hal tweets ·7:42 AM
A short piece I wrote for AOLnews about why Peep culture trumps privacy online. http://bit.ly/bQECsC
2008,
1:31 GMT
Guy Sells His Twitter Account on Ebay
Posted by: Hal
So here’s an interesting little tale. This guy Andrew Baron sold his Twitter account on Ebay a few days ago. I don’t know how much he got for it but a blog that reports on Twitter doings reported that at one point the bid was up to $1,125.00 USD. As Andrew Baron had 1,636 followers, the blog notes that each of his followers are worth 0.69 USD at the very least.
So I guess the question is: how much is a good account worth? I’ve got 500 Facebook friends, should I cash in? Deal or no deal? It’s sort of like buying a World of Warcraft character that’s already been built up to have tons of extra powers. Something like that. Anyway, from a peep perspective many interesting questions are raised, mostly around how much dedicated followers with a demonstrated ongoing interest in peeping your life are worth.
For the record, here’s what Andrew put up on Ebay about selling his account: “It would be silly to just delete this account I have here, especially if there is someone out there that had like interests and had something to say or wanted to get involved in some relevant conversations. In terms of monetary value, I have no expectations or needs at all so I decided not to put a minimum bid on this. Whatever will be, will be.”
2009,
11:52 GMT
Courtney Loves Double Peep
Posted by: Hal
Here’s an example of one of my favorite (new) media phenomena: the Double Peep. In the Double Peep, someone—usually a celebrity—peeps him or her self by revealing far too much about their thought process through some online format. Then the mainstream media takes over and does the rest: relentlessly promoting an overshare barely anyone noticed until it takes on a life of its own.
Here are the details as culled from an article in the Independent which managed to twist this mindless tidbit of celebrity gossip into a very serious sounding 700 word piece titled: “Love’s online spat sparks first Twitter libel suit”.
Basically, Courtney Love has been obsessively tweeting (is there any other kind of tweeting?) on the subject of the character of her former fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir. The Austin, Texas designer (now the recipient of millions of dollars of free publicity as countless media outlets run this news story accompanied by a pic of Love in one of the dresses she designed…see below..) has launched a lawsuit for, among other things, accusing her of being a “nasty, lying, hosebag thief.” Nice tweet Courtney!
Apparently all this has to do with a $4000 bill for clothes received Love never paid, which caused the designer to…ah…stop sending her clothes.
Hey I wish I could parlay a dispute over four grand into a multimillion dollar publicity campaign - I mean lawsuit, sorry - that will probably benefit both these women far more than hurt them.
Double Peep strikes again. This isn’t the first time, and it definitely won’t be the last, that somebody entertains us by offering an unfiltered portal into their thought process (however addled) and, in the process, offers the media a ready-made story peeping the peep. Consider the lawsuit is a bonus for everyone involved.
2009,
12:25 GMT
Two Articles on Social Networks that Are Also a Bit About Me
Posted by: Hal
Article #1: In the Globe and Mail, it’s called Twitterstalking. Talks about using Twitter to monitor others without their necessarily knowing, people such as ex’s and even current partners. It’s pretty interesting, particularly the discussion of wanting to know everything about your loved ones’ lives, but also needing to trust them and do their own thing.
Article #2: In the Montreal Gazette and the National Post. It’s called Facebook vultures and it deals with people who use Facebook friends to achieve particular aims, then toss them aside. My ideas are discussed in the bottom half of the article. The main focus of this story is someone who is used by a FB friend and real acquaintance as the go-between to meet another person, a local celebrity that the FB vulture wants to meet.
Both articles are actually pretty interesting, of course I would think so, since they both feature my ideas in them. What’s fascinating is the varied ways Peep culture mechanisms are altering core values: We can stalk, we can pretend friend, we can spy on ex’s and loved ones. All this stuff is pretty much okay so long as it stays online. But when it enters the real world, it brushes up against real world morality and suddenly it’s not right. More and more, the Peep culture is brushing up against and confronting everyday life.
McLEODWOODSIDE/The Globe and Mail
2009,
14:03 GMT
Facebook is more like TV than We Want to Admit
Posted by: Hal
In the Peep book I argue that we are using things like social media and twitter and YouTube as entertainment, first and foremost. It’s a more immersive, interactive form of entertainment, but it’s still entertainment. As such I reject the argument that we’re becoming more social through social media. I also reject the supposition that our latest techno-fueled obsessive past-time is making us smarter or more knowledgeable about the word around us.
Slowly, empirical evidence is emerging to support my argument: Facebook is more like TV than it is like socializing or reading or learning.
Most notably, a recently released study out of Ohio State University that finds that, surprise surprise, college students who use Facebook have lower grades than kids who don’t. Here’s a decent news report on the study that tells you everything you need to know. Basic summary: 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, usually checking it several times. Meanwhile, those students who used Facebook had a “significantly” lower grade point average than those who did not use the site.
Why is that? Because this stuff is part of our shift from Pop to Peep culture. It’s still entertainment and distraction, not some newly evolved way to learn, connect and meaningfully interact. People, for better and for worse, social media is the new TV.
Daisy Jones, a college student in the UK, deactivated her account after realizing FaceBook was affecting her grades. According to the Ohio study, 79% of Facebook-using students believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work. Pic from the Times Online.
2009,
16:31 GMT
Cat Peep
Posted by: Hal
Had to get this up there as soon as I heard about it, and props to Nora Young of CBC’s Spark, where I heard about this. Basically, a guy set up an automatic cat door triggered by RFID tags that unlocks for the family’s two cats.
A diagram of the cat door. See more pics and commentary here.
The door unlocks, a picture is taken, and a tweet and a picture are automatically sent to the two cats’ 1500 twitter followers. I kid you not. Cat Peep! (Actually planning, one of these days, a longer post on animal peep in general so if you have any more material like this, send it over.)
Penny the cat heads in for snacks.
The Bloggist
Hey, I’m Hal Niedzviecki. I’m a writer/thinker who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with my wife and daughter. Up till now I’ve always considered myself a private person. But at the same time I’m fascinated by people who effortlessly open themselves up to the whole world. So I’ve… more...
A short piece I wrote for AOLnews about why Peep culture trumps privacy online. http://bit.ly/bQECsC
New content on the Broken Pencil website! Short fiction: Shack the Clam Girl + How to Make Your Own Game Cabinet http://bit.ly/b6CHLP
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