30/11/2017

The archive contains older posts which may no longer reflect my current views.

# Manton's announcement that micro.blog is finally close to a full public launch couldn't have come soon enough.

I've said on a number of occasions that the first time I saw Twitter in 2006 I just knew that it would be a game changer. I didn't really know at the time exactly how it would evolve but I knew it was different and special.

It's just a shame that it has largely morphed into a battleground.

Hearing about micro.blog for the first time gave me a similar feeling and I credit it with revitalising my blogging.

No mean feat!

As I said yesterday, although micro.blog is reminiscent of Twitter (especially now that it has moved to 280 characters) with a timeline, @mentions, and conversations, I don't see or really use it as a traditional social network.

Some may use it that way, and it can certainly serve that purpose, but it is actually a network of (micro)blogs that allows you to interact with other bloggers.

And that makes it different, special.

I have seen comments from others users echoing my sentiments that micro.blog allows them to step back from the current cesspool of traditional "social" while not abandoning a social aspect altogether.

The focus on community without the usual gamification or metrics is key to this. The only number visible on the platform is how many people users follow and that is purely for discovery purposes. I'd argue that you could even do without the number and still serve the same end.

Manton should be proud of what he has achieved, with bigger and better to come as invite codes become a thing of the past, and it has been a pleasure to be part of it thus far.

Baby, it’s cold outside.

Winter has made its presence felt and a number of places here in the UK have seen their first flurries of snow.

And, sure enough, it’s cold outside.

But it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I noticed the change to the lyrics in Kylie Minogue’s version of the song.

The line ”Say what’s in this drink?” sung by the female half of the duet was changed to ”Say was that a wink?”

There may be other changes but that was the one I noticed.

Doing a search reveals a lot of criticism about the song being predatory with the male protagonist doing everything he can, including plying the woman with unknown drinks that may have been spiked, in order to keep her there.

The allusions to date rape are most frequently among its criticisms and, in our 21st century world with accusations of inappropriate behaviour all over the media, it’s easy to see why.

That’s why this piece, written by a woman and arguing the exact opposite, is particularly interesting.

The author refutes these interpretations by examining the context of the song and taking the lyric as a whole rather than as a collection of separate lines which can be construed independently.

I’ll let you make up your own mind but it’s a useful reminder that there are different sides to every story, different interpretations that can be made, and a warning against getting caught up in our own biases.

(See also the response to this and the piece here.)