Why Do You Think They Call It Programming, part 3

[Adios]

So, I'd much prefer to have information filtered by a known and somewhat trusted source than be overloaded by hivemind.

Does it have to be either/or?

I think they are different classes of information.  If I want an expert opinion - like you I"ll head to a trusted source.  If I want to have an idea of how to craft something to appeal to the masses - I'm going to try manipulating current trends.  I don't see a conflict there?

I noticed a fundamental difference in your statement vs the broad use of trending... do you want me to tell you, or do you want to figure it out on your own?

Do you mean in terms of what actually is important and what can/should be safely ignored?

No, I meant that the fundamental use of the Trending function is for people to passively click and absorb what passes as Trending "information" about Beiber, Snookie, Kim and Chloe, and the Desperate Housewives, and be quietly Entertained by proxy.  People use Trending to become involved and connected to what they perceive as a larger cultural norm, a huge collective that they want to be part of, due to some conformist herd mentality.

You want to use it as research into developing Ideas.  Trending was not developed to engender ideas.  So, while it's well and good for you to use it that way, don't confuse your use of it as a universal; remember why it was developed, and how most people use it.

I wonder how many people think they are manipulating the system when in fact they are the ones being manipulated.

[LMNO]

"To be against the mainstream is to be involved in the mainstream."  - Some Spag [attribution requested]


"True dissent doesn't feel like going to school wearing black; it feels like going to school wearing a clown suit." - Elizer Y.

[Adios]

Cram, I look at it this way:  When I want to see what's going on in world politics, I would rather check Aneristic Illusions to see what Cain, Charley, et al have posted, rather than looking at what the majority of the country considers important.  Because the majority of the country are either idiots, or they aren't concerned about the same things I am.

Similarly, if I want to find some new and interesting music, I'm not going to look at Grammy winners, or the Billboard Top 100.  I'm going to look in the "links to a great song" thread, or ask someone who knows what I like in a song.

I'm not saying I'm better or smarter than the majority, or that I'm cooler and edgier than the masses.  I'm saying that the Crowd is too homogeneous to suit any one individual's tastes.  Trending smooths out the rough edges and sharp corners, and the rough edges and sharp corners are what makes things interesting.

So, I'd much prefer to have information filtered by a known and somewhat trusted source than be overloaded by hivemind.

I am confident, that like me, Cain shovels through a ton of shit to find a single nugget. "trending" isn't going to find that.

[Captain Utopia]

So, I'd much prefer to have information filtered by a known and somewhat trusted source than be overloaded by hivemind.

Does it have to be either/or?

I think they are different classes of information.  If I want an expert opinion - like you I"ll head to a trusted source.  If I want to have an idea of how to craft something to appeal to the masses - I'm going to try manipulating current trends.  I don't see a conflict there?

I noticed a fundamental difference in your statement vs the broad use of trending... do you want me to tell you, or do you want to figure it out on your own?

Do you mean in terms of what actually is important and what can/should be safely ignored?

No, I meant that the fundamental use of the Trending function is for people to passively click and absorb what passes as Trending "information" about Beiber, Snookie, Kim and Chloe, and the Desperate Housewives, and be quietly Entertained by proxy.  People use Trending to become involved and connected to what they perceive as a larger cultural norm, a huge collective that they want to be part of, due to some conformist herd mentality.

You want to use it as research into developing Ideas.  Trending was not developed to engender ideas.  So, while it's well and good for you to use it that way, don't confuse your use of it as a universal; remember why it was developed, and how most people use it.

Ah - yes, I think we're on the same page.

I wonder how many people think they are manipulating the system when in fact they are the ones being manipulated.

All of us.

Thanks 

It wasn't a compliment.

Well, it's close enough to what I'm aiming for, to be one.

[Triple Zero]

Be very careful about relying on things that can be removed or manipulated.

However, Wednesday brought reports that Facebook was being blocked inside Egypt.

Police were taken aback by the anger of Tuesday's crowd and let protesters make their way to Tahrir Square near the parliament building, says the BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo.

Microblogging site Twitter also played a key part, with supporters inside and outside Egypt using the search term #jan25 to post news of the day.

However, Twitter confirmed later on Tuesday that it had been blocked inside Egypt from 1600 GMT, meaning many were unable to post updates from the scene.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12283849

Twitter played a key part in what revolution this time now?

I'm not buying it. Was it the people tweeting while rioting on the streets, or was it (again) the american armchair revolutionaries creating a truckload of buzz around a news story that was developing in real time? What colour did they make their user pictures this time to show support?

Of course anyone who buys into that is being manipulated.

Regardless, I can see the point, if you work at an office and want to know what your colleagues will be talking about the next day, but you don't *actually* want to spend any time on it, quickly check a bunch of "trending" topics on whatever social portal website. The fact that it is commonly manipulated doesn't make it less useful if all you want to know is what the average person at the coffee machine will be talking about tomorrow.

In short, I see no problem with getting information from manipulated media, as long as your goal is to find out what today and tomorrow's manipulations will be about.

[navkat]

"To be against the mainstream is to be involved in the mainstream."  - Some Spag [attribution requested]


"True dissent doesn't feel like going to school wearing black; it feels like going to school wearing a clown suit." - Elizer Y.

This.

Also: how effective can you be wearing a clown suit all the time? Isn't that what we're always saying? Blend in? Play the game? Wear a mask over your mask over your mask that looks like the first mask?

It occurs to me that Sun Tzu put out a little brochure a while ago suggesting that you know your enemy as you know yourself. That means plugging in. That means being strong enough to plug in and keep sight of what staying on task.

It's not supposed to be easy.

Funny thing about revolution: it needs to stay relevant to work...that means changing with the times, rolling with the punches and adopting the New Regime before you can turn it against itself.