Responses to “Singapore mainstream media still do not “get” blogs”

Posted by admin on August 26th, 2011 filed in General

Responses to “Singapore mainstream media still do not “get” blogs"

1. knightofpentacles Says:
January 12th, 2005 at 12:38 am

Blogs (and the Internet) are still primarily the playground of the younger, more educated, upper-middle class demographic.

See Mr Miyagi’s post:
http://myveryownglob.blogspot.com/2005/01/my-son-keeps-playing-internet-games.html

PS Perhaps you want to put a warning (in red?) besides the “Mail” data box to alert readers that the box HAS to be filled in order not to lose the comment?
2. Han Says:
January 12th, 2005 at 03:04 am

knight:

Sorry about that. Its done now, is that ok?
3. knightofpentacles Says:
January 12th, 2005 at 09:30 pm

Han,

You may be an excellent lawyer-to-be.. but your software testing skills may need a little work. :)

What happens when a reader fills up the comment box, fills up the Mail box, but leaves the name box and website boxes empty?

Does not really matter anyway. Looks like most people do not have problems with this. (Or the ones that do just give up in frustration and never come back to post a comment again.)
4. Han Says:
January 12th, 2005 at 11:57 pm

knightofpentacles:

ermm… haha sorry, still abit blur… I need to work on my people skills yah? haha, repeats to self 10 x “I must be more concerned with usability issues!”
5. preetam rai Says:
January 13th, 2005 at 06:02 pm

We must mail a copy of Dan Gillmor’s “We the Media” to Straits Times.
6. knightofpentacles Says:
January 13th, 2005 at 10:27 pm

preetam rai: thanks for the reference.
http://www.hypergene.net/blog/weblog.php?id=P232

From the book:

Also possible, though I hope equally unlikely, is a world of information lockdown. The forces of central con­trol are not sitting quietly in the face of challenges to their authority.

In this scenario, we could witness an unholy alliance between the entertainment industry—what I call the “copyright cartel”—and government. Governments are very uneasy about the free flow of information, and allow it only to a point. Legal clampdowns and technological measures to prevent copyright infringement could bring a day when we need permission to publish, or when publishing from the edge feels too risky. The cartel has targeted some of the essential innovations of tomorrow’s news, such as the peer-to-peer file sharing that does make infringement easier but also gives citizen journalists one of the only affordable ways to distribute what they create. Govern­ments insist on the right to track everything we do, but more and more politicians and bureaucrats shut off access to what the public needs to know—information that increasingly surfaces through the efforts of nontraditional media.

In short, we cannot just assume that self-publishing from the edges of our networks—the grassroots journalism we need so desperately—will survive, much less thrive. We will need to defend it, with the same vigor we defend other liberties.
7. Agagooga Says:
January 14th, 2005 at 08:17 am

Vigor we defend other liberties with? What vigor we defend other liberties with? *boggle*

This is Singapore; we have no constitutional rights.
8. La Idler Says:
January 14th, 2005 at 06:17 pm

I guess you need to factor in the typical Singaporean blog, which is more about what the blogger has done that day than in the current affairs of the country, unless it’s about 5566 at the airport. For those who care, there is simply not much to blog about on the local front. What can you blog about the government? Even if you are a supporter of the incumbent or not, you’re not likely to say anything much because face it, we’re like a kampung and it’s like griping against the village head — no thrill, unlike slamming Kerry and Bush.
9. Han Says:
January 14th, 2005 at 10:23 pm

La Idler:

So true! Even as much as I care about Singapore, I notice that many of those who rail against the PAP sound more or less like raving loonies. :)

Of those whose complaints have merit, these complaints pale in comparison compared to the kind of shenanigans you can see among Democrats and Republicans.

The fact is, as much as the PAP is over-zealous in their hold on power, I agree with you that we really don’t have all that much to complain about. We can kao peh about Temesek (Everything also wanna own), GIC (Everything also dun wanna say), NTUC (Everything also wanna do), Minister salaries etc, how do they stack up against Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth, neo-con conspiracies, Kerry’s Botox injections, Teresa Heinz’s ketchup empire etc…

American politics is like daytime soap opera+Hollywood blockbuster, Singapore politics is like the boring documentaries on Central which no one watches.
10. Cowboy Caleb Says:
January 16th, 2005 at 12:45 am

I really don’t see how Randy (no)cluevert is going to hold on to his job with the way he is losing his handle on the grand scheme of things which fall so neatly into his domain of ‘expertise’
11. Randy Kluver Says:
February 21st, 2005 at 04:31 pm

Sorry to disappoint you, but I did not change my mind about blogs, as per your comment. I have always and consistently argued that blogs challenge traditional media, but the first quote in the ST was in response to a specific question, namely, would blogs present a serious challenge to the Singapore government. I still see no evidence that blogs are in the least challenging the power of the singapore govt to set the public agenda. The slight misquote perhaps takes my own beliefs out of context, but I am surprised that everyone seems to consider my comments as being anti-blog in any sense.
12. shianux Says:
February 21st, 2005 at 05:05 pm

Randy Kluver:

Hello Dr Kluver! Nice of you to drop by, and thanks for leaving a comment. Not very often (in fact, never up till now) this humble blog is graced by luminaries of your stature!

The slight misquote perhaps takes my own beliefs out of context

Sorry about that sir, then we must attribute the misrepresented tone of your comment to the Straits Times, no? I’m not surprised frankly, as its not the first time that the ST has ‘modified’ the words of others to suit their agenda. After all, here’s an old media establishment trying to protect its own turf. Very predictable.

but I am surprised that everyone seems to consider my comments as being anti-blog in any sense.

Well, sir, the good thing about blogs then is that you’re free to correct any misunderstanding! Isn’t it great? No such liberties with ST though, you’re basically at their mercy with letters of correction. Of course, one might argue that an unscrupulous blogger could remove comments at whim. But I think the blogosphere thrives because of ‘respect’ and ’street cred’.

For example, if I were to delete your comment, you could easily put the word out through other sources to discredit me. Thus would a blogger become outcast in the blogosphere.

So I’m glad you decided to correct my misunderstanding here. :)