Stephen Downes

In what appears to be a classic case of antimarketing, Doug Noon decides to 'go with the flow' and join Twitter. This follows the Diigo stampede over the weekend, caused (as nearly as I can tell) by a single blogger sending a notice to a hundred of her friends (maybe not deliberately? I did warn that it tries to grab your contacts). Meanwhile, I've found the criticism of the new blogosphere, by Doug Belshaw, who adds discussion of Twitter is harmful in response to Noon. I like the distinction between outwards-facing and inwards-facing communications, but I want to modify it slightly: a technology like Twitter is, in my mind, 'inward facing' (image), because it reinforces communication with the group - 'running with the herd,' as I commented on Noon's post, while I tend to favour 'outward facing' communications, those that look outside the group. Mike Setfang also comments.