Scripting News - Latest Comments in He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

maurice coosman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:28:15 -0000

Classy all the way, guy. Yes, Scott Simon's definitely a boor and an obscene cad. On the other hand, you're a gentleman of the highest rank.

Thanks but I'll keep listening to Scott. A pro and a mensch.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Nollind Whachell — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:15:34 -0000

1 million followers?

"Worthless." - Seth Godin
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

I couldn't agree more.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Peter Judd — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:58:56 -0000

When people talk lovingly about "my paper", they're talking about something they DIDN'T produce. That's the interesting point - about the transference. But then, newspapers are a scarce commodity that you pay for - there's almost no choice. So a reader's alignment is deeply personal. Blogs exist in a world of abundance and I doubt that anyone refers to a third party website or blog as "my website/blog". And that's simply because they can and probably do produce their own. I once had my own favorite beer that I would probably refer to as "my beer". I was passionate about that beer and I wouldn't drink any other. Then I brewed my own. And that became "my beer". Of course! And then I drank anyone's beer - and I become cosmopolitan!

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Mike Power — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:26:00 -0000

Has anyone checked who these 1,022,105 followers are? (whoops, sorry it's up to 1,028,191 now) Take a look at the first page. Most haven't even tweeted. What a load of cobblers. Twitter 'expert' indeed.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Austin Burbridge — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:10:33 -0000

Back in the twentieth century, when I was in college, “my paper” was the New York Times.

Since the late 1990s, “my paper” has been Scripting News. Blogs are personal, so one wouldn’t say “my blog”; but it is the thing I read first, and with a degree of trust — in its contents and its leadership — I might hitherto have accorded the Times.

A generation ago, I might have had a “hometown newspaper” that I would have trusted, not merely to appeal to my prejudices by confirming my received ideas (for that is what radio and TV do), but also to lead (something that newspapers did through much of the last century).

There was a time when newspapers — and the columnists they employed — made it their business to provide thoughtful and prospective opinion for citizens. (“Citizenship” used to be participation, not a status.) But newspapers have abandoned that leadership. (Radio and its child, TV — as creatures of advertising — never actually aspired to leadership of opinion).

Whether Scripting News “gets it right” or “gets it wrong”; or whether or not it covers subjects in which I am interested — those are not the reasons why I choose it as my “priority read.”

It is that Dave gets there first. He doesn’t follow received opinion, he leads with his own opinion. And — mirabile dictu! — when he’s wrong he says so. Whether right (or whether wrong), he provokes thoughtful consideration of subjects which — according the “media” — hardly exist, but which frequently turn out to be most significant: Scripting News is a “canary in a coal mine,” or an early warning system.

Dave also has another, sterling virtue — not much admired anymore but all the more admirable for that — he does not gossip. In today’s news and media environment, that is rare indeed.

In the early- and mid-twentieth century, one might have looked to a trusted newspaper columnist (in politics, Walter Lippmann; in film, Andrew Sarris). Now one turns to some bloggers — Dave Winer among them.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

dave — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:44:06 -0000

And by the way for the comment about people "just" sitting behind the
computer and spouting -- fuck you.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

dave — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:44:03 -0000

I thought that too until he said blogs suck. Then he lost my support.
If you're right and he's so smart he'll figure it out and take it
back. Until then he's a dork.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

maurice coosman — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:25:04 -0000

scott simon actually is quite smart. he's also sensitive and incisive in his commentary and reporting - yes, he does real reporting, not just sitting behind a computer and spouting. he's one of the good guys. i celebrate his success. we all should.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

dave — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:56:02 -0000

He didn't say it -- I did.

It was kind of a joke about social media experts. It's not much of an
expertise, imho.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Erik S. — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:27:03 -0000

Where does Scott Simon represent himself as an expert on Twitter? Certainly not in that interview.

Simon might have a blog, I don't know, but that interview isn't posted on his blog, that's a transcript on NPR's website. I'm sure he didn't do the transcription and I very much doubt he wrote the little blurb at the beginning that you object to. Maybe he signed off on it, but I wouldn't count on that. You might be able to argue that NPR is positioning Simon as an expert on Twitter, but if they are, the actual interview undermines that. In the interview, Simon himself mentions that he has a million followers on Twitter, but only to ask Shirky what that really means.

I missed the segment you Tweeted him about, but it does sound like he doesn't get it. Both that people are proud of their own blogs, but also that people profess to love blogs they follow the way he claims they profess to love a newspaper. My wife, for one, quite loves some of the blogs she reads, including the two that do the work of local papers for our Seattle neighborhood.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Zacqary Adam Xeper — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:20:49 -0000

Meanwhile, all the actual experts are spending time actually talking to people instead of babbling about how they're social media experts.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

dave — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:13:47 -0000

He didn't respond.

You didn't need to ask the question.

A million followers, how could he address each of us personally?

He's a social media expert.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Zacqary Adam Xeper — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:09:29 -0000

And did he respond?

Do I even need to ask that question?

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

dining table — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:42:01 -0000

I love Radio Lab. It is a great show and I have been following it on Twitter.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

Judson — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:27:50 -0000

I'm going to assume he means my paper, as in "The NYT is my paper, the paper for me" and not my personal newspaper. Because of course everyone that has a blog calls it my blog sometimes... Still, assuming that use it's crazy, it has nothing to do with love, it has to do with how many blogs you read... people used to read one paper, now they read lots of blogs, and/or watch tv, and/or follow people on twitter facebook etc.

Oh golly, i love my single rss feed! :P

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

scifiknitter — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:03:41 -0000

Once upon a time I used to love Scott Simon's show, but that was quite a while ago. He has probably always been full of himself, but he no longer has a light touch when it comes to broadcasting his opinions.

RadioLab is a great show. I also love Science Friday, and their Twitter stream is interesting, and not too frequent. Check them out at http://twitter.com/scifri.

Re: He has a million followers (Scripting News)

playerx — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:18:23 -0000

*sigh*