I have sorted out the sidebar mess that included links to all sorts of places I could no longer be found. I have now summarised the four main places under one banner 'Other Presences'. Not sure how much longer I'll be on Twitter/X but still there for now.
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Review of the Year 2021
Bit late for a review of the year but whilst there may be a tradition about these things there is not, to my mind, a rule that says January 20th is too late. Anyway I've been busy.
Annually, I find the same problem. Things I discovered in a particular year were often published before then. So, trying to keep it all vaguely contemporary, here are the arts and culture stuff I enjoyed most in 2021:
Television
Having someone culturally aware come and live with us was helpful and top of the incoming list was our discovery of Succession. If you've missed it then Brian Cox (actor not physicist) plays Logan Roy, a hugely successful businessman trying to stop his dysfunctional offspring from inheriting and ruining his empire. Very sweary. Three seasons available.
If major infrastructure programmes have a fringe benefit it is that they let loose the ubiquitous Alice Roberts to share details of archaeological discoveries under the road, pipeline, railway. Digging for Britain ensued and educated this household muchly. In the same vein, plaudits to BBC2's Stonehenge - The Lost Circle Revealed and the archaeology of back gardens disclosed in The Great British Dig.
Mobeen Azhar's Hometown - A Killing started as a podcast but became a BBC docu-series. Investigative journalism at its best.
I continue to be a sucker for food shows such as Great British Menu, Masterchef and Professional Masterchef. The celebrity versions of these shows can go hang, though. In fact I enjoyed most shows where people demonstrate brilliance at something I can't do, so stand up and take a bow Pottery Throwdown, Bake Off and Great British Sewing Bee.
Clarkson's Farm surprised me by being educational.
Ghosts continued to be lovely and very clever.
Gone Fishing was nice slow tele. Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse have delivered public service broadcasting gold.
Music
Squid promised much with their first few singles. Their debut album Bright Green Field was only three stars from me but the blending of maths rock and shouty punk was a fine mash-up and continues to promise much.
Jangly guitar fans could get their fix with The War on Drugs - I Don't Live here Anymore. Album of the year.
For joyful story-telling pop my guilty pleasure was Demi Lovato's Dancing with the Devil ... The Art of Starting Over.
Honourable mentions for Floating Points collaboration with the LSO on Promises.
Twitter
Henry Sotheran Ltd is an antiquarian bookshop, which I will probably never frequent because of money and that but @Sotherans is a delight of a Twitter feed. Sample:
'...we've been around longer, on average, than most empires last. We sell old books and other stuff but mostly books, and definitely not opium anymore because it got banned. Wednesdays are not for talking.'
Films
The Trial of the Chicago Seven was a favourite. Bond a bit disappointing. Didn't see enough as cinemas felt unsafe.
Podcasts
Lost Hills told the story of an apparently random killing in more detail than the cops seemed to have gone into with Dana Goodyear finding out more and more connections and coincidences. From Pushkin.
Books
My wokeness was polished a little by How Not to be Wrong - The Art of Changing Your Mind by James O'Brien.
Good novels included Catriona Ward's Last House on Needless Street - a murder mystery that pulled all the rugs from under both your feet at various times. Very diverting and more than a little odd.
What happens once the easternmost house falls into the sea? Juliet Blaxland's follow-up is a bit more metaphysical, but also keeping alive the stories of those who will crumble next in The Easternmost Sky.
Alice Roberts' (her again) pre-history of Britain in seven burials is exactly that. Who should live in Britain? Who came first? Who are we? Read Ancestors and stop hating immigrants.
Food
Pintxo (tapas) and Appleton's (fine dining) in Fowey made a holiday in this country great. Pony Bistro in Bedminster delivered everything you'd expect a Josh Eggleton enterprise to do (including a Valentine's finish-at-home meal in a box). For tapas in Bristol try Gambas on Wapping Wharf.
Good pubs included Bedminster's North Street Standard, The Salamander in Bath, WB at Wapping Wharf, The Priory at Portbury and Coates House, Nailsea.
Art
We enjoyed wandering around Bedminster's street art festival Upfest and being under the Moon in Bristol Cathedral.
