Leaving the Social Media Stockyard

The Promise of the Internet was Decentralized Content. Let's Return to It.

Over on Open for Business I argue that it is time for us to return to taking the blogosphere seriously and start to see it as the first place we post, instead of being “social media first” like so many of us are. In doing so, we address some of the biggest concerns both the Right and Left express about social media and we return to the heart of the Internet’s decentralized promise:

It is time we took back control. A healthier Internet need not be free of social media, but it must have far more decentralized interaction from us, so social providers have to actually compete for our attention. The blogosphere offers the path to that better Internet.

My current and former blogosphere compatriots… let’s do this.

Social Media and Purgatory

I must confess I didn't see this coming:

The Vatican has taken another step in its efforts to embrace social media by offering “indulgences” to followers of Pope Francis' (@Pontifex) Twitter account. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports that the church will reduce the time Catholics have to spend in purgatory if they follow official Vatican events on TV, radio, and through social media.

Can't you just imagine @DrMLuther nailing an iPhone with the #95Thesis displayed onto the door of the Wittenberg cybercafe? Charles V would have had a much easier time if he could have just tracked trending hashtags.