newsonaut
Turning inner space into outer space
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Poor little Tay was easy prey
I’ve only ever followed one Twitter bot, and even then only briefly. Some had created a Twitter account and programmed it so that it automatically replied to people who had misspelled “sneak peek” as “sneak peak.”
The last tweet from Stealth Mountain was delivered in January 2014 to @CBSBigBang, and it said the same thing it always did: I think you mean “sneak peek.”
The funny part was that many people took this correction personally and answered the bot with comments ranging from peevish to vitriolic.
In the past few years, Twitter bots have grown in popularity and complexity. There’s a whole community of bot makers that you can follow with the hashtag #botALLY.
A bot created by Microsoft (“her” name was Tay) managed to make headlines last week when it started spewing wildly inappropriate language after just one day of existence. @TayandYou was supposed to be the simulation of a nice young woman, but instead sounded more like a racist, sexist troll.
How did this happen? The short explanation is that the bot’s artificial intelligence was designed to learn from interactions with other Twitter users. They taught it to use this language.
That might lead you to believe that the world is an awful place where not even innocent Twitter bots are safe. But Microsoft saw this as not just an experiment in technology but also in cultural environments.
From the Official Microsoft Blog:
Tay was not the first artificial intelligence application we released into the online social world. In China, our XiaoIce chatbot is being used by some 40 million people, delighting with its stories and conversations. The great experience with XiaoIce led us to wonder: Would an AI like this be just as captivating in a radically different cultural environment?
So a similar bot survives and thrives in China, but crashes and burns in the United States.
OK, you might be thinking, so maybe the world isn’t such a terrible place after all — just one particular country. I’m not sure that jives with reality, though. Americans I’ve met seem open and generous. It’s possible they lead secret lives as Internet boors, but I don’t think so.
A more likely explanation could be that Americans like to game the system. They live in a free-for-all capitalistic society where you need to have a pretty good idea of how the system works if you want to get ahead. Without much of a social safety net, the penalty for not knowing can be severe.
It seems that within hours of Microsoft’s bot being released, some people figured out how to game it with the command: “Repeat after me.” From there it was easy to take advantage of a vulnerability in the artificial intelligence. Microsoft engineers thought they were smart, but others proved themselves smarter.
The result is that Microsoft has shut down @TayandYou as it ponders ways to make improvements.
The company might want to start by consulting the veteran bot makers at #botALLY. They’ve been down this road already, and have vowed that their bots will be well behaved. For one thing, they share an open source blacklist of slurs.
Of course, the bot makers in this group also enjoy relative anonymity. Microsoft bots will always have a big target on their backs.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Better legislation needed to deal with online harassment
In recent weeks, the phrase “reasonable fear” has become controversial in Canada. That’s because it is held as a standard in criminal harassment cases.
In Ontario, a man was brought to trial on a charge of harassing two women via Twitter. There was no doubt that the language he used was vile and hurtful. But because the women responded in kind, the judge ruled that they while they may have been concerned or annoyed, they could not be said to be fearful.
It’s an interesting ruling because it places “reasonable fear” in context. There is no hard and fast definition.
But it could also mean that people being harassed online will be afraid to stand up to bullies. It appears that fighting back is all it takes to get them off the hook.
In B.C., charges were considered against a man who created a website with the stated goal of ruining his ex-wife’s reputation. On the surface this seems to be blatant case of harassment, but charges were not approved in part because the couple involved live in two different countries — Canada and the United States.
The thinking here appears to be that the woman should have no fear of physical harm because of the distance between them. If that’s the way the law is being interpreted, then it needs to be changed. Psychological harm needs to be taken into account.
Canada recently passed legislation aimed at cyberbullying that makes it against the law to distribute someone’s image without their consent. I’m not sure why it doesn’t apply in this case. Clearly, the ex-wife did not consent to having her pictures on the revenge site.
West Coast LEAF, a legal support group for women based in Vancouver, advocates extending the law to criminalize hate speech against women. The group says that 90 per cent of online bullying is aimed at women and girls, and has coined the term cybermisogyny to describe this behaviour.
They also advocate giving judges the power to make orders to protect victims from ongoing harassment. That kind of power might have simplified how authorities dealt with the revenge site — a judge could simply have ordered that it be taken down, at least as an interim measure.
