Topix Blog

August 19, 2009

"Daily Telegraph" Modern as Namesake

by tolles at 3:16 PM

An article in the Daily Telegraph, making the "what's all this, then?" argument that the "social media revolution is going nowhere". came my way on Twitter via Andrew Keen.

The author makes a bunch of vaguely arguable points, damns the medium with faint praise, ("Twitter made the world stand up and listen" but failed to bring down the Iranian regime, so is therefore useless, is the gist of it) and in facts ends the article with a "how to use social media" guide. Likely his editor, then tops the whole thing off with the linkbait headline.

But the best riposte to this piece is none other than the actual page where the article appears. Between the the "How to use Twitter" block, and the GIANT CHUNK OF REAL ESTATE for the social network every newspaper likes, Digg, it is quite clear that the Telegraph's business practices reflect that social media is a big part of the the equation for them. There are no less than FOUR separate blocks of pixels, er , references to Twitter on the page here. Subtlety is not a concern for the Telegraph and its use of Twitter.

Obviously, this was a cynical exercise in baiting, or rather soliciting just this sort of response. But jumping Jesus on a Viagra ad, the juxtaposition of what Matt Warman states and what the Telegraph does is cause for a pretty big chuckle. (And the smart guys behind the Telegraph efforts even have the Twitter referrer on this baked into the URL).

So, pointless exercise in being wrong, or well executed pageview generator? The Daily Telegraph -- journal of Luddites, or truly the state of the art version of 2009 journalism? Vomitous applause, to Matt and the Telegraph here.

Let's take a look at the Telegraph piece and all of the myriad of social networking elements on the page (maybe 20% of the screen real estate?):