Category: social media
Two newspaper articles cover the same thing:
While it is unclear why a mother would leave a child in a running vehicle for any length of time, the word did apparently get out through a Blackberry. How Facebook was specifically involved remains unclear.
The discrepancy in the reporting between the Trinidad Express and Trinidad Guardian is worth exploring.
While assisting someone with some information, I came across this data regarding Facebook usage in Trinidad and Tobago. Apparently, there are 266,920 Facebook users in Trinidad and Tobago - a figure which puts Trinidad and Tobago at number 77 of the global ranking.
Given that Alexa reports that the top visited site in Trinidad and Tobago is Facebook - higher than even Google and other search engines - it can be said that the users online on Facebook, numbering 266,920 users, are the core active users of the Internet in Trinidad and Tobago.
But what does that really mean? What sort of use do you think Facebook has within Trinidad and Tobago? Is it just a replacement for Solitaire in offices, or is there something more important going on?
(Seriously, I'd like to know what you think).
The most visited site from Trinidad and Tobago remains Facebook - and now the first documented Facebook related assault has come:
...Court prosecutor Sgt Dianne Boxhill told the magistrate the alleged incident occurred after “a message” was posted on Internet social network, Facebook. According to the prosecutor, the accused confronted Arneaud on Charlotte Street, and she was allegedly stabbed about the body with a knife...
Not that Facebook has much to do with the stabbing other than a form of communication. Even so, when people can communicate more frequently the only control over what is communicated belongs to those communicating.
Don't stab your Facebook friends. Or enemies, for that matter.
I'd heard some rumblings beforehand about Criminals Soon To Be Posted On Facebook but didn't write of it because I don't like to write about rumors. But there it is, voiced by Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert on Tuesday. I'd tried to change a few minds on it but didn't get a chance to talk to anyone who was actually making decisions - so I'll outline why I think it is good and bad.
First, the good:
- Facebook is the most visited site from Trinidad and Tobago, so posting such information there is better than nothing on the Internet.
Now the bad:
- As the Guardian article I linked to indicates, Facebook is a 'privately-owned, social-networking Web site'. It's also what we social media pros call a walled garden. And because it is a walled garden, its efficacy for disseminating information is decreased by the walls of the garden.
So, what did I suggest? I suggested a Flickr Professional account (at $25 US per year) that would allow, with proper tagging, such criminals to have their photos up and also be found through mainstream search engines. Coupled with a rather simple implementation of a content management system, such as used here at KnowTnT.com, this could be a powerful tool for fighting crime. No, I wasn't looking for business. They could do it themselves, I'd just like to see it done right.
That said, it is good to see that social media is being seen as a tool for fighting crime in Trinidad and Tobago. I just wish that they chose a more effective path. And they can still do it. The option is always there.
Edmund Gall has been asking some good questions and making good observations regarding media and social media in Trinidad and Tobago - 'Can The Dinosaurs of T&T Media Accept Change?' and 'Can The Media Do No Wrong?' are worth reading. I agree with his observations for the most part because his observations are based on facts. And while I didn't have comment for his articles, I do have some things I want to add into the mix.
With a torrent of threads within Social Media itself regarding the reporter who was recently banned from Trinidad and Tobago Parliament, it seems as good a time as any to point out a few things.
Oddly, when people are discussing the ban of the reporter, they forget that the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago recently demanded an apology of Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh - and why. That situation, barely covered here, became an issue because members of Parliament were avoiding the media.
They also seem to forget that there was a big uproar by the media about the potential licensing of journalists within CARICOM. CARICOM's response was that it was not discussing the licensing of journalists. I expect that, as a member of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago, people were dismayed at my lack of stance on the topic while it was a topic.
Now I'll mix these together.
{Read more}
Ms Kiran Maharaj, President of the T&T Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) issued a call to T&T’s media professionals to unite to guarantee the industry’s survival in the face of advancing technology (e.g. social media). This was made during her feature address at the TTPBA’s 6th Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony for Media Excellence (see story “Unity the key to survival” by Sean Nero, Trinidad Guardian, 16 Nov 2009).
Good on Ms Maharaj to raise the issue at this forum. From what I've heard, most of the existing media leadership have no clue what social media is and how significant an impact it will have on their businesses. Or how to make effective use of new technology at all.