That's about it. I've saved you from the format 'Stuff I found this year that everyone else has known about for ever', which would have included an updated review of experimental German electronica from the early 70s which I'd miss-dissed. Belated apologies to Faust, Can and Amon Düül II. Although for some reason I always liked Tangerine Dream.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Danny Baker, Racism and the State of Things
If, like me, you are a big fan of Danny Baker, the events of Thursday night will have disappointed you. Wit, raconteur, story-teller and extraordinary broadcaster he has kept me company for maybe twenty-five years of travels and leisure time. I have enjoyed his radio shows, read his books, recently found his Lineker and Baker - Behind Closed Doors football podcast revealing and I follow him enthusiastically on Twitter. Each evening he posts a picture of himself wearing a ridiculous hat, usually a fez, holding a beer or wine and saying 'Good evening everyone.'
I have a few expressions I use occasionally which I learned from him. If there is a suitable break in the conversation I try to attribute to him:
'Pull on that thread and the whole of your life unravels.'
'Picked myself up and came in fourth.'
There are probably others.
So this morning I was disappointed not to have my weekly dose of beautifully managed and appreciated callers, minor celebrity interviews and, of course 'the sausage sandwich game' on Five Live. Sacked. For a racist tweet. And almost nobody thinks it wasn't.
If, at this point, you do not know what I am talking about then off you go into a quiet corner with a Google. Others would be bored by a summary. Searching for 'Prodnose chimp' would probably do it.
And while reading a newspaper instead of listening to his show I found myself, hugely coincidentally, reading a review of his current live tour:
'This is a show of such warmth and lust for life that the only correct response is to sit back and enjoy it. There's no score-settling, no superiority, no victims.' Later in the same review '...he chooses to be a good news gospel, preaching about what a ride life can be if you're open enough.'(Paul Fleckney in The Guardian 7/5/19)
Browsing my Twitter feed yesterday it is as clear as it always was that Baker is a Marmite broadcaster. The haters were glad he had gone and didn't care why. The lovers did not tend to condone what he did but lamented that it had happened suggesting, in as close as you can get to empathy, that insensitivity is the tax you pay on quick-wittedness.
On Thursday night the first I heard that something was amiss was to read a Tweet from Baker himself (@prodnose) apologising that he had accidentally used an image to illustrate a joke which could be misconstrued. He was clearly remorseful and deleted the Tweet as soon as the error was drawn to his attention. The sign, to me, of a good apology, is one that is issued before the receiver becomes aware that they need it.
So, although others feel he must have known what he was doing, I simply don't accept that the quick-witted (a club I try to belong to) work like that. It is possible, I think, to be racist without being a racist. And the speed of apology and withdrawal is key.
I don't think the BBC had any choice. A little bit of me understands that. Another little bit wishes it lived in a world where they did.
I have a few expressions I use occasionally which I learned from him. If there is a suitable break in the conversation I try to attribute to him:
'Pull on that thread and the whole of your life unravels.'
'Picked myself up and came in fourth.'
There are probably others.
So this morning I was disappointed not to have my weekly dose of beautifully managed and appreciated callers, minor celebrity interviews and, of course 'the sausage sandwich game' on Five Live. Sacked. For a racist tweet. And almost nobody thinks it wasn't.
If, at this point, you do not know what I am talking about then off you go into a quiet corner with a Google. Others would be bored by a summary. Searching for 'Prodnose chimp' would probably do it.
And while reading a newspaper instead of listening to his show I found myself, hugely coincidentally, reading a review of his current live tour:
'This is a show of such warmth and lust for life that the only correct response is to sit back and enjoy it. There's no score-settling, no superiority, no victims.' Later in the same review '...he chooses to be a good news gospel, preaching about what a ride life can be if you're open enough.'(Paul Fleckney in The Guardian 7/5/19)
Browsing my Twitter feed yesterday it is as clear as it always was that Baker is a Marmite broadcaster. The haters were glad he had gone and didn't care why. The lovers did not tend to condone what he did but lamented that it had happened suggesting, in as close as you can get to empathy, that insensitivity is the tax you pay on quick-wittedness.
