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annfriedman:

In my ongoing quest for the perfect framework for understanding haters, I created The Disapproval Matrix**. (With a deep bow to its inspiration.) This is one way to separate haterade from productive feedback. Here’s how the quadrants break down:

Critics: These are smart people who know something about your field. They are taking a hard look at your work and are not loving it. You’ll probably want to listen to what they have to say, and make some adjustments to your work based on their thoughtful comments.

Lovers: These people are invested in you and are also giving you negative but rational feedback because they want you to improve. Listen to them, too. 

Frenemies: Ooooh, this quadrant is tricky. These people really know how to hurt you, because they know you personally or know your work pretty well. But at the end of the day, their criticism is not actually about your work—it’s about you personally. And they aren’t actually interested in a productive conversation that will result in you becoming better at what you do. They just wanna undermine you. Dishonorable mention goes to The Hater Within, aka the irrational voice inside you that says you suck, which usually falls into this quadrant. Tell all of these fools to sit down and shut up.

Haters: This is your garden-variety, often anonymous troll who wants to tear down everything about you for no rational reason. Folks in this quadrant are easy to write off because they’re counterproductive and you don’t even know them. Ignore! Engaging won’t make you any better at what you do. And then rest easy, because having haters is proof your work is finding a wide audience and is sparking conversation. Own it.

The general rule of thumb? When you receive negative feedback that falls into one of the top two quadrants—from experts or people who care about you who are engaging with and rationally critiquing your work—you should probably take their comments to heart. When you receive negative feedback that falls into the bottom two quadrants, you should just let it roll off your back and just keep doin’ you. If you need to amp yourself up about it, may I suggest this #BYEHATER playlist on Spotify? You’re welcome.

** I presented The Disapproval Matrix to the fine folks at MoxieCon in Chicago yesterday, and they seemed to find it useful, so I figured I’d share with the class. It was originally inspired by a question my friend Channing Kennedy submitted to my #Realtalk column at the Columbia Journalism Review.

Keeping this in mind this week as the MRAs are out in full force trying to remind me that “next time you should talk about how sexism goes both ways, okay?” *eyeroll*

Feminist POC Wikipedia Takeover! 3/15 11-3 EST

William Shatner Schools The Internet On This Newfangled Thing Called 'Being Nice' ›

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fairytalesfor20somethings:

Aladdin had the day off from work, and he was trying to decide what exciting way to spend it. So many possibilities! Then he saw how beautiful it was outside, and he thought, “Yes, I know what I’ll do.”

He put his laptop right up to the window, and that’s where he spent the day having so many adventures on the Internet.

Discovering this site definitely just derailed the productivity of my work day. 

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404ingit:

I am kicking promotion into high gear! 

This Saturday, October 13th at Midnight 404ing It: Breaking (Down) the Internet salutes New York Comic Con and Nerd Culture!!! 

Featuring Dave Johnson (Cover artist: Deadpool, 100 Bullets, Superman: Red Son), David Murray (seibei.com), Jesse Falcon (Marvel, Disney, Children’s Hospital), AND A SURPRISE 4th Guest.

We’re going to be talking about NYCC, kids who cosplay, musical tributes to nerdy stuff, AND SO MUCH MORE. And it will only cost you $5!!

Make a reservation here. 

Join the facebook event here. 

Reblog this and share the coolness!

If I am not exhausted from two full days of NYCC I will definitely be going to this. It’s one of my favorite UCB shows and Pat Baer finds some of the coolest internet stuff. You should go to it too! 

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thedailywhat:

Intense Internet Infographic of the Day: A staggering glimpse at the Internet, by the minute.

[dvice]

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cristyendara:

(via hbbanana131)

Upworthy is dead serious about making sure LOL Cats don't have all the fun on the web. - NYTimes.com ›

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I’m starting work as an editorial fellow at Upworthy today! Very excited to get started. 

If you have any content that you think is meaningful, visual, and awesome, you can send it to rebecca[at]upworthy[dot]com.

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occupyallstreets:

Obama And ISP’s To Launch Largest Digital Spying Scheme In History (Must Read)

If you download potentially copyrighted software, videos or music, your Internet service provider (ISP) has been watching, and they’re coming for you.

Specifically, they’re coming for you on Thursday, July 1.

That’s the date when the nation’s largest ISPs will all voluntarily implement a new anti-piracy plan that will engage network operators in the largest digital spying scheme in history, and see some users’ bandwidth completely cut off until they sign an agreement saying they will not download copyrighted materials.

Word of the start date has been largely kept secret since ISPs announced their plans last June. The deal was brokered by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and coordinated by the Obama Administration. The same groups have weighed in heavily on controversial Internet policies around the world, with similar facilitation by the Obama’s Administration’s State Department.

The July 1 date was revealed by the RIAA’s CEO and top lobbyist, Cary Sherman, during a publishers’ conference on Wednesday in New York, according to technology publication CNet.

The content industries calls this scheme a “graduated response” plan, which will see

-Time Warner Cable

-Cablevision

-Comcast

-Verizon

-AT&T

and others spying on users’ Internet activities and watching for potential copyright infringement. Users who are “caught” infringing on a creator’s protected work can then be interrupted with a notice that piracy is forbidden by law and carries penalties of up to $150,000 per infringement, requiring the user to click through saying they understand the consequences before bandwidth is restored, and they could still be subject to copyright infringement lawsuits.

Read More

Response: This is much worse than SOPA/PIPA and ACTA. It doesn’t necessarily censor the internet but it spys on everything you do. Your ENTIRE web history will be watched and recorded and might even assist the government. This was coordinated by Obama and his administration with the help of the MPAA and RIAA.

What is so dangerous about this is that this is not a law it is a policy adopted by several companies. That means this will not be debated in Congress and you will agree to be spied on by signing a contract with the company.

Internet censorship is becoming a reality and now the corporate elite will legally be able to spy on you. If we spread this and cause an uproar like what we did with SOPA, maybe they will back down. Either way people NEED to know about this.

(via anarcho-queer)

Is it just me or does the guy in this 1990s Internet Users Guide video totally remind you of Tobias Funke too? 

The internet’s not broken.

So then why are there so many attempts to regulate it? Under the guises of piracy, privacy, pornography, predators, indecency, and security, not to mention censorship, tyranny, and civilization, governments from the U.S. to France to Germany to China to Iran to Canada — as well as the European Union and the United Nations — are trying to exert control over the internet.

Why? Is it not working? Is it presenting some new danger to society? Is it fundamentally operating any differently today than it was five or ten years ago? No, no, and no.

So why are governments so eager to claim authority over it? Why would legacy corporations, industries, and institutions egg them on? Because the net is working better than ever. Because they finally recognize how powerful it is and how disruptive it is to their power.

SOPA and PIPA Fully Alive – And a New Bill Joins Them ›

Make good stuff, then make it easy for people to buy it. There’s your anti-piracy plan.