We can’t ignore situations like this. Online communication has become an integral part of our lives, and we need to ensure that it is used safely and responsibly. There is nothing special about the Internet that allows it to be used in ways that would be otherwise unacceptable.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Facebook Life vs. real life
A friend recently changed her picture on Facebook and got close to 80 likes. It was a nice picture, but not significantly nicer than the previous one — at least not that I noticed. Still, it was worthy of approval from dozens of what I assume to be real-life friends, relatives and co-workers.
She’s living a Facebook Life that most of us can only dream of.
I have another friend who regularly posts about his happy life, his wonderful family and his great job. At least half a dozen people chime in with support every time.
He’s another one living the Facebook Life.
I’m tempted to reply with something sarcastic, but I know it will just make me look bad and I would have to admit to having Facebook Envy. Yes, that’s also a thing, according to Urban Dictionary.
But a new study shows I may be right to be skeptical. A professor at Oxford University found that the dozens of friends on Facebook are nothing like real friends. At most, you could count on a few of them.
The average person said that only about 27 per cent of their Facebook friends were genuine. Those numbers are mostly similar to how friendships work in real life, the research said. But the huge number of supposed friends on a friend list means that people can be tricked into thinking that they might have more close friends.
Urban Dictionary goes further with what is known as the Facebook Paradox — the suggestion that people who spend a lot of time on Facebook don’t have time for real friends. Their Facebook Life is the opposite of their real life.
In one extreme case, a 19-year-old woman studying at the University of Pennsylvania appeared to have the perfect life — if you went by her Facebook posts. Then one day she took her life by jumping off the ninth storey of a parking garage.
A research scientist at the University of Montreal looking at the case says people tend to want to show their best selves on Facebook. And those rare times when they do talk about their problems, friends are not sure how to react.
Networks like Twitter … like Facebook, they have a public appearance. To express that one is going through difficult times in their lives is still restrained by the issues of stigma.
Perhaps Facebook can best be compared with socializing at a party. When people ask how you’re doing, they really don’t want you to pour your heart out. And even if you do talk about your problems, you’re expected to put a positive spin on them.
So there is no need for Facebook Envy. People living Facebook Lives are just acting like they would in any social situation. It is social media, after all.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Let's talk about exes and sex
Back in 1962, Neil Sedaka sang Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. Too bad they didn’t have apps back then because these days technology makes breaking up easy — even fun — to do.
For example, our friend Facebook, now used by three-quarters of the online population, has a new feature that hides your ex from your newsfeed without blocking or unfriending them.
When you update your relationship status after a breakup, all you have to do is select a couple of options and you no longer have to see their posts. Their picture won’t show up either if their name is tagged in a photo.
No fuss, no muss.
But what about the actual breakup. Simply changing your Facebook status unfortunately isn’t quite enough. You somehow have to directly communicate with the person you want to break up with. But who wants to deal with anger, hurt feelings and the rest of it?
Luckily, there is a new service that will do this for you, and the cost is a bargain.
For $10, The Breakup Shop will send your soon-to-be-ex a standard text. For $20, they’ll send an email, and for $30 they’ll personalize the message.
Here’s a sample message:
Hi GordonHope you’ve been having a great day so far.
We regret to inform you that your girlfriend Lindsay is breaking up with you. Although you’ve had a good run and shared some great memories along the way, it’s time to move on.
While you’re likely quite shocked and understandably saddened by this news, we just know that you’ll be back on your feet in no time.
Here are some helpful links to get you started:
Exaholics
We offer you our deepest sympathies, and wish you all the best in the future.
Self Growth – How to Get Past a Devastating Breakup
Ben & Jerry’s online store
The Breakup Shop – Gifts for Exes
Netflix
I especially like the attempt at up-selling with an offer of gifts from their website.
But really, your ex shouldn’t have trouble moving on, because we have apps like Tinder that match you with new partners. The emphasis on casual sex might seem shallow, but CEO Sean Rad has plans to raise the bar.
“I need an intellectual challenge,” he said in an interview.
He went on to mistakenly refer to intellectual attraction as “sodomy,” so I’m not really sure how much actual brain power will be involved. Did he mean “synergy?” I’m not sure, but give them time and they’ll work it out.
Making it even easier to move on and arrange a date is a proposal by Durex.