On Thursday night the first I heard that something was amiss was to read a Tweet from Baker himself (@prodnose) apologising that he had accidentally used an image to illustrate a joke which could be misconstrued. He was clearly remorseful and deleted the Tweet as soon as the error was drawn to his attention. The sign, to me, of a good apology, is one that is issued before the receiver becomes aware that they need it.
So, although others feel he must have known what he was doing, I simply don't accept that the quick-witted (a club I try to belong to) work like that. It is possible, I think, to be racist without being a racist. And the speed of apology and withdrawal is key.
I don't think the BBC had any choice. A little bit of me understands that. Another little bit wishes it lived in a world where they did.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Let's Agree to Disagree
I am quite happy to agree to disagree with you about the identity of the greatest band of all time, the location of the finest restaurant in the known universe and, at a push, the best way to drive from Nailsea to Wells although on the latter your logic may be at fault but I'll let it go. Preferences are simply that. No one person's favourite necessarily has to be everyone else's.
But the other day my timeline on Facebook was invaded by this:
But the other day my timeline on Facebook was invaded by this:
And the person posting had said 'Onwards and upwards, lets make Brexit successful.'
I posted:
OK I'll rise to it:
1. We were and still are.
2. We just jumped ship from an agreement by 27 states to agree to play by the same rules (I should have said 28).
3. Glad you agree it's not fair now. Shall we take more refugees?
4. We were and still (just about) are.
To which I received the reply:
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, obviously I'm very happy with the referendum result along with 17,410,740 voters.
I gave up with a:
Don't I know it.
But I don't agree to disagree. I disagree. I made, I thought, clear and valid objections. And in those circumstances I'd like to hear reasoned, or even emotional, arguments for why you are right and I am wrong.
Sometimes it's necessary but 'Let's agree to disagree' is too often lazy. And that Conservative poster is not a plan for Britain. It's a bunch of meritless slogans and emotive catch-phrases at best. In its suggestion that everything is endlessly broken apart from when the Conservatives are in power it is nasty, demeaning, passive-aggressive rallying.
I don't pretend that other parties all behave fine. Not for a minute do I do that. But I insist that sloganeering codswallop followed by 'Let's agree to disagree' is no way to demonstrate to the world how to use social media well and wisely. It's the equivalent of shouting over the wall and running off.
Next time you shout over my wall be very afraid. I might invite you in for a cup of tea and a chat. I'd like to listen to your reason.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Get it in Writing
In my days of having a proper job, as a claims clerk in the insurance industry, we were encouraged all the time to get things confirmed in writing and to confirm any offers we made in writing. Writing was important. Although verbal contracts do exist and are legal, they are easily backed away from and it becomes one word against another in the absence of witnesses. Getting it in writing provided firmer evidence of a deal done.
We offer you £250 in full and final settlement of all claims for personal injury arising out of this accident. This offer is made without any admission of negligence on the part of our client. Please indicate your acceptance in writing and we will send you a cheque.
See. I can still recite it today. Sums of money have advanced a bit and cheques are antiquated but the principle remains.
In those early days as a house-owner I was introduced to the shady area of cash transactions.
Me: How much to fix the front gutter?
Builder: £90 should cover it.
Me: Can I have a written quote?
Builder: Ah. Then it will be plus VAT.
It is strange how our relationship with writing has changed. Because social media is writing or, at least, typing. A comment we might have made tongue-in-cheek, or in an offhand way down the pub is suddenly in writing. Or is it? Is that how people see it.
A few years back an irritated traveller tweeted, after appalling delays at Nottingham Airport, that he was off to blow it up. He was arrested and it took a while for a wise judge (on appeal, I recall) to see that he had been joking.
I really don't think that a lot of people see their social media outbursts as 'in writing'. Just as a young family member once told me that someone wasn't a friend but a Facebook friend (clearly having a difference in their head between the two types), I think that there needs to be a new word for posting, tweeting and updating that stops short of this being something that is being clarified 'in writing'.
