The Twitter Effect: Don’t Shoot the Messenger

and foolishly, I got myself mixed up in it. I apologized for doing so, and I stick by that apology. There were two versions of what happened, and I’m happy to say that Chris Pirillo, the organizer of the conference, finally spoke up and toldhis versionof the story. For the most part I agree with what Chris said. I think he should have spoken sooner, it would have saved me a lot of grief, for sure. Perhaps next time you hear another version of this story, you could tell the person telling the tale

on Twitter, blogs, IM, and other forms of live media. But while this new form of conference interactivity–where audiences are using the online tools to demand to be heard–may best be known for ugly scenes at South by Southwest this year orat Gnomedex last year, there’s no reason participants can’t turn the emergence of this backchannel into something positive for everyone. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, consider this: Today, there are so many ways to communicate that even in a

The Twitter Effect: Don’t Shoot the Messenger ~ Chris Pirillo

on Twitter, blogs, IM, and other forms of live media. But while this new form of conference interactivity—where audiences are using the online tools to demand to be heard—may best be known for ugly scenes at South by Southwest this year orat Gnomedex last year, there’s no reason participants can’t turn the emergence of this backchannel into something positive for everyone. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, consider this: Today, there are so many ways to communicate that even in a conference

…and, this time, Chris Pirillo hasgot Dave’s back. Let’s recap what happened, in short form. Jason Calacanis was giving a talk. To an audience. Of which Dave was a part. Dave (and some others) didn’t like the presentation. Dave (but nobody else) decided to interrupt the presentation and heckle.

on Twitter, blogs, IM, and other forms of live media. But while this new form of conference interactivity–where audiences are using the online tools to demand to be heard–may best be known for ugly scenes at South by Southwest this year orat Gnomedex last year, there’s no reason participants can’t turn the emergence of this backchannel into something positive for everyone. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, consider this: Today, there are so many ways to communicate that even in a

and foolishly, I got myself mixed up in it. I apologized for doing so, and I stick by that apology. There were two versions of what happened, and I’m happy to say that Chris Pirillo, the organizer of the conference, finally spoke up and toldhis versionof the story. For the most part I agree with what Chris said. I think he should have spoken sooner, it would have saved me a lot of grief, for sure. Perhaps next time you hear another version of this story, you could tell the person telling the tale

Dave Winer’s meltdown at Gnomedex 2007. My take on his comments are that one, Winer wasn’t alone in his opinion, and two, no one else would have handled the situation in the same way but, hey, that’s Dave Winer. Dave Winer, of course,

August, and foolishly, I got myself mixed up in it. I apologized for doing so, and I stick by that apology. There were two versions of what happened, and I’m happy to say that Chris Pirillo, the organizer of the conference, finally spoke up and toldhis versionof the story. For the most part I agree with what Chris said. I think he should have spoken sooner, it would have saved me a lot of grief, for sure. Perhaps next time you hear another version of this story, you could tell the person telling the tale

on Twitter, blogs, IM, and other forms of live media. But while this new form of conference interactivity–where audiences are using the online tools to demand to be heard–may best be known for ugly scenes at South by Southwest this year orat Gnomedex last year, there’s no reason participants can’t turn the emergence of this backchannel into something positive for everyone. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, consider this: Today, there are so many ways to communicate that even in a conference

Twitter’s like a magnifying glass or a feedback loop for issues. There could be some great psychological studies on the effect. Real time critiques are new to almost everything but sports. So someone goes into a room and reads people saying “this sucks” or whatever and preconceptions are formed and it gets magnified as it spreads.

I’ve noticed this affect with ratings. I’m more likely to rate something higher if I noticed other people are rating it higher and vice versa, like on Netflix, Amazon, or blog polling. It’s an interesting effect, social proof.

From the audience last year as my first Gnomedex that attack was kind of a shock, but it solidified two things for me. 1. Dave Weiner is very strong willed and direct, and 2. Jason has a fantastic capacity to deal with attacks, and strong willed people.

Gnomedex is a venue where it’s ok to be strong willed, or opinionated, unlike SXSW it seems.

Twitter made it feel like we were all involved, engaged, and I’m looking foreword to twittering from Gnomedex again.

See ya there.

Greg

I believe it was Aaron Brazell (@technosailor) who pulled first heckle on Zuck — “Beacon Sucks!” But not sure who first heckled SL.

Chris, I totally agree with you that Dave Winer’s behavior at Gnomedex 2007 was fine and dandy.

However I disagree that it was your fault, Chris.

Jason simply is not flexible at all in thinking and for example he keeps lies about me on his blog although I totally sorted out the misunderstanding with Russell. I think that instead of being angry, Jason should hire Dave Winer as consultant/adviser for Mahalo ;-)

[...] and I’m happy to say that Chris Pirillo, the organizer of the conference, finally spoke up and told his version of the story. [...]

Gnomedex and Twitter…

Gnomedex has a different vibe every year, driven by whatever currents are pushing the web community. I felt something a little off in 2007 from reports, maybe from a disconnect between Twitter and the structure of the meeting….