Social Birmingham. Swedish Journalist Axel Anden travels to Birmingham to see if it’s true that we use social media for social good in a uniquely vibrant way. (He’ll report in Swedish in good time)
Speak to a Geek – Manchester does social media surgeries for vol orgs. Love the name – good luck.
Greenslade is cheerful about Fort Dunlop – Birmingham Post et al praised: “my visit to Fort Dunlop last Friday dispelled every one of those concerns (and prejudices). I found instead a vibrant newspaper office on a vast scale, operating with the kind of journalistic enterprise that was heartening to see and to experience.”
We are glum about losing Jo Geary to the times. (Congrats bab)
February 9th, 2009 at 11:16 am (#)
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep worrying about it – “geek” is not a helpful word when trying to increase people’s usage/awareness of computer tools.
It sets up a division between people who do/can and those who don’t – even if one doesn’t already exist.
I’ve been to too many talks/conferences/places where people were trying to help explain something really exciting useful or even game-changing and they started by saying “this is a bit geeky, but”.
No, it’s really exciting/useful/important and if you take a few minutes to enthuse about how it can meet a need or solve a problem then it suddenly becomes a worthwhile thing to use — making it something that people are happy to try and test (and learn to use).
There are enough barriers to people making the most of of technology and it’s associated concepts, without people trying to “reclaim the language” and causing confusion at the same time.
I think I shall try and write about this properly, stay tuned…
February 9th, 2009 at 12:09 pm (#)
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February 10th, 2009 at 11:50 am (#)
Speaking as someone who aspires to geekdom, I think “geek” is a useful word. It makes people who are comfortable and canny with computer technology seem less intimidating to technophobes and therefore helps people to make the transition.