You only have to look at the long string of appalling and abusive comments on certain celebrity posts to see that people seem genuinely not to have noticed that the person the subject of their opprobrium is actually listening/reading. I follow Gary Lineker on Twitter. He seems an interested and interesting character. He is not especially rude or crude and does not restrict his comments to the world of sport. People respond shamefully. By and large he reacts modestly. This exchange of views/insults reads like a conversation, albeit one with the drunk in the pub or the nutter on the bus.
And the trouble with writing is that it is not open to discussion who said what to whom. The evidence is there. This doesn't seem to dissuade the trumps of this world from saying 'I never said that'.
A few years ago I carried around a quote from Anita Roddick (her of the Bodyshop business). She said that ideas have wings. As soon as you pin them down they fail to fly. So she operated an ideas culture that didn't pin things down to paper plans too soon. Better paper planes in the air. Keep talking.
I like being part of a church where we all talk about everything all the time. Nobody is too insignificant to contribute to vision or strategy. All views can be shared and we are slow to minute them. We try to have as few secrets as possible. In this context a social media discussion has no more weight than a chat over coffee. And no less either.
That will be £50 please. For cash.
We offer you £250 in full and final settlement of all claims for personal injury arising out of this accident. This offer is made without any admission of negligence on the part of our client. Please indicate your acceptance in writing and we will send you a cheque.
See. I can still recite it today. Sums of money have advanced a bit and cheques are antiquated but the principle remains.
In those early days as a house-owner I was introduced to the shady area of cash transactions.
Me: How much to fix the front gutter?
Builder: £90 should cover it.
Me: Can I have a written quote?
Builder: Ah. Then it will be plus VAT.
It is strange how our relationship with writing has changed. Because social media is writing or, at least, typing. A comment we might have made tongue-in-cheek, or in an offhand way down the pub is suddenly in writing. Or is it? Is that how people see it.
A few years back an irritated traveller tweeted, after appalling delays at Nottingham Airport, that he was off to blow it up. He was arrested and it took a while for a wise judge (on appeal, I recall) to see that he had been joking.
I really don't think that a lot of people see their social media outbursts as 'in writing'. Just as a young family member once told me that someone wasn't a friend but a Facebook friend (clearly having a difference in their head between the two types), I think that there needs to be a new word for posting, tweeting and updating that stops short of this being something that is being clarified 'in writing'.
You only have to look at the long string of appalling and abusive comments on certain celebrity posts to see that people seem genuinely not to have noticed that the person the subject of their opprobrium is actually listening/reading. I follow Gary Lineker on Twitter. He seems an interested and interesting character. He is not especially rude or crude and does not restrict his comments to the world of sport. People respond shamefully. By and large he reacts modestly. This exchange of views/insults reads like a conversation, albeit one with the drunk in the pub or the nutter on the bus.
And the trouble with writing is that it is not open to discussion who said what to whom. The evidence is there. This doesn't seem to dissuade the trumps of this world from saying 'I never said that'.
A few years ago I carried around a quote from Anita Roddick (her of the Bodyshop business). She said that ideas have wings. As soon as you pin them down they fail to fly. So she operated an ideas culture that didn't pin things down to paper plans too soon. Better paper planes in the air. Keep talking.
I like being part of a church where we all talk about everything all the time. Nobody is too insignificant to contribute to vision or strategy. All views can be shared and we are slow to minute them. We try to have as few secrets as possible. In this context a social media discussion has no more weight than a chat over coffee. And no less either.
That will be £50 please. For cash.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Meeting Up
We had a lovely new family in church last Sunday all the way from Belfast. It was great to meet them and at the same time slightly odd.
In the midst of all the warnings about meeting people on the internet it is worth remembering that we often make friends in real life by hanging out where people hang out and going back there to continue the conversation.
If you go to the same cafe at the same time every week you will probably make some acquaintances. Likewise health clubs, holidays and holding sporting season tickets.
Ali and I bumped into each other about ten years ago (we can't remember exactly when). We were both bloggers in the relatively early days of blogging and left comments on posts each other had written.
