Will Richardson

Speaker, consultant, writer, learner, parent

Ok Tom…Here You Go

By

Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.

While I don’t agree with all of Tom Hoffman’s points regarding the use of the MLK.org site (and, no, I’m not linking) as a poster child for Web literacy (I don’t think this has as much to do with the authors being evil as it does them being manipulative and that it makes for a pretty compelling example of the potential for manipulation especially for those that need to be shocked into it), and while the irony of Google bombing other more “palatable” resources is obvious, I’m feeling a bit frisky this morning and would love to someday use this exercise as an example of the complexities of what we’re up against these days. I suspect Tom thinks this isn’t really anything different from the skepticism that we should have been taught to practice all along, but the problem is there seems to be tons of kids (and adults) who didn’t get the message like Tom did. (See Tom’s post for the code if you want to play.)

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Comments

  1. Terry Elliott says

    I have problems as well with the Google Bombing of this website of vitriol and hate. I commented at Tom’s site to the effect that while his response while admirable begs the question: how do we honestly engage “information” of this sort? Is the notion of a marketplace of ideas dead and replaced with page rank as a democratic value? Can one have a conversation of any reasoned variety with this sort? If we remain silent, do we tacitly give them leave for further evil? Is google bombing a form of shouting down our enemies rather than coming up with less disingenuous ways to creatively engage them. I think we all know the answer to the question, “Why bother?” If anyone needs to know the answer to that question, just read Dave Neiwert’s web site “Orcinus” and be shocked by how close some of our citizenry are to adopting an “eliminationist rhetoric” (think of Ann Coulter’s demonization of liberals increased exponentially).

    Once again, thanks for bringing up the topic and providing the forum.