The most interesting discussion would probably be on the topic of copyright. In the online world, Creative Commons licensing is preferred, as the intention is to share and grow knowledge; in the offline world of traditional media, more restrictive licensing is preferred, as the intention is to sell information to grow income. It will conflict - the US music industry's RIAA is an example of how to mess up your approach to new technology (search Google for thousands of articles on this, such as this EFF report). If they intend to maintain shareholder value, TTPBA members may wish to start chatting with knowledgeable reps from the local advertising industry and perhaps the TTCS to understand their options. And try to survey young people in T&T, nuh - if you're intending to sell papers beyond 2020, find out what teens think about that model of distribution. {Read more}
Today, I popped over to Lawrence of Arabia in Gulf City - I'd written about the customer service there before. I ordered my two gyros and the woman behind the counter recognized me from that day that I wrote about. Another woman at the register smiled and extended her hand - telling me she was the owner. I said hello, and we got to talking.
She'd read what I had written. That, in and of itself, is pretty cool considering how young KnowTnT.com is. We're less than a month old! But what's even more cool is how she found out.
She told me that she'd visited the bank, and the person she was dealing with at the bank had asked her if she was the owner of Lawrence of Arabia. She said yes, and the person at the bank whipped out a mobile phone and showed her what I'd written.
Just like that. In a developed nation, that wouldn't have seen like such a big deal - but here in Trinidad and Tobago, it blew my mind. It also blew my mind because good news travelled fast.
I don't know how the bank employee found out about the site, and I'm grateful that they did and thought it was worth mentioning to others. But I'm even more happy that websites of people outside of the traditional media are being watched by people and being used for discussion in the real world.
It's always good to feel useful. Thanks to all you readers who make this sort of thing possible - and worthwhile. We'll keep it coming. Keep reading.
And feel free to join in and write with us!
When I caught this comment on The Media and Social Media in Trinidad and Tobago On The Web: The Beetham Incident, I was struck by this particular part of the comment:
...I have discoveried that Trinidadians perfer to play "Farmville" than read. Social media in Trinidad is sad to say, but a mere means of gossip, complaining and entertainment. For the very few that actual use the medium as a stage to promote social change and discuss important issues I commend you.
The link was to a site I wasn't familiar with, so I followed it to Media Callaloo and found all 3 posts reminded me of two books that I have reviewed and have influenced how I view privacy on the Internet: The Future of Reputation and The Digital Person, both by Daniel Solove. Because of that, and because of its own flavor, I recommend taking a look at Media Callaloo - and keeping an eye on it. Where they take their ideas and observations should be interesting - and they're grounded in some good stuff to start with.
In the heels of my last post about Facebook being a walled garden, I decided to play around a little last night. The muse was Karel McIntosh's post on Caribbean Celebrities on Twitter.
Of course, I had to make it amusing just to make it interesting for myself and so I went off looking for V.S. Naipaul on Twitter. After all, that idea seems so outrageous that I doubt anyone ever checked. Unsurprisingly, he's not tweeting - at least as V.S. Naipaul. Had I found him on Twitter I probably would have gone into shock.
140 characters just doesn't seem like something he'd be too awfully interested in expressing himself in.
So I poked around a bit more. I checked Flickr for images of V.S. Naipaul, and that netted a fair amount of images of the Nobel Laureate. That also netted the image you see above. Georgia Popplewell over at CaribbeanFreeRadio.com was kind enough not only to post the image, but to make it available through a Creative Commons license - so that I can share it with you. {Read more}
Welcome to KnowTnT.com, a bit of an experiment of mine whose successes and failures depend on the community. To celebrate, I'm having another cup of coffee.
Well, What Is It?
That's a good question, and the answer is that it is planned to be an ever evolving unauthorized biography of Trinidad and Tobago. There are many possibilities for it, and there are plenty of things that will be implemented over time that I hope will be of worth.
Over the years, close friends and distant enemies have criticized my criticisms by asking whether I had done anything about it or whether I could do it better. It was a valid criticism, and as you can tell it's been constructive. How constructive has yet to be determined. Will it succeed? Will it fail? There's no telling, but the effort and commitment are and will continue to be apparent.
On Saturday morning, I woke up, registered the domain name, set up the hosting and got started.
The general ideas, which have been brewing over the last 9 years, are rather simple: {Read more}
- To allow more people and businesses within Trinidad and Tobago to have a presence and voice.
- To remove some of the ignorance within Trinidad and Tobago regarding social media and to diminish the ability of others to profit from that ignorance while maintaining or increasing the ignorance.
- To find a home for my posts on Trinidad and Tobago which always seem a bit out of place to me on the front page of KnowProSE.com given that sites evolving nature over the last 9 years. KnowProSE.com posts on Trinidad and Tobago are here.
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