Groupthink » shameless self-promotion

Shameless self-promotion

Scott Bridges — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:19:58 +0000

If you’re wondering why Groupthink has been rather quiet over the past few weeks it’s mostly because I’m just about to head off on a year-long travel adventure and Ant Rogenous is preparing to welcome a new member to his family. Not sure if Ant plans to blog his big event but I’m certainly blogging mine. Check out Crikey’s newest travel blog Back In A Bit, featuring, well, me.

With the silly season just about here, all of us at Groupthink wish you a merry Christmas and happy holidays. We’ll be back at full force early in the new year once Ant and I have settled into our new situations and everyone’s sobered up a bit.

Take care and be safe.

/shamelessself-promotion

University of East Bumcrack update

Scott Bridges — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:57:14 +0000

I done wrote a short piece in today’s Crikey email about the UoEB meme.

What next? Meme, the musical, starring Bumcrabb and Bolt

Twenty four hours is a long time in today’s interconnected, intertubed world. Once upon a time a throwaway, smart-arse remark by a panelist on a political TV chat show would take days to grow into a meme, relying on being quoted in newspaper columns and replayed on evening news. But in the age of Twitter it takes only 24 hours for that smart-arse remark to go from being uttered on Insiders to being printed on a T-shirt and plastered all over the blogosphere.

Read the rest of the article …

Groupthink Couture Pty Ltd has also released some new t-shirts, as referenced in the article.

Keep Bolt close to your heart

More on trollumnists

Scott Bridges — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:42:22 +0000

I wrote on Saturday about a smarter person than I coining the term “trollumnist” in response to a Miranda Devine article. That smarter person has now published a longer exploration of the phenomenon at newmatilda.com and it’s really, really good so you should go and read it.

‘If I Make You Angry Enough, Maybe You’ll Keep Reading’

Editors use flimsy commentary from ‘trollumnists’ like Miranda Devine to stir up outrage. But baiting readers in this way ultimately hurts your organisation, writes Jason Wilson

It used to be that to get your own column in a broadsheet, you needed to add some value. Expertise, skill in interpreting social and political developments, or a distinguished history as a journalist were rewarded with a bit more space in the paper. There, you could spin out a longer-form piece analysing burning issues in a little more depth, or you could even act as an advocate for things that weren’t on the public’s radar.

Read the rest of the article …