CathleenRitt

2751 Moments of Silence

Is it a measure of how far we’ve come that I almost forgot tomorrow’s date? Or, did I just not want to think about it?  For the fourth year in a row, on September 11th I will stay off social media - Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, etc. - and observe 2751 Moments of Silence. This re-post from 2008 explains what it means and why I do it.

2751 Moments of Silence

Last year, 6 months into my fun, active Twitter life, I decided to honor the memory of 9/11 by not tweeting for the day.  While my family and I were extremely fortunate relative to many others (as my sister Suzanne described in her blog post) - I had stopped working in the North Tower June 15, 2001 - the horrible impact it had on our lives, our friends, our homes and our psyches makes it a day of mourning for me anyway.  As much as I enjoy Twitter, Facebook, Seesmic and the like, it felt frivolous and disrespectful to me to participate in them that day.

A few weeks later I met Jon Swanson , an Indiana-based pastor that I knew only through following and interacting on Twitter.  Rather than go into the long discussion of why this meeting represents the best elements of social media, blah blah, blah, I will reprint an email conversation I had with Chris Brogan behind Jon’s back.

Me:  ”I had coffee with Jon Swanson in NYC this past weekend.  What an insightful, warm and caring man.  I ultimately sort of found him (and vice versa) through you, so thanks.”

Chris Brogan:  ”I’m so glad you spent time with Jon Swanson. I think he should be a national resource. : )”

Jon and I talked about many things, and I don’t remember his exact words, but Jon told me that he thought my silence on 9/11 had been a good thing to do.  His response and support meant a lot to me.

In the past few weeks, as the anniversary approached, I knew I would be silent again, but I wanted the act to mean something more than my own grief.

How could I honor the loss of 2751 lives in one day of social media silence?

Getting out my calculator, I learned the grim statistic that 2751 over 24 hours amounted to just under 2 people per minute.  By defining a “moment” as 30 seconds, it would take 22.9 hours to observe a moment of silence for each individual killed that day.  The last hour honors those that survived, yet suffered loss or trauma, and are forever haunted by the events of that day.

2751 Moments of Silence.

Because social media like Twitter and Facebook have given me the luxury of meeting and befriending so many new, interesting individuals, while giving me a chance to develop personally, creatively and professionally, I want those 2751 individuals to have it for a day.

2751 individuals never had the chance to tweet, post a Facebook status update, record a Seesmic, write their blog or to decide it was all stupid and a complete waste of time.  So on September 11th, neither will I.  I encourage you to join me.  In response to, “What are you doing right now?”, just say, 

2751 Moments of Silence.

#TopChefMasters Finale Comments, Show Idea, Procrastination

Response to @JayRayner1 and my Susur show idea for @BravoTV

Top Chef Masters judge Jay Rayner (@jayrayner1) tweeted his take on the Top Chef Masters finale. “Or, why Rick Moonen lost.”  Here’s the link:  http://is.gd/cKd3F#WoM #topchefmasters

Since Bravo moderates comments and mine aren’t up yet, I’m just going ahead and posting my comments on my Tumblr, since I came up with an idea for a show for Susur.  

To Jay Rayner (@JayRayner1):

Thanks, your take on this surprised me, mainly because I hadn’t really noticed Rick’s sustainability theme during the season.  I’m more inclined to agree with the person that said Rick’s dish failed because it didn’t really represent him as a chef from the cooking perspective, rather than from the philosophical perspective.  

This also surprises me because you do not mention Susur, so it sounds like you saw it as a competition between Marcus and Rick.  

I agree with those that say it’s hard to begrudge anyone the title, especially since the result was essentially a 3-way tie.  They all worked hard and demonstrated exemplary professionalism the entire time.  Pay attention Top Chefs DC!

You also demonstrated exemplary professionalism throughout the season, so maybe that’s why the Bravo producers left your tirade on the cutting room floor.  As a big fan of yours, I would have loved to have seen it.  You clearly have passion for this work and for good food and it would be nice to see that come out more.

To @BravoTV

If the Bravo folks really do read the comments (as the New York Times says they do), besides more Jay, I say more Susur.  His story about his trip to Thailand with his family and his earlier stories about his wife telling him to get his act together made me think of a show idea.  You could do a show with him and his family traveling throughout the world exploring food in multiple cultures, but then showing them bringing the ideas into the home kitchen, cooking together, bantering and telling each other to shut up.  Kind of Anthony Bourdain with kids and a wife and cooking the stuff at home.

Thanks for a great season.

