Oddly enough, this is NOT the first time that a friend of mine has become an international internet celebrity. But last time, the overall effect was very different. And I think that the difference is the rise of Social Media. I have, in the past, been skeptical about whether Social Media truly represents a Kuhnian paradigm shift -- I may have to reassess this opinion.
Seven years ago, a colleague of mine was invited into his son's 5th grade classroom to discuss what he does for a living. It turns out that what he does for a living is cut open people's brains, so he figured he should bring a body part or two for demonstration purposes. When he revealed the disembodied arm, the kids reactly poorly, and Mike found his story splashed across the internet, with mainstream media as far away as Australia and the Soviet Bloc jumping on the bandwagon.
But it wasn't ANYTHING like what has happened to Cooks Source in the past 24 hours. Back then, there was no medium by which random, uninvolved people could communicate their disrespect to Mike. There was no way for him to deepen the hole he had dug by announcing his lack of remorse (not that he didn't try). The ability of large numbers of uninvolved people to PARTICIPATE in the controversy, instead of just react to it, is truly a novel phenomenon.
There is a new sort of mob ready to storm the proverbial castle and rid the world of the heinous monster. This mob doesn't use pitchforks; it LOLs. And to be part of the mob only requires 5 minutes of your time.
Seven years ago, a colleague of mine was invited into his son's 5th grade classroom to discuss what he does for a living. It turns out that what he does for a living is cut open people's brains, so he figured he should bring a body part or two for demonstration purposes. When he revealed the disembodied arm, the kids reactly poorly, and Mike found his story splashed across the internet, with mainstream media as far away as Australia and the Soviet Bloc jumping on the bandwagon.
But it wasn't ANYTHING like what has happened to Cooks Source in the past 24 hours. Back then, there was no medium by which random, uninvolved people could communicate their disrespect to Mike. There was no way for him to deepen the hole he had dug by announcing his lack of remorse (not that he didn't try). The ability of large numbers of uninvolved people to PARTICIPATE in the controversy, instead of just react to it, is truly a novel phenomenon.
There is a new sort of mob ready to storm the proverbial castle and rid the world of the heinous monster. This mob doesn't use pitchforks; it LOLs. And to be part of the mob only requires 5 minutes of your time.
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