Flame Wars need not apply! - 6 views

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  #1 Fredric Markus on 25 Aug 08

   

  I remember that the early 1990s I was enthralled with the potential that Internet email presented.
  I could, with a little attention to detail, converse with people around the planet. For a geographer, this was swell news because my sense of place was suddenly expanded and already populated at that!
  
  Someone started a discussion list about Minnesota politics. That was another terrific opportunity for online dialogue. Someone got into the discussion who was often rageful and didn't make a lot of sense. Tempers rose and the list had to be withdrawn because there wasn't much content, just brightly burning flames
  
  Then along came David Brauer and Minneapolis Issues. He's a very balanced fellow with all sorts of community background. He eventually set up a small group of individuals to make assessments of the Issues list ground rules. No doubt, this group buffer spared all of us from the vitriol and argumentes ad hominem because while one could take issue with decisions by trhe group moderator, one could appeal past the moderator to this review board. So no throwing verbal rocks at the moderator.
  
  Some folks wouldn't take "no" for an answer and eventually discovered that the blogosphere and the opportunity to craft personal websites provide outlets for expressions too spicey for a general discussion.
  
  I'm writing sixteen years after I first came to grips with the new digital media and the landscape is now much more settled. I'm pleased to have understood the new medium well enough to have been able to craft an explanatory website on the occasion of Minneapolis redistricting in 2001. My early efforts have been joined by a rich variety of online assets germane to this activity, not the least of which are the products of GIS technicians in public agencies at every level of government.
  
  A phenomenon that still eludes me is the arrival of text messaging. A major consideration here is that these are interpersonal communications and tend to be very brief. I notice similar opportunities for "once over lightly" in the Facebook "wall" and a goodly number of other online chat tools. YouTube and other live image transmission assets are now ready to hand with the arrival of much greater bandwidth capacity for individuals. The proliferation of camera phones and universal wireless transmission are also quantum leaps.
  
  We are also experiencing a much nuanced capacity for online political spin. Bear in mind, please that I was a paid partisan speechwriter more than forty years ago. One could interject various inferences but the turn-around time was much longer than what we now take for granted. Now the turn-around time is near instantaneous and content is routinely echoed on cable channels. Now if one has an ax to grind, a hair turned sideways, a veritable forest fire is well within reach.

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">I remember that the early 1990s I was enthralled with the potential that Internet email presented. <br /> I could, with a little attention to detail, converse with people around the planet. For a geographer, this was swell news because my sense of place was suddenly expanded and already populated at that! <br /> <br /> Someone started a discussion list about Minnesota politics. That was another terrific opportunity for online dialogue. Someone got into the discussion who was often rageful and didn't make a lot of sense. Tempers rose and the list had to be withdrawn because there wasn't much content, just brightly burning flames <br /> <br /> Then along came David Brauer and Minneapolis Issues. He's a very balanced fellow with all sorts of community background. He eventually set up a small group of individuals to make assessments of the Issues list ground rules. No doubt, this group buffer spared all of us from the vitriol and argumentes ad hominem because while one could take issue with decisions by trhe group moderator, one could appeal past the moderator to this review board. So no throwing verbal rocks at the moderator. <br /> <br /> Some folks wouldn't take "no" for an answer and eventually discovered that the blogosphere and the opportunity to craft personal websites provide outlets for expressions too spicey for a general discussion. <br /> <br /> I'm writing sixteen years after I first came to grips with the new digital media and the landscape is now much more settled. I'm pleased to have understood the new medium well enough to have been able to craft an explanatory website on the occasion of Minneapolis redistricting in 2001. My early efforts have been joined by a rich variety of online assets germane to this activity, not the least of which are the products of GIS technicians in public agencies at every level of government. <br /> <br /> A phenomenon that still eludes me is the arrival of text messaging. A major consideration here is that these are interpersonal communications and tend to be very brief. I notice similar opportunities for "once over lightly" in the Facebook "wall" and a goodly number of other online chat tools. YouTube and other live image transmission assets are now ready to hand with the arrival of much greater bandwidth capacity for individuals. The proliferation of camera phones and universal wireless transmission are also quantum leaps. <br /> <br /> We are also experiencing a much nuanced capacity for online political spin. Bear in mind, please that I was a paid partisan speechwriter more than forty years ago. One could interject various inferences but the turn-around time was much longer than what we now take for granted. Now the turn-around time is near instantaneous and content is routinely echoed on cable channels. Now if one has an ax to grind, a hair turned sideways, a veritable forest fire is well within reach.</div>

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