There’s a man on my train wearing a hat with a crown over it, an imitation smart glass HUD, a cape, and a sword and shield. Gotta say, I’m a bit jealous.
How we Dooced blogging — and its community
This Vox profile of Heather Armstrong — Dooce — is a deeply melancholy read:
In the time that Armstrong had been absent from her site, bloggers had been almost wholly replaced with social media stars who relied on Instagram to gain a following. The word “influencer” had taken over, and quickly. Bloggers had risen to fame thanks to deeply personal posts; Instagram personalities operated in a much more visual medium, relying on photos of cute kids and beautiful homes for likes.
It’s both affecting in its coverage of her mental health issues, but also in how clear it makes it that we lost something profound in the shift from blogger to influencer.
Lots to think on.
This is a sobering read by James Kirkup: The truth about David Cameron and the ‘mad, swivel-eyed loons’
“Under Cameron and the person who called at our table, Conservative membership numbers more than halved, handing ever more power to a smaller group of people whose interests and priorities are extremely hard to reconcile with those of the country as a whole.”
Shoreham Beach, two years ago.
Inner voice: “This keyboard is filthy. I should clean it before I write any more.”
Deep inner voice: “Wow. Your procrastination game is ON FIRE today.”
Wow. DJI are going head to head with GoPro with the DJI Osmo Action Camera. The Hero 8 had better be great.
Probably my most self-aggravating work habit is composing emails in my head - and then never getting arournd to typing them out and sending them.
Politics warning: right-wing comics activists are abusing Twitter’s policies on transphobia to silence their critics.
This behaviour pattern will spread quickly, as it exploits the automated nature of much social media blocking.
![mp-photo-alt[]=](https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/772/2019/17c55384ff.jpg)
What’s that sound? Oh, it’s the influencer bubble popping:
”Most global internet users lack confidence in what they see and read online, with only 8% believing that the bulk of information shared on social media is true, dropping to 4% when it comes from influencers.”
Ooops.
Finally got around to adding another of my key services to my site: Live Event Capture - where I create rapid posts from event content, working in conjunction with the skilled editorial cartoonists at Drawnalism.
Self-employment is basically a years-long oscillation between being stressed about money and being stressed about volume of work.
My notes from the RSA event Schools Without Walls might be of interest to the education-minded amongst you.