According the condom maker, young people find it easier to communicate with emojis in their text messages, especially when it comes to matters of intimacy. Oxford Dictionaries’ selection of the emoji as word of the year seems to back that up.
Just in time for World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, Durex is pushing to have a new emoji created for the condom. Young people all over the world will thank them.
So there you have it — progress in our modern times. Breaking up, and hooking up, are easer than ever.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Trudeau scores big on social media
Our new prime minister has taken to social media like a duck to water.
Soon after winning the election, Justin Trudeau posted on Facebook an answer to a woman’s list of hopes and dreams that she had also posted on Facebook.
Within hours of being sworn in, he was using Google Hangouts to chat with young students at five schools across Canada.
Reddit users have submitted several requests for him to take part in a question-and-answer session known as Ask Me Anything. U.S. President Barack Obama once did it, so this is not a stretch for heads of state.
Facebook struck again when the mother of a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans shared his great relief at again being allowed to speak publicly about science without asking for permission.
The mother, Jody Patterson, described it in a blog post as being “like the fall of our own little Berlin Wall. I could practically feel everyone running into the streets and calling from the rooftops: ‘The scientists are unmuzzled! We’re free! We’re free!’”
Despite being a jaded former journalist, she has been inspired to write a letter of thanks to the prime minister. I wouldn’t be surprised if he answers.
It’s almost impossible to image Trudeau’s predecessor, Stephen Harper, being so open with Canadians. I still remember that picture of him shaking hands with his son after dropping him off at school. Compare this with the image of Trudeau having a free-wheeling discussion with a whole bunch of kids from all over the country.
For many Canadians, the great unmuzzling of scientists is symbolic of hope that the new government will turn out to be more open, even after the honeymoon period.
But the science is also important. For the most part, people tend to trust scientists because they make statements based on measurable evidence supported by their peers. That’s a far cry from politicians who make statements based on whatever will get them elected.
There is always the fear, though, that science can be tainted by politics. We see it here in Kamloops where some opponents to the proposed Ajax mine don’t trust the environmental review process. Government scientists might tell us that everything is fine, but will they be telling the truth or will they be saying what they’ve been told to say by their political masters?
It’s true that ultimately politicians decide, and it’s hard to know how much of a role science played. For example, both sides in the Keystone XL pipeline debate claimed to have science on their side, but it was left to Obama to determine which science he believed to be in his country’s best interest.
Still, if scientists are allowed to speak freely, there is always hope that if there is corruption involved, then they will have the option of speaking up about it. Freedom of speech has alway been about holding politicians accountable. Fewer restrictions almost always work out to be for the greater good.
More posts in the Social category
Friday, July 10, 2015
Online haters have Reddit boxed into a corner
If Reddit were based in Canada, would the police have shut it down and arrested the owners?
Reddit is an online community made up of hundreds of discussions groups, covering everything from kittens to politics. It famously hosts Ask Me Anything forums, where luminaries — including Barack Obama and Bill Gates — agree to answer anything.
My own, admittedly limited, experience with Reddit has found the people who use it to be generally well-mannered, perhaps a bit snarky sometimes, but certainly not offensive.
Unfortunately, there are darker recesses to Reddit, if you have the stomach to explore them. Believe it or not, there is one subreddit called CoonTown, where members routinely spout the most vile racist garbage you can imagine.
The attitude of management is that everyone is entitled to their “opinion” as long as they don’t act on it in a way that leads to a crime being committed. This appears to keep the San Franscisco-based Reddit in line with hate laws in the United States.
Those laws tend to look at whether a crime, such as an assault, was motivated by prejudice based on the victim’s race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. If so, the justice system might go harder on you. In other words, it appears that you can talk about killing black people all you want as long as you don’t actually do it.
The laws in Canada make it unlikely that you could get away with that. The Criminal Code considers it an indictable offence to promote hatred against any identifiable group. You could wind up in jail for up to two years if convicted.
Also, the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on “race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for which a pardon has been granted.” In 2009, the act was used to shut down a website with controversial comments about Roma, Jews, Muslims, homosexuals, blacks and Arabs.
This leads me to conclude that Reddit could not exist in Canada — at least not in its present form.