As Facebook came along we became Facebook friends. I recall being vaguely aware that I ought to meet people I had taken this step with. But in the sense that Facebook is a place to share more personal information we began to see photos of each other, become aware of each other's families and, in a gesture of absolute connection, Ali took Jesus on Wheels on a few adventures. (He now has an alarming habit of singing Irish rugby songs when bored.)
So, in this new way the world works, we became friends before we had met. And although we could never be certain, we became pretty sure that we would like to meet, that neither of us was an axe-murderer using an alter-ego, and that this had somehow become a 'proper' friendship before we had ever been in the same room.
And of course, seeing as how I am male and she is female and we are both married, it was important to involve our partners in knowledge of this friendship.
So Ali and her family came to town, being nearby for a rugby match, and afterwards we shared a hasty lunch before they had to get a plane back.
I'm sort of writing this as a corrective to the idea that you should never meet people you bump into on the internet. We got on well, it was a bit like old friends and a bit like new ones.
In the midst of all the warnings about meeting people on the internet it is worth remembering that we often make friends in real life by hanging out where people hang out and going back there to continue the conversation.
If you go to the same cafe at the same time every week you will probably make some acquaintances. Likewise health clubs, holidays and holding sporting season tickets.
Ali and I bumped into each other about ten years ago (we can't remember exactly when). We were both bloggers in the relatively early days of blogging and left comments on posts each other had written.
As Facebook came along we became Facebook friends. I recall being vaguely aware that I ought to meet people I had taken this step with. But in the sense that Facebook is a place to share more personal information we began to see photos of each other, become aware of each other's families and, in a gesture of absolute connection, Ali took Jesus on Wheels on a few adventures. (He now has an alarming habit of singing Irish rugby songs when bored.)
So, in this new way the world works, we became friends before we had met. And although we could never be certain, we became pretty sure that we would like to meet, that neither of us was an axe-murderer using an alter-ego, and that this had somehow become a 'proper' friendship before we had ever been in the same room.
And of course, seeing as how I am male and she is female and we are both married, it was important to involve our partners in knowledge of this friendship.
So Ali and her family came to town, being nearby for a rugby match, and afterwards we shared a hasty lunch before they had to get a plane back.
I'm sort of writing this as a corrective to the idea that you should never meet people you bump into on the internet. We got on well, it was a bit like old friends and a bit like new ones.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
The Circle
What is the goal of the social media? What is the endgame?Set not too many years into the future this novel talks about the massive social media organisation known as The Circle. It has swallowed Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Amazon. People no longer tweet, they zing.
And the talk is of completing the circle. Becoming transparent so everyone can see everything you are doing 24/7 apart from comfort breaks.
People who don't want to share, wish to stay hidden, are treated with suspicion. Even hounded.
Mae starts work with the Circle and soon becomes a key employee, sharing her ideas and indeed her life with millions of followers.
Total transparency will eliminate crime. It will enable people to exercise their right to vote knowing everything about each candidate, for a candidate who is not transparent will be treated with suspicion. It will help us find anyone with anything to hide. It will bring us all closer together and stop wars. Won't it?
Even illness seems to be a thing of the past as the Circle's massive turnover enables bang up-to-date treatments for employees who become unwell. And their families, Mae discovers.
This is utopia isn't it? Well?
The book is a thriller and a page-turner but is also a slow reveal. Is there bad in here somewhere? Is someone trying to tell Mae about a sinister flip-side? And will she listen?
I loved this book but also need to think about it a lot. You must read it.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Thought for the Day
As delivered at BBC Radio Bristol this morning:
I was chatting to a group of young adults about what they call 'the old days' and I call my past.
They couldn't grasp how I used to meet up with friends without a mobile phone. 'Well' I said in a patronising, fatherlike voice I save for such occasions, 'Each time we meet, before we leave, we fix the time and place of the next gathering and then go there at that time.'
They all looked gobsmacked. How awkward. What if you are late? They could agree to meet in Dundee on Saturday, tweak the arrangements right up to the last moment and agree a precise meeting place once there. It's a luxury.
I showed them a picture of the first office I ever worked in. A busy insurance company. On each desk just a phone and a load of files. No computers, yet.
