I spent Saturday at the Grassroots Technology Conference put on by the Organizers’ Collaborative. It was great fun, with an inspiring opening keynote by activist Nick Jehlen, useful workshops and a lunchtime talk by Professor Paul Niwa about his project charting connections in Chinatown, called BostonChinatown.org.
OK, I’ll admit it. The great weather has an impact on my productivity. I’ve been doing things, just not things I can contort into social media relevance. So forgive me as I indulge in a little personal photo-blogging:
This seal at the New England Aquarium knows just how I feel on those hot days…
I’ve been reading Daily Kos for years, and though I rarely comment or post anything of my own, the site is a favorite of mine because of the quantity – and often quality – of content relevant to me both about politics and about the world. There have been some excellent user-created diaries about the floods in
But any site with Daily Kos’ size and with the ability for anyone to post comes the occasional excuse for those tasteless or cruel to show themselves. The death of Meet the Press host Tim Russert on Friday became one of those occasions. I avoided, and am not going to rehash, the offenses of some and the responses of those who took offense. But it did make me think about community.
There’s the common perception that people will say things via cover of internet anonymity that they’d never say in person, and I’m sure that’s true, but it’s an overstated excuse. When any community reaches a certain size, there are going to be people who stir up trouble or say things they shouldn’t.