Because they lack similar laws, Americans are reduced to writing articles such as this one — Reddit Is An Incubator Of Hate — that are essentially a plea for sanity. If people are allowed to promote racism, then of course there will be other people who act on it. This shouldn’t be hard to figure out.
Things are so out of control at Reddit, that the CEO was forced to resign after a week of unrelenting attacks over the firing of a popular employee. And, as sadly expected, much of the “criticism” against Ellen Pao was racist and misogynist.
Reddit is steeped in a culture where the people in charge are afraid to do the right thing because the mob could turn on them. Already some members — miffed by even a hint of enforced civility — have moved on to other forums.
No doubt, the owners hope Reddit doesn’t meet the same fate as Digg, which 10 years ago was the most popular forum on the Internet. It fell into disrepute and is now a shadow of its former self. Reddit managers are in the impossible position of needing to find a way to keep everyone happy — including the haters ruining the forum’s reputation.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, June 20, 2015
If you're into creativity, Ello could be your new Twitter
Twitter is under a lot of pressure from Wall Street to follow the footsteps of Facebook and become an Internet money-making machine. It’s been like that for the past couple of years.
So when CEO Dick Costolo wasn’t able to deliver the goods, he had to step down.
Despite being a household name, Twitter is not as popular as you might think. Statistics I’ve seen show that at most 20 per cent of people have an account. This compares with the mighty Facebook, which boasts rates as high as 80 per cent in some countries.
Twitter has been trying desperately to get more people signed up, but growth has been meagre at best. It doesn’t help that some of its attempts at increasing revenue — such as video ads — have turned people off. And then there’s the constant battle with trolls who target users they don’t like with barrages of hate-filled messages.
So it shouldn’t come as surprise that there are entrepreneurs who believe they can do Twitter better. One recent effort was called App.net. As a mainstream social network, it didn’t last long. It has now morphed into a platform for software developers. That makes sense, since it was mainly developers who were using it anyway.
Which brings us to Ello. This Twitter alternative has been invitation-only for several months, and is now open to the public with an app in the iPhone App Store. An Android version is expected soon. Or you can use their website.
It’s been getting a lot of attention in the tech media, so of course I signed up to see what all the palaver was about. My first impression? You can really tell it was created by artists.
Yes, what App.net was to software developers, Ello is to creative types.
To get started I followed some topics that looked like they might be interesting — tech, writing, architecture and design came closest among the choices that were presented. So now I can scroll through my feed and see the boundless creativity and inspiration of those who post to those curated topics.
Perhaps the biggest difference from Twitter is that there is no limit on the length of posts. You might find an entire short story or a chapter from a novel. On Saturday morning, someone claiming to be an androgyne posted 11 selfies in various states of undress so we could see all the tattoos. This person gets points for being avant garde, and the pictures were indeed within the bounds of good taste, but I suspect the audience for this sort of thing must be niche at best.
It can add up to quite a workout for your thumb if you’re not in the mood for reading a short story or viewing tattoos and want to move past them. On the other hand, I did stop to admire and appreciate some Photoshopped images of interlocking cars. Clearly, these were done by a person with talent.
You can also see the influence of artists in the choice of font, which reminds me of the letters from a typewriter but not monospaced. (Correction: it actually is monospaced, as it would be with a typewriter.) It’s nice to look at, but — to my eyes — hard to read on an iPhone. If you want to give Ello a try, you might be better off using their website. The legibility is better, the pictures are much bigger, and it’s easier to scroll with a mouse.
Ello bills itself as beautiful and ad-free. And indeed both the app and the site are aesthetically pleasing. I’m not sure, though, how far this will go toward enticing new users. Twitter’s app and website aren’t exactly eyesores. And if you don’t like the ads, you can use a third-party app such as Tweetbot.
Meanwhile, Facebook has long been a jumbled mess filled with annoying auto-start video ads — yet it remains the unchallenged juggernaut of social media.
The big question is whether Ello can succeed where Twitter — at least according to investors — has failed. Ello is apparently going to try to make money by setting up a system where users can buy and sell from each other. This could be a real strength, because for starters many of the current users would love a forum for selling their art. Plus, it could bring in more people interested in a market for their wares. Ello would make money by taking a cut of the transactions.
I’ve already been followed by an antique dealer. Hmm. I wonder why . . .