If I was to have a word now with my twenty year old self the array of communication devices in this studio would be utterly baffling as Twitter feeds, autocues, Facebook updates, texts, calls and live material are seamlessly linked. Well, usually.
The young me understood bullying, had even suffered a bit of it, but would not have a clue what I was talking about if I mentioned cyber-bullying.
We can end up thinking that this is a very 21st century problem needing a very 21st century solution. It isn't and doesn't. All it needs is the age-old rule to treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself. So old, it's in the Bible.
Online is just another place where people hang out. The good and the evil. There, as anywhere else, people should be respected not bullied.
I was chatting to a group of young adults about what they call 'the old days' and I call my past.
They couldn't grasp how I used to meet up with friends without a mobile phone. 'Well' I said in a patronising, fatherlike voice I save for such occasions, 'Each time we meet, before we leave, we fix the time and place of the next gathering and then go there at that time.'
They all looked gobsmacked. How awkward. What if you are late? They could agree to meet in Dundee on Saturday, tweak the arrangements right up to the last moment and agree a precise meeting place once there. It's a luxury.
I showed them a picture of the first office I ever worked in. A busy insurance company. On each desk just a phone and a load of files. No computers, yet.
If I was to have a word now with my twenty year old self the array of communication devices in this studio would be utterly baffling as Twitter feeds, autocues, Facebook updates, texts, calls and live material are seamlessly linked. Well, usually.
The young me understood bullying, had even suffered a bit of it, but would not have a clue what I was talking about if I mentioned cyber-bullying.
We can end up thinking that this is a very 21st century problem needing a very 21st century solution. It isn't and doesn't. All it needs is the age-old rule to treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself. So old, it's in the Bible.
Online is just another place where people hang out. The good and the evil. There, as anywhere else, people should be respected not bullied.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Social Media Frenzy 2
So after last week's story (see previous post) we reached the state where we thought it would spread no more. Bath and Wells Diocesan Communication Team had seen their tweet about Social Media Guidelines picked up by local radio, national radio and national newspapers. All went quiet.
Then, out of the blue, came a request from Russian State TV (claimed reach 130m) to interview someone in the Diocese about this, especially a priest who used social media. Thrust forward I was. Apparently Orthodox priests are being encouraged to embrace social media and the media wanted to talk to a priest who did it.
Aleksander, the station's UK correspondent was a delightful guy and well-briefed. He expressed interest in our church life (and was a fan of Pope Francis) and engagement with the local community. He said that church life and community life could tend to be separate. He appreciated the variety of the Church of England, liberal to conservative, informal to structured, modern to traditional.
The interview, which was a bit wider than simply about social media, will probably be broadcast today so I am at the mercy of Aleks' translation skills I guess.
Then, out of the blue, came a request from Russian State TV (claimed reach 130m) to interview someone in the Diocese about this, especially a priest who used social media. Thrust forward I was. Apparently Orthodox priests are being encouraged to embrace social media and the media wanted to talk to a priest who did it.
Aleksander, the station's UK correspondent was a delightful guy and well-briefed. He expressed interest in our church life (and was a fan of Pope Francis) and engagement with the local community. He said that church life and community life could tend to be separate. He appreciated the variety of the Church of England, liberal to conservative, informal to structured, modern to traditional.
The interview, which was a bit wider than simply about social media, will probably be broadcast today so I am at the mercy of Aleks' translation skills I guess.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Social Media Frenzy
Yesterday was a bit silly as a load of media outlets, starting with the Daily Telegraph, picked up the Social Media pieces we published a few weeks ago. They ended up being featured in the Huffington Post, the Independent and on local and national radio.
The documents are on the Bath and Wells web pages. The first is their Nine Commandments for Using Social Media written by Gillian and the communications team at The Old Deanery. The second is Top 10 Tips for using social media positively, written by me.
The first is about precautions and safe-guarding. The second is about how to join in if you want to. Both aimed at beginners.
It was interesting to watch the progress of the story as it got picked up by Twitter. Pretty soon a mistake crept in, attributing the whole of the writing to me, which I had to keep correcting as others picked it up and simply repeated it.
That's social media for you.
