Old memes, corrections and the pervasiveness of mistakes
One of the things Mena Trott brought up at Les Blogs is that mistakes get indexed into Google just as much as truth does.
Take this case in point:
- Jeff Jarvis flamed Yahoo because he thought his email account had been deactiviated.
- Om Mailk picks up teh story with the quote: “Old girlfriends and stray dogs are more loyal than Yahoo”
- I see this story and click on it - because a) I am closely watching what Yahoo does b) I like and respect both Om and Jeff and finally c) I am closely watching what Yahoo does.
- so then I see at the bottom of Jeff’s post - one of those Roseann Roseanna Dannas “Ooooops, never mind - sorry”
So I’m thinking:
- will Om go back and apologize as well?
- what about me? what if I hadn’t read to the bottom of Jeff’s post - might I have gotten the wrong impression of Yahoo - right at this critical juncture where every step they take is being closely scrutinized by everyone.
I myself am guilty of creatiing one of those “what is blogging?” posts - which I hate - but I was brought back to poor Mena having to fight it out with Ben from the BBC - trying to make her point - live - real-time on webcam - in front of the whole fucking blogosphere.
Mena had the right to complain. Ben does too.
Jeff has the right to make mistakes. And correct them I may add.
But Om is now responsible for spreading untruths…….
And Santa brought so many toys for my little girls yesterday that we had to stash some of them away til their birthdays. So nobody is perfect - even Santa.
Mena chose that particular pitch, live etc etc. I don’t hear her complaining. Regretting perhaps… Ben, too, (without the chance to prepare) chose to defend his position. Eloquently. I don’t see him complaining either. Wishing it would go away, yes…
I’ve said enough on the subject elsewhere. But what I feel I should say here is that both Mena and Ben have handled themselves pretty well ever since. And not a breath of complaint from either of them in public.
Mena chose that particular pitch, live etc etc. I don’t hear her complaining. Regretting perhaps… Ben, too, (without the chance to prepare) chose to defend his position. Eloquently. I don’t see him complaining either. Wishing it would go away, yes…
I’ve said enough on the subject elsewhere. But what I feel I should say here is that both Mena and Ben have handled themselves pretty well ever since. And not a breath of complaint from either of them in public.
Mena chose that particular pitch, live etc etc. I don’t hear her complaining. Regretting perhaps… Ben, too, (without the chance to prepare) chose to defend his position. Eloquently. I don’t see him complaining either. Wishing it would go away, yes…
I’ve said enough on the subject elsewhere. But what I feel I should say here is that both Mena and Ben have handled themselves pretty well ever since. And not a breath of complaint from either of them in public.