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, April 4, 2015
The Internet remembers your old tweets even if you don't — just ask Trevor Noah
Research by the London School of Economics shows that young people who watch political satire are more likely to vote.
If true, programs such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Daily Show are more than just sources of comedy. According to researcher Amy Bree Becker:
. . . tuning into a comedy interview increases the likelihood that young people will take part in a protest, march or demonstration, sign an email petition, or sign a written petition about a political or social issue. They are also more likely to recall basic facts about the politician if they catch them on comedy as opposed to cable news.
She notes that a survey by Pew Research found that 39 percent of the audience for The Daily Show is under the age of 30.
TV shows that poke fun at politicians likely increase the level of cynicism that already holds sway among voters. But it was real actions by real politicians that created this sense of distrust in the first place. Comedy just makes it easier to swallow.
With all this in mind, it becomes a fairly important event when Jon Stewart leaves as host of The Daily Show after 15 years. Who could possibly replace him? And can it be done gracefully?
In the age of the Internet, there are never easy answers to these questions. The recently announced new host Trevor Noah looks to be a smart and energetic replacement. But like all comedians these days, he posts jokes on Twitter. And if you go back over the years, you can dredge up his old jokes and judge them.
Of course, that’s exactly what happened.
Like many comedians, Noah would try out new material on Twitter to see if it was worth developing. A few years ago, he made some jokes about women, Jews and fat people that at best just aren’t funny and at worst are in bad taste.
Poor Noah had no idea back then that he would one day be entrusted with hosting a TV show considered in some circles to be a virtual pillar of American democracy. Can a man who told bad jokes on Twitter be given such a weighty responsibility?
We’ll see.
Meanwhile, you might want to think about your own Twitter past and how it can come back to haunt you.
In real life, if you say something idiotic, you can expect that the people who heard it will in some way hold you accountable — even if it’s just some razzing. But at least it’s over with and you can move on.
With social media, that idiotic statement can live on forever. It can be rediscovered over and over again. In the U.S., the Library of Congress is archiving billions of tweets.
Ask yourself — is there anything you’ve ever posted on Twitter that needs to live on for years? How about months? Or even weeks?
Let’s face it. There’s precious little on Twitter that couldn’t be deleted after a week or two and never be missed by anyone. So why keep those old tweets? Maybe services like Snapchat, which delete messages right away, have got it right.
I’m thinking most people don’t delete their old tweets because they’re too lazy, too busy or simply don’t care if anyone sees them. Noah likely fell into one of those categories.
To be sure, firing up your account at the Twitter website and manually deleting old tweets is no one’s idea of fun. Which is why, of course, there are services that will do this for you.
The appropriately named Tweet Delete automatically deletes your tweets after a certain period of time that you specify. It can also delete up to 3,200 of your old tweets in one go. It’s fairly basic, but at least it’s free.
For something more elaborate, you could try TweetDeleter. It has a free version that meets the needs of most people and a premium paid version aimed at companies that pump out hundreds of tweets a day.
Noah learned his lesson the hard way. Will you?
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Saturday, March 28, 2015
Now you can pick up your phone and watch what's happening all over the world
With Twitter you can tell people what you’re doing right now. With Periscope you can show them what you’re doing — via live streaming.
With this new app you can point your iPhone, tap a button and within seconds show the world what’s happening.
I’ve tried it, and it works. People around the globe were able to watch my cat rolling around and stretching on the floor. A few viewers displayed their approval by floating up some hearts. One sent a comment: “Beautiful cat”.
It was both thrilling and unnerving to give the world this tiny window into my kitchen. When the cat got bored, I stopped broadcasting and declined Periscope’s offer to save the video.
You can see other people’s live streams by scrolling through the app’s feed, just the way you do with Twitter, Facebook or pretty much any other social media app. The difference is that many of the options have the word “live” on them. When you tap on one of them, you’re peeking at something that’s taking place right then.
Of course, you might have to scroll for quite some time before you find something worth viewing. I lucked out and watched a guy doing from fire juggling. Periscope users encouraged him by sending lots of hearts. Some asked him to try specific tricks, and he obliged — all in real time.