The documents are on the Bath and Wells web pages. The first is their Nine Commandments for Using Social Media written by Gillian and the communications team at The Old Deanery. The second is Top 10 Tips for using social media positively, written by me.
The first is about precautions and safe-guarding. The second is about how to join in if you want to. Both aimed at beginners.
It was interesting to watch the progress of the story as it got picked up by Twitter. Pretty soon a mistake crept in, attributing the whole of the writing to me, which I had to keep correcting as others picked it up and simply repeated it.
That's social media for you.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Rape is rape; the rapist is the problem not the victim
Publicity for the new campaign, that the rapist is always responsible and to blame for a rape, was widespread today. I agree with it utterly and wholeheartedly but wondered if, notwithstanding this, there was any discussion to be had about taking steps to minimise risks.
The Twitter discussion which followed, which I set out below, is one from which I have now withdrawn as I feel I may accidentally say something which will cost me my job or jeopardise my ability to do it well.
Some of the comments really hurt but I'm vulnerable and open to feedback on the correspondence. I learn best if disagreements are phrased gently and on the basis that I am trying to learn, not that I would dream of telling anyone how to comment:
8.16
@EyeEdinburgh @bbcrb absolutely agree. But is there never wisdom in taking action to keep yourself safe?
8.29
@s1eve @bbcrb Unfortunately, there is no reasonable action a woman can take to ensure she is never in the presence of a rapist.
@s1eve @bbcrb You see, while perhaps only one in twenty men are rapists, rapist men look exactly like other non-rapist men. #rapeculture
@EyeEdinburgh @s1eve @bbcrb so, I assume we should close all banks because they’re just begging to be robbed…
@sarahluv81 @s1eve @bbcrb this is the key. Women trust men who believe this shît, so it’s the MEN’S attitude that has to change
@s1eve @EyeEdinburgh @bbcrb unfortunately, there is no magic solution to that. Never leave home? Rapes happen there too.
@EyeEdinburgh @bbcrb this is all very helpful. Thank you. Is there any 'reasonable' action a woman can take to minimise the danger?
@s1eve @bbcrb Sure. Tell men like you to stop talking as if women are to blame for being raped. That's reasonable, isn't it? #rapeculture
@s1eve @bbcrb The unreasonable action that every woman knows about it that we assume every man is a potential rapist. http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-schrodinger%E2%80%99s-rapist-or-a-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-approaching-strange-women-without-being-maced/ …
@s1eve I accept you didn't mean it, but talking as if it were up to us to avoid"risk of rape"not men to avoid being rapists is victimblaming
The Twitter discussion which followed, which I set out below, is one from which I have now withdrawn as I feel I may accidentally say something which will cost me my job or jeopardise my ability to do it well.
Some of the comments really hurt but I'm vulnerable and open to feedback on the correspondence. I learn best if disagreements are phrased gently and on the basis that I am trying to learn, not that I would dream of telling anyone how to comment:
7.02
Is a victim of rape ever to blame for being attacked? Posters put up around Bristol from today say they're not. pic.twitter.com/z3zhaKGl94
7.42
If you leave your car unlocked and an iPad is stolen from the back seat the theft is not your fault but you could have prevented it. @bbcrb
7.58
Women are not cars or iPads. Rape is a crime of violence, not theft. The attacker, not the attacked, is to blame. @s1eve @bbcrb #rapeculture
8.16
8.29
8.30
9.02
9.19
9.21
9.29
9.47
9.49
9.51
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Put my head above the parapet of a #rapeculture discussion earlier. Very tough place to hang out given the subject but found it helpful.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
A Twitter Discussion
Yesterday morning Bishop Pete Broadbent posted a Twitter link to a blog post he had written which included a paragraph - twenty quick fixes the Church of England could do now. I read it and thought it was rather good. I re-tweeted it.
I then spent the day, on and off, in a discussion with some people who didn't think it was very good. I've been struggling to understand their position ever since. You will see from the correspondence, which I am going to have a go at transcribing below, that at one point I got a bit frustrated and gave a silly answer to a silly question.
