Thank goodness for blogs

I read an interesting article about Silvio Berlusconi in Time magazine this weekend "How Silvio Berlusconi Uses Women on TV" Leaving aside the feminist outrage at the content of Italian TV these days, what struck me was the fact that Silvio controls 90% of the Italian television market. So in a European democratic nation, the Prime Minister controls the majority of the TV news coverage (the article states that 80% of Italians get their news from television). Scary stuff eh?!

Thank goodness for blogs & the internet in general to help even out the transmission of news that isn't dictated by the government.

Putting it out there

Increasingly I'm being asked to write articles & opinion pieces for online publication & a piece that was published this weekend raises a dilemma! I wrote a controversial piece on a dressage training technique (read it here http://www.horsehero.com/editorial/?feat=35093) which is being actively discussed on horse forums world wide.

The dilemma is whether to wade in & engage with the detractors, especially when they are directing bile) or to sit on my hands & stay away from the keyboard?! I still haven't made up my mind on this.

p.s. I don't just write on horse topics, I also enjoy covering motorsports & business in general but with a particular emphasis on web 2.0 & social media so feel free to hire me! Contact details on the website --------------------------->

The Dark Side of Social Gaming

I've never been a big PC game player & so social media gaming hasn't posed much of an interest either but I can't avoid games like Farmville & Mafia Wars as a result of friends playing them & the games spamming my facebook feed as a result. So apart from time wasting fun & spamming my feeds, what's wrong with social media gaming? Nothing if you are a successful developer as there are vast sums of money to be made. But there is a darker side of social gaming & some seriously unethical behavior.

Michael Arrington of Techcrunch explains it far better than I could so if you want to find out more head on over & read his article here http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamville-the-social-gaming-ecosystem-of-hell/