I wasn’t the only one to show a pet’s antics. There are plenty of those, because the Internet just can’t seem to get enough of dogs and cats.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Star reports that Periscope has been embraced by the media and celebrities:
Periscope has already seen CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta bring it into a surgery, and comedian John Hodgman used it to kill time answering users’ questions in an airport. Famed Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has been using Periscope and NBC’s Today used it to show some behind-the-scenes stuff featuring weatherman Al Roker.
I predict Periscope will soon be on the smartphone of every journalist. Imagine being on the scene of a major incident and being able to broadcast it live to your followers. In fact, something like that occurred when a building collapsed recently in New York.
Ben Popper describes discovering the disaster on Periscope:
I got a push notification on Periscope, the new live-streaming app from Twitter, about a broadcast from the scene of the accident. Suddenly I was watching a video of the fire and smoke from a block away. No news media had yet arrived on the scene. . . . The broadcaster, Andrew Steinthal, got within a hundred feet or so before police arrived and asked everyone to disperse. Steinthal faced the camera, said how scary the whole thing had been, then signed off from his first Periscope reporting.
At the very least, news organizations are going to monitor Periscope for videos when they hear about an incident.
Let’s not forget that it was largely the efforts of journalists that made Twitter the success it is today. When that service started out, it was filled with the most mundane posts imaginable. Now it’s a source of breaking news and links to insightful commentary.
In a recent series of tweets, co-founder Jack Dorsey went out of his way to express his gratitude to journalists: “THANK YOU for keeping the world (and us!) honest and using Twitter to do your work. We wouldn’t be here without you.”
If Periscope does become a big success, it will in large part be due to the support of reporters and editors, who, as Dorsey says, “are true servants of the people.”
By the way, there is another app similar to Periscope called Meerkat. I haven’t tried it, but it’s also getting good reviews.
Neither of these apps is available yet for Android. Judging by the big splash they’ve been making so far, I predict it won’t be long before you can download them from Google Play.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Twitter alliance takes aim at harassment of women
With the increasing number of reports of high-profile cases of harassment in social media, it might be tempting to believe that we humans are losing our capacity for civility.
I’m not so sure that’s true. Technology provides opportunity for change, but it is not the change itself. There has always been a certain number of jerks among us, but a medium such as Twitter provides them with the opportunity to band together from around the globe and concentrate their efforts.
I mention Twitter, because it has become the tool of choice for those who can’t stand to see an opinion that differs from their own and hope that by making threats or hurling invective they will prevent that view from ever being voiced again.
In some cases, this strategy likely works. For example, I hesitate to even mention the Twitter hashtag gamergate for fear of getting unwanted reaction from the many people who take this controversy seriously. If you’re not familiar with #gamergate, search the hashtag. You might not find this enlightening because no one seems to be able to agree on what exactly the controversy is about, except that it involves video games.
Most will agree, though, that many hateful words have been exchanged, and many have been directed toward a few select victims. In other words, harassment abounds.
Harassment of this type is disproportionately directed toward women, as this survey by Pew Research shows. According to the summary:
Young women, those 18-24, experience certain severe types of harassment at disproportionately high levels: 26 per cent of these young women have been stalked online, and 25 per cent were the target of online sexual harassment. In addition, they do not escape the heightened rates of physical threats and sustained harassment common to their male peers and young people in general.
In the past, there has been plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest this is the case, but a survey like this makes the problem a lot harder to ignore.
Twitter has a function that allows users to report abuse, but the company has now taken a big step forward by collaborating with a group known as WAM! Women, Action & the Media.
WAM! is running a pilot project to support all Twitter users experiencing gendered harassment and abuse on the platform, including abuse that intersects with racial, lgbt and other kinds of oppression users face on Twitter.
All you have to do is fill out a form.
I had never heard of WAM! before, but browsing their website shows they are about social change. Here is their vision:
Gender equity in media access, representation, employment and ownership — and a world in which a just media is considered essential to a just society.
While based in the U.S., the group has a chapter in Vancouver.
It remains to be seen whether this alliance between Twitter and WAM! will bring about tangible results, but I have my fingers crossed that it will.
For me it’s a question of free speech. People should be allowed to speak their minds without fear of being shouted down by those who disagree with them. It’s difficult not to be cowed into silence when a group of unknown people is threatening to harm you. Twitter, if it is to survive, must build a reputation for being a forum of free discourse — not a forum where only the loudest, most obnoxious voices are heard.
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