Einar Thorsen

Professor of Journalism and Communication at Bournemouth University

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Twitter, Facebook, and social activism

October 1, 2010 by Einar Thorsen Leave a Comment

Malcolm Gladwell:

The evangelists of social media don’t understand this distinction; they seem to believe that a Facebook friend is the same as a real friend and that signing up for a donor registry in Silicon Valley today is activism in the same sense as sitting at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro in 1960. “Social networks are particularly effective at increasing motivation,” Aaker and Smith write. But that’s not true. Social networks are effective at increasing participation—by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires. […] In other words, Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice. We are a long way from the lunch counters of Greensboro.

Source

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: activism, culture, Facebook, malcolmgladwell, media, politics, socialmedia, twitter

Is Paul Waugh’s shock online defection the tipping point?

September 20, 2010 by Einar Thorsen Leave a Comment

Paul Waugh on leaving the London Evening Standard to join PoliticsHome.com:

The reaction from colleagues has been fascinating. A lot of them are shocked. Some people are saying I am the tipping point. But they all see that the future is online. When I started Tweeting, people said I was bonkers, but it has proved to be tailor-made for politics. It's a phenomenally quick and agile way of reporting.

Source

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: londoneveningstandard, onlinereporting, paulwaugh, politics, politicshome.com, tippingpoint

Government boycotts Question Time over Alastair Campbell appearance

May 28, 2010 by Einar Thorsen Leave a Comment

James Robinson reports as BBC accuses No 10 of political interference after it refuses to put up a minister opposite Tony Blair's former spin doctor.

External link

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: alastaircampbell, BBC, government, guardian, jamesrobinson, politics, questiontime

Journalism and ‘the words of power’

May 28, 2010 by Einar Thorsen Leave a Comment

Excellent, must-read from Robert Fisk:

This isn't just about clichés – this is preposterous journalism. There is no battle between power and the media. Through language, we have become them.

[…]

this vocabulary is not adopted through political connivance. It is an infection that we all suffer from – I've used 'peace process' a few times myself, though with quotation marks which you can't use on television – but yes, it's a contagion.

And when we use these words, we become one with the power and the elites which rule our world without fear of challenge from the media.

External link

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: aljazeera, analysis, Journalism, language, middleeast, politics, power, propaganda, robertfisk, teaching-example

The Internet election?

May 24, 2010 by Einar Thorsen Leave a Comment

Stephen Tall:

Did the internet change the course of the election? At a national level, probably not (or at least not much). But at a local level – whether for council or parliamentary elections – email and Facebook, blogs and Twitter, websites and YouTube can each make a real difference to an individual candidate’s campaigning efforts, offering them the chance to motivate supporters, and communicate directly with voters. None of these are a replacement for regular Focus leaflets and door-to-door personal contact; but they are an increasingly essential addition to our traditional pavement politics.

External link

Del.ici.us tags: stephentall politics election2010 internet campaigning

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: campaigning, election2010, internet, politics, stephentall

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