Goldman Sachs Fraud Twitter Commentary Compilation

By popular request my Goldman Sachs Twitter commentary compiled… 

I love Goldman Sachs (but please don’t tell my other friends, they think I hate them)

      I am just trying to drive the price of Goldman stock down so I can make a killing on the short

  


Hope to see a video of Warren Buffett pouring a cherry Coke over Lloyd Blankfein’s head

        


SEC only filed the fraud lawsuit when settlement talks broke down. At the 11th hour they refused to change the company name to Goldman Sucks

        


Five months from now, when Goldman Sachs comes in fourth in the US Open, it’ll be like none of this ever happened. All will be forgiven

        


Goldman Sachs 1st commercial. Blankfein alone in office; ghosts of Goldman &Sachs scream: “Why are you so stupid? How could you get caught?”

        


Goldman Sachs just unlocked the Blame John Paulson badge on @foursquare

      If I were Lloyd Blankfein’s agent, I’d be telling him to tryout for the next Celebrity Apprentice

        


The Feds should pull a Joe Kennedy on Goldman and make Blankfein the head of the eventual Derivatives Regulatory Agency

  


Bernie Madoff overheard telling his cell mates that they’re going to like the Goldman guys

If Goldman Sachs is a supreme being, why didn’t it time the volcano eruption better so it would overshadow the lawsuit news?

Follow me at http://twitter.com/cathleenritt

CathleenRitt Live Tweets: The Death of Joe M; A Comedy Funeral

  


Saying goodbye to Joe, but more importantly, hello to Sarah (@ Producers Club Theaters) http://4sq.com/5ybNFf

  


Live tweeting my friend Joe’s funeral. He’s here, alive. Joe is a fellow comic. He’s having a sex change and will become Sarah about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


For something that has huge potential to be totally bizarre, this is pretty normal about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


I thought Joe was just doing a comedy bit when he said he was going through a sex change I didn’t think it was funny. about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


Rob C said “if this isn’t the weirdest thing you’ve done this week, you have an interesting life.” about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


His Mom thought Joe wanting to be a ballerina was funny. Then she said “this young man, soon to be lady, is all I could’ve hoped for.” about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


Joe’s ex-boss Belinda says she loves Joe, but she loves Sarah more, though when they went shopping Sarah was a pain. about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


Gift of a handbag. “Because a real Gucci goes with a fake coochie” about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


 I am live tweeting the funeral/roast of my friend Joe. He is getting a sex change to become Sarah. that was a fellow comic’s line. about 1 hour ago via SocialScope in reply to hardaway

  


@Edwardtyll great as usual about 2 hours ago via SocialScope

  


Goodbye Joe, love you Sarah, bring on more psycho! I agree @Edwardtyll about 1 hour ago via SocialScope

  


Someone can’t be your big brother if he’s lactating about 1 hour ago via SocialScope

  


Joe was the funny guy because that was what he could be. about 1 hour ago via SocialScope

Joe; I never thought I could have this moment and celebrate with my friends. Tomorrow he’s Sarah about 1 hour ago via SocialScope

Comments on Facebook Privacy to RWW

January 12, 2010

You are absolutely right. If it was Social Media and Technology Theorist Book, then open would be fine. I believe the majority of people that use Facebook - at this point - are the same as AOL users from 1998. What Facebook has done borders on criminally negligent. If it’s all supposed to be open, then why not have everyone’s social security number out in the open?

Why is a specific promise of privacy on Facebook any different than the promise that my credit card information is protected at Amazon.com?

I just spent 20 minutes emailing an acquaintance of mine that is embroiled in a lawsuit to let him know that he and his wife have left the names and the ability to contact their friends and CHILDREN open to anyone that searches for them on the Internet, because their FB privacy settings are set incorrectly.

I have written jokingly many times in the past about Twittitlement - the idea that everyone is entitled to 24/7 access to robust communication technology for free. Call me old-fashioned and crazy, but I think it’s laughable that people have built their businesses around Twitter and Facebook.

I raise that point, however, from the consumer perspective. I accept complete responsibility for going along with “free” and building my network and re-connecting with people without paying Facebook one cent. I recognize that it gives me limited right to complain about the stupid notifications, cheesy ads or ridiculous ways they try to get you to use it more, such as notices like: “Cathleen, write on Stowe Boyd’s Wall.” I recognize the same about how I use Google services.

The thing is, I would gladly pay for Facebook, if given the opportunity, but I haven’t been. I think it has lost the one of the main advantages it had by breaking its privacy vows. If free means I have to spend hours educating relative strangers on how to protect their families from harassment or worse, than free is too f(*&ing expensive.

I would urge you and your contemporaries, those that agree and disagree, to stop thinking about this issue from the inside baseball - “data should be free and open” perspective - or the trade journalist - “Facebook has done a bad thing” perspective.

