion piece about national policy. During the news hunt, I read many echo pieces in various sources which nearly repeated other opinions or editorials. While important in reaching different markets, they didn't always add much new to the debate, or inform.

Most opinion pieces were about national (not local) education policy, and this may be a trend for awhile. As education issues come into sharp national focus through debate about the new stimulus package, education policy makers will continue to make themselves heard. As school budgets get cut during this recession, communities will clamor to save threatened electives and programs. After seeing many educational opportunities slip away during the past eight years (the limitations of NCLB, being one example), there is a cogent urgency now for communities to own education again. If citizens want better schools—and a better world society—then everyone has to stay vigilant in speaking up and making sure that happens. With President Obama and Secretary of Education Duncan, the tone has changed and there seems to be room again for many voices. This could inform a higher level of debate going forward. Time will tell if this is fully reflected in media coverage.

Even though education is often not breaking news, this topic is incredibly newsworthy. Thoughtful, thorough and consistent education reporting—particularly on state and local levels—could make local communities more aware of and interested in what is happening in their neighborhood schools. It would be a great public service if media outlets invested more in covering education. With the current newspaper crisis, however, many outlets have their very survival driving editorial choices; how education (and all topics, really) is covered depends more heavily now on a variety of external market forces and not necessarily journalistic principles.

More information to be added soon. Information added—see above update.

Want to improve education? A news hunt may lead the way

Photo: "365÷52 Day 4: My Year in Playmobil 1/52"  by brotherxii

This week, I am co-hosting an education news hunt over at NewsTrust, a site which rates quality journalism. Through February 8th, readers and reviewers at NewsTrust will submit as many articles on education as they can find for the entire community to review and comment on.

Question: So, how could a hunt for news actually improve education? 

Answer: Increase knowledge on a topic = increased power to affect change.

Throughout the news hunt week, people who participate read many articles and greatly expand their knowledge about education. By submitting and reviewing the articles, reviewers become more discerning about which articles are best, and which information is most relevant. Participants read others' reviews, also, taking in other community member observations and opinions, adding another dimension to their own understanding of the topic.

By the end of the week, reviewers have immersed themselves in a week-long, community-led exploration into the current state of education worldwide. Because so many people participate, the collective mind critiquing these articles covers vast ground, learns more and becomes "smarter" about the topic; thus, so do participants.

If we become more knowledgeable about the complex issues behind education, we become empowered to help our local schools. Fortified with newly found facts and viewpoints on education, news hunt participants could participate more in their local communities. NewsTrust provides a continually refreshed resource of the best, most current education articles as a reference.

The state of education affects all members of society. With a landmark education stimulus package in the U.S. on the cusp of being implemented, now is an exciting time to focus on crucial issues which certainly will determine the quality of our future.

Interested? Click here to submit articles and start reviewing.

Also, on the right-hand side of this blog, I feature a NewsTrust widget. If you're a "news hound" (Thanks, Dale!) who would like to feature links to quality journalism on your blog, click here to get this feature.

Any questions? Leave a comment and I'll answer them.

A city of books, media stacking, and making more room to read

 

Photo: "media stacking" by Will Lion

A few worthwhile finds from my recent Web travels are:

1. Are you a "media stacker"? Read this TimesOnline article "Hello? I'm on the internet - and watching the television" to find out.

2. "The Buzzwords of 2008" is full of overused, wordy gems. On this New York Times' list, you'll find digital cliff, staycation, and Phelpsian, among many others. The article is co-written by Grant Barrett, "a lexicographer specializing in slang and new words, ... co-host of the public radio program 'A Way With Words' and head of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society." Accompanying illustrations by Jessica Hische are witty and original.

3. "This is where we live" is a stop-motion animation of a city made entirely of books. Over 1,000 copies of various books from U.K. publisher 4th Estate were used to make it. From ViaComIT.

4. Make more room to read! Change This and 800CEORead are working together on an innovative benefit for Room to Read. The details:

For $30.00, we are putting together a Mystery Box of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for, the best book of 2008 in its category, along with 2 other titles from last year that were submitted for the awards. As a bonus, we will include a copy of this year's In The Books, our annual review of business books. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders.

Room to Read promotes increased literacy in the developing world by establishing libraries, computer labs and even schools in communities with few educational resources. It is a powerful organization which makes real and lasting positive impact. If you're not familiar with the group, I suggest clicking through and looking at what they do; it is inspiring.

