Grumpy old media
She wasn’t the first, and she certainly won’t be the last, but Rachel Sylvester’s Twitter-bashing editorial in today’s Times is surely the absolute worst thus far of the recent old media knee-jerk reactions to the use of Twitter by government and politicians.
Not only is her microblogophobia out of step with her own paper, which – like the Mail, Guardian, Telegraph and Independent – uses Twitter as a push mechanism for its online arm (all of whom, might I add, fall way short of attracting the same kind of reach as Downing Street even when added together and multiplied by 5), but also:
1. It’s lazy
Raking through Twitter users’ history to quote their most mundane tweets is just lazy journalism, and illustrates nothing.
I’ve flicked through today’s Times and right there alongside the political news I found plenty of quotidian stuff about the weather, some spurious speculation about Shakespeare’s eyes, some pictures of frocks and a load of puzzles. Should I never read a newspaper again? Or will I read one again precisely because of such things: the varied tone, the human interest?
2. It’s presumptuous (and wrong)
Accusing Tweeting politicians as being “dads on a dancefloor” pre-supposes that the Internet (and Twitter) is just for kids. Which it ain’t:
The fastest growing age group of users is 35-44 year olds, who now account for 17.3% of UK visitors to www.twitter.com
- says Hitwise
3. It’s a non-sequitur
Linking Twitter use by politicians to a “lack of moral fervour” (based on one psychologist’s opinion (based on nothing)) is so unfathomably weak I had to read it twice to see how she made the leap.
And aside from that weakest of weakest links, isn’t listening to the public, being accountable, making yourself accessible and conducting your business more openly a brave thing for a politician to do? And – *checks Tweetminster* – forgive me but aren’t they almost all talking meaningfully about real issues, not taking party political pot shots? Maybe I’m missing something but this feels like some pretty powerful democracy in action to me.
It’s also chip paper
I could go on, but those were the three biggest things that annoyed me about it. It’s tomorrow’s fish and chip paper, and I should care less after all.
New words:
“Grumpy old media” – curmudgeonly dead tree and TV news media types who feel threatened by technological change.
“Microblogophobia” – fear of people exchanging short text updates in open spaces.
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Comments
Glad I wan’t the only one seething over that nonsense. Looking at the Guardian’s API launch earlier today and this misguided article in the Times, there are clear digital battle lines being drawn in the quality daily market. And I know what side I’m betting on.
[...] will be gamed by some there are those who do understand and for them what they are doing is as Neil Williams says a brave thing to be [...]
Pleased to see this post, that article got right up my nose, especially the implication that any new technological tools are just for young people. Grr.
I think they’re just trying to reach out to younger generation by utilizing social media methods such as twitter.
Hello, I'm Neil Williams. I'm a government web geek, a dad, a husband, a grower of veg, a keeper of hens and a lapsed comedy writer, roughly in that order. 
They said things like this about the telephone.