If GM promised to put a free tire in the trunk of every car, did that for 2 years and then announced that they had a cool new tire policy - from now on everyone’s free tires would have holes in them, unless they checked first - consumer reporters would go rightfully ballistic.

So look at it from a broad consumer perspective. Facebook clearly doesn’t care what “the trade” thinks because they know most consumers aren’t reading your stuff and wouldn’t understand it anyway. If you can’t get them to change their policy or to change their business model so consumers have a choice about paying for their privacy, then I ask you to consider the following.

As a member of the trade, help figure out what other services consumers should move to instead, so they can get what they believe they were promised from Facebook, and have the option to pay for such a service.

Recognize that what Facebook has done is unconscionable and consumers need to know it in plain language. This is a USA Today story not a TechCrunch or even a Wall Street Journal story. Help get it to the right people, so Facebook users - and users of other free media networks - understand what is happening, what they can do about it, how they can replace it and how much free really costs.

January 24, 2010

I believe both you and JustinKistner make valid points. To your point, Facebook created an unprecedented social communication network on the promise of privacy and free. People have found it useful, enjoyable and valuable and have come to depend on it in various ways. You are right to point out the “Let Them Eat Cake” mentality of tech executives, a mentality once attributed only to subprime mortgage lenders and Wall Street bankers. But at the same time, forgive me if I’m being repetitive, but similar to Justin, I find it hard to believe that any user thought there wouldn’t be a day when Facebook would turn around and say “time to pay.” None of us believed we’d have to pay with our privacy.

I still think industry insiders - tech bloggers, social media gurus, etc. - miss a larger point. Most of the people I know on Facebook are not tech savvy and are not policy experts. The New York Times article by Sarah Perez from 1/20 on how to manage privacy settings is great, (btw, I could not figure out how to share it on FB so I came here to find it and found this instead) but until you stop hand-wringing and tell people how to fight back rather, than how to adapt, you’re not helping that much.

I’m not powerful enough or based in the industry enough, but the people I know see me as a tech expert. So on their behalf and mine, I’d like to see some guidance about what people like me can do to force change or find an alternative.

Here are some ideas: 
-I tweeted to @Jason that he should boycott Facebook instead of Comscore. 
—I am happy to pay Mark Schmuckerberg a small fee every month for the use of his service. Please let him know that and have him tell me where to sign up.
- Alternatives: Would you recommend people bring their networks to NING? What are other options? Are there any moribund social networks that would welcome a mass shift to their site? 
-What about MySpace? If Rupert Murdoch is all about paying, why can’t he slap a new brand on MySpace and make it private? Will he listen to you guys rather than me?

Unlike the guy that said “Keep the government out of my Medicare,” I’m not naive enough to believe that I can keep NBC out of my late night TV or to continue to receive services from businesses like Facebook for “free”.

But as I said in my comments in your 1/12/10 post:

“Recognize that what Facebook has done is unconscionable and consumers need to know it in plain language. This is a USA Today story not a TechCrunch or even a Wall Street Journal story. Help get it to the right people, so Facebook users - and users of other free media networks - understand what is happening, what they can do about it, how they can replace it and how much free really costs.”

West Side Football Story: Jets vs. Colts

Advice to Mark Sanchez and the Jets: Stay Cool!

Boy, boy, crazy boy!

Stay loose, boy!

Breeze it, buzz it, easy does it.

Turn off the juice, boy!

Go man, go,

But not like a yo-yo schoolboy.

Just play it cool, boy,

Real cool!

West Side Football Story: Jets vs. Colts

Mark Sanchez!

I’ve just met a guy named Mark Sanchez,

And suddenly that name

Will never be the same 
To me.

Mark Sanchez!

We’ve just found a QB named Mark Sanchez,

And suddenly we’ve found

How wonderful a sound 
Can be!

Mark Sanchez!

The most beautiful sound I ever heard. 
. .

Mark Sanchez!

West Side Football Story: Jets vs. Colts

Where we re-imagine West Side Story as the conflict between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts

Oh, when the Jets fall in at the football dance,

We’ll be the sweetest dressin Gang in pants!

And when the chicks dig us in our Gang Green ties,

They’re gonna flip, gonna flop, gonna drop like flies!

The Jets are in gear,

Our cylinders are clickin’!

The Colts’ll steer clear

‘Cause ev’ry Indianan’s a lousy chicken!

Here come the Jets:

Little city, step aside!

Better go back to Baltimore,

Better run, better hide!

Here come the Jets,

Yeah! And we’re gonna beat

Ev’ry last buggin’ Colt

In the whole buggin’ stadium!

When you’re a Jet, You stay a Jet!