If the Internet is a copy machine, then...

Photo: "You've reached the office of Mr. Copy Machine" by Shoreline 

The opening words of "Better Than Free", a new ChangeThis manifesto by Kevin Kelly, grabbed my attention:

The Internet is a copy machine. At its most foundational level, it copies every action, every character, every thought we make while we ride upon it. In order to send a message from one corner of the Internet to another, the protocols of communication demand that the whole message be copied along the way several times. IT companies make a lot of money selling equipment that facilitates this ceaseless copying. Every bit of data ever produced on any computer is copied somewhere. The digital economy is thus run on a river of copies. Unlike the mass-produced reproductions of the machine age, these copies are not just cheap—they are free...

This made me think back to my pre-Internet days. While listening to a favorite band's song on the radio was free, getting access to that band's entire album usually meant buying it at the record store. Getting access to a new book meant either borrowing it from the library (if other voracious readers hadn't gotten to it first) or purchasing it from a bookstore.

Most people bought newspapers and magazines without reservation. Home delivery subscriptions — right to the front stoop — was often the preferred method of receiving them.

Before we knew what the World Wide Web was, we had free access to creative works, but that free access seemed a lesser alternative to owning an actual copy of that work. If we could afford a record, CD or book, we would buy it, and that money went to the creators — after a long line of creativity-related (sometimes) middling "middlemen" first took their cuts. We fans then had full access to our beloved works; we could listen to or read them at a whim and could share them as we wanted, within strictly defined technology boundaries (e.g., having access to a dual-cassette recorder or a wondrous Xerox machine).

While libraries had copies of periodicals and publications in "reading rooms", they would not let them to be checked out to take home. The only viable way to enjoy a magazine or paper was to buy a copy, and it was affordable.

Seeing how many media outlets now struggle daily to survive, as their collectives staffs work to produce content that Web users now expect to be free — yet costs real money to produce — I read Kelly's treatise very closely. In proposing what is "better than free", he describes "eight uncopyable values".

What are they? You'll have to read his manifesto to find out.

It is a concise, focused read. Solutions for this painful period of media transition are out there, and Kelly's eight "generatives" could be a basis for many of them.

If you create online content, are involved in social media, or just want to catch a glimpse of what the future may hold for media, reading it will be worth your while.

And, if you want to discuss "Better Than Free" after you read it, head back to this post and comment.

Do you know how to vote? This year, it may be a bit tricky

Photo: "Vote Here Vote Aqui" by myJon

As far as public service announcements go on this blog, I rarely feature them. There are so many worthy causes, my blog would no longer be about its focus if I wrote about all the other topics I cared about.

Today, I make an exception.

Election protection is, unfortunately, a necessary aspect of voting because in 2008, U.S. voters are still faced with a number of impediments to casting their ballots for candidates:   

-- long lines
-- lack of paper ballots at crowded precincts
-- incorrect voter rolls
-- unhelpful or ill-informed precinct staff
-- electronic voting machines which function incorrectly and/or flip votes

*** As of evening November 3rd, the group Election Protection reports that already 100,000 calls have come in to report problems with voting.

Some have also used deceptive tricks during this election season in an attempt to deter voters:

-- fliers which claim that one's voting precinct has moved to a new location, when it hasn't
-- pamphlets or phone calls that falsely claim, due to overcrowding at the polls, the Republicans vote on one day (the real election day) and the Democrats vote the following day (too late to have their votes recorded)
-- blatantly false and inaccurate "robo calls": recorded messages that spam landlines with lies and distortions about candidates

In case you were wondering, acts of voter suppression are criminal offenses.

In an ideal democracy, everyone should be able to vote quickly and easily, on machines that work in polling places staffed by knowledgeable and helpful professionals. We should be able to leave the voting booth knowing that our vote was registered and will be counted, not worried that it may be hacked away or mysteriously lost or miscounted due to machine or human error — or because of someone's underhanded political agenda.

If you're in the United States and over the age of 18, then you have either voted before in an election or have a basic idea how to do so. Still, knowledge is power, so please take note of the following information; this election will have a historically high turnout, and you may be placed in the position of having to defend your right to vote.

1. At any time, please call toll free 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report voting problems you are having.

2. On Twitter, use "#votereport" to contact the Twitter Vote Report, who will in turn, contact the appropriate group about your specific problem.