If you want to follow it you really have no choice but to read the Broadbent post first. It is here and point eight is the key one with the twenty ideas listed. If anyone wants any of the initialisms explained please leave a comment. BMO is Bishop's Mission Order.
@therevsteve Really? I didn't feel bashed by it. What hurt?
@s1eve Comments more than article, but @petespurs handed out the ammo with remark on "under performing" clergy needing to be got rid of.
@therevsteve @petespurs you want to keep the under-performers?
@s1eve you point them out to me and then let's discuss it... @petespurs
@therevsteve @petespurs I am not in a position to review clergy performance. But a bishop is.
@s1eve I don't think a Bishop has any more idea of what "performance" means for clergy than I do, except by the crudest measures @petespurs
@therevsteve @s1eve @petespurs Oh I expect there'll be lots of 'performance markers' like running Alpha courses and Messy Churches
@revpamsmith @therevsteve @s1eve @petespurs How about celebrating the Eucharist, baptizing people, and preaching sermons? #parish
@liambeadle Yes, but *good* sermons or poor ones? We are judging *performance* here, not just activity... @revpamsmith @s1eve @petespurs
@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs I think knickers are being twisted here. If you take an ontological view of priesthood OK. I don't.
@s1eve I take a very *un*-ontological view! Still don't think clergy performance can be measured meaningfully. @revpamsmith @petespurs
@s1eve Yes, you can measure *activity* but anything beyond that is either subjective or spurious @revpamsmith @petespurs
@therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs hope it isn't me making you angry, but ontological view cannot easily be counted. Functional can.
@s1eve No, not you! What measures of clergy performance would you use & how assess contribution of congregation(s)? @revpamsmith @petespurs
@therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs anything that can be counted. It's all we got. 360 performance review and detailed report & discussion.
@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Measuring performance indicators ALWAYS makes people skew workload towards what's being measured
@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs So in this model an 'activist' concept of ministry takes precedent over any other form of priesthood
@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs That may work if you can afford to pay for absolutely all ministry, if you can't, it's cloud cuckoo land
@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs you measure as much as possible. Maybe 'more people seeking opportunities for quiet and sacred space.'
@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Measurements like that are fairly easy to game (sic) - saw it in prison chaplaincy where regime hours are measured
@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs Pam is there any sense in which you feel people should be held to account? Professionals or volunteers?
@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs You have had to cope with a lot of review in your life and have been wounded by it?
@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Do you normally assume people who disagree with you are either ignorant or psychologically unstable?
@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs but reading back through today I haven't disagreed with anyone, just asked questions.
@s1eve @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs I'm going to wade in. There are more ways to evaluate than counting the quantifiable.
@s1eve @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs we've known the value of qualitative, narrative evaluation for long time in youthwork.
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@s1eve @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs appraisls and reviews drew heavily on case study, story, 'distance traveled', not just counting.
I then spent the day, on and off, in a discussion with some people who didn't think it was very good. I've been struggling to understand their position ever since. You will see from the correspondence, which I am going to have a go at transcribing below, that at one point I got a bit frustrated and gave a silly answer to a silly question.
If you want to follow it you really have no choice but to read the Broadbent post first. It is here and point eight is the key one with the twenty ideas listed. If anyone wants any of the initialisms explained please leave a comment. BMO is Bishop's Mission Order.
'Twenty quick hits to change the #CofE' by Bp of Willesden, Pete Broadbent @petespurs. #strategic
http://bishopofwillesden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/twenty-quick-hits-to-change-cofe.html …
http://bishopofwillesden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/twenty-quick-hits-to-change-cofe.html …
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.@s1eve The clergy role is simply not one to which the word "performance" applies in any sensible way @petespurs
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(I think this means 'Which bishop is in a position to review? - ed)
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(Ontological meaning it is more about being than doing, the opposite of which would be a functional view - ed)
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(Her bio on Twitter says:)
Virtual vicar. Ex prison chaplain, teacher, health service. Into politics, TV, socmedia. Will follow back, but don't auto follow. I unfollow trolls.
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It's hard to follow Twitter streams without a hashtag. Later I will the (sic) to transcribe yesterday's conversation and post it to blog for you.
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