These articles detail what voters may be up against both in early-voting states and on Election Day, Tuesday, November 4th:

° "Web Hands Voters Power" from The Baltimore Sun
° "Voters Receiving Misleading Robo Calls in Ohio" from CNNPolitics.com
° "Citizens, Media Use Social Media to Monitor Election" from PBS's MediaShift
° "'Tis the Season for Tricking Voters" from Yahoo! News and the Associated Press
° the "Voting Problems" site from The Huffington Post
° "Misleading Calls in Virginia Caused by Computer Glitch" from CNNPolitics.com
° "Video Your Vote" project from YouTube and PBS

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it or refer you to the right source.

No questions? Alright, then. Let's vote! Every vote counts — especially yours!

Twitter Vote Report: Insuring voting works, one tweet at a time

My new post "Insuring Voting Works, One Tweet at a Time: Interview with Allison Fine, Co-Creator" is now live on The Huffington Post's OffTheBus.

The all-volunteer group Twitter Vote Report will be monitoring tweets from now through November 4th and beyond to look for those which report voting problems. When TVR finds them, they figure out which of their vast coalition of election protection groups can help fix them.

With record turnout predicted during this historic presidential election in the United States, many believe there will be problems and system overwhelm as droves turn out on election day. Indeed, Twitter Vote Report has already found problems in early voting states and have worked to get them corrected.

TVR is an example of how social media, technology and an energized constituency can contribute to making a democracy function at its best.

If you're a U.S. citizen who can vote, read to learn about how Twitter Vote Report can help make sure your vote counts. If you are a U.S.-presidential-election spectator from outside America, check to see one way citizens here are participating to make the democratic process work.

Related posts:

° Tech-connected youth use new media to access presidential debates
° It's time to get on "OffTheBus"
° Will the next U.S. President be a blogger?
° Politweets — Political expression, in 140 characters or less
° Artists and Obama: Images + Technology = Votes

UPDATE: This piece was featured in The Huffington Post's "Voting Problems" section. Its tagline: "Some news is so big, it needs its own page." If you are interested in election protection and voter disenfranchisement, this page is your link to current happenings in this area, so do check it out.

Could universal health care eliminate poverty?

Over the past week, I've received quite an education on the connection between poverty and lack of health insurance. I was co-host of a “news hunt” at NewsTrust, a vibrant media literacy project online. The NT community looked for the best journalism on health care, and read and reviewed a wide range of health care stories. Those that stayed with me most explained how the lives of the working poor have been destroyed when they lose health insurance.

Solving poverty is a complex issue, but one within our control if we act widely and directly on it. One solution to poverty in the United States is to provide universal health coverage. The working poor, who amount to roughly 80% of the 45 million uninsured in the U.S., will benefit most from this.

During the news hunt, I read and reviewed 36 health care stories (including a podcast and a documentary) from many sources. Based on what I've read, I know now that there is a consistent, tragic pattern that occurs when the working poor lose health insurance. The basic steps are:

1. working adult gets sick and loses job
2. after losing job, they lose their health insurance
3. they can no longer afford medications, so they get sicker
4. since they have no insurance, they receive either no care at all or substandard health care which they have to pay for themselves
5. the bills pile up
6. still sick, they cannot work, so they lose their home and belongings because any money they have goes to basic subsistence and paying medical bills
7. very few rebound, and many die

Providing health insurance, available no matter their employment status, would solve this horrible situation. It would help the working poor in multiple ways. It would give them access to any needed medical care for themselves and their dependents. They would stay healthy and be able to look for and get additional work. If sick workers could no longer work, they would still get care, which is the right and compassionate thing to provide.

When people are healthy, they can still contribute meaningfully to their communities; when many in one community are unemployed and sick, their community suffers along with them. With health insurance, adults can take care of the children who depend on them; without it, their children may lose, either temporarily or permanently, their mother's or father's care.

During this economic downturn, prospects for the working poor will absolutely become more dire. Adding guaranteed, universal health insurance to the poverty equation would directly improve the quality of their lives. To read some of the top rated stories from NewsTrust's health care news hunt and decide on this issue for yourself, click here.

THANK YOU to those who left comments here that they too would join Blog Action Day:

- Crafty Green Poet writes on "Poverty and the Environment".
- Lily Hydrangea penned "Blogging for Poverty".
- Nipun at 50 Word Fiction has an "uber short" take on the theme.
- Rachel's post is titled "My skin or my soul" over at The Slow-Cooked Sentence.