...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
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SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
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Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#12...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
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Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#13...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
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Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#14...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
I find Wikipedia's blackout to be lacking in expedient information, and I see those tweets as evidence.
No where on that first page does it say "SOPA", "PIPA", or anything about censorship. I think the use of bigger, bolder text would've gotten the message across better than the more aesthetically-pleasing splash page they have now. Imagine how much more backlash there'd be if it had a look more inline with that have http://smbc-comics.com
It comes off as an issue that Wikipedia cares about, but doesn't explicitly tell me why I should care about it.
Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#15...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
Don't take this as an indictment of the non-tech crowd; it's not just them.
Take this as evidence of the generic divide between "I care about this issue" and "I will pick up a phone and call my representative about this issue."
If you find a way to bridge that divide, you will have solved society.
Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#16Following the tweets through one service, I mostly saw pissed off college students with papers due within hours who lambasted Wikipedia for doing this.
If they are using google a quick search will let them know how to gain access to Wikipedia. Hint, disable javascript or hit Escape.
Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#17...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
It also shows just how powerful the blackout is. I much rather these people asking what's going on, then going on with their day in ignorance. Maybe a few hundred will learn what's up and phone their representative.
The fact that most of them seem to be completely ignorant of the reasons (which are spelt out right there on Wikipedia's blackout page, with a link to even more details) implies to me that these people are going to go on with their day in ignorance regardless.
Half of them seem to be angry at Wikipedia for taking away their free reference material the day before their papers are due, rather than angry at the government for putting a lot of time and money into destroying the internet.
Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
It also shows just how powerful the blackout is. I much rather these people asking what's going on, then going on with their day in ignorance. Maybe a few hundred will learn what's up and phone their representative.
The fact that most of them seem to be completely ignorant of the reasons (which are spelt out right there on Wikipedia's blackout page, with a link to even more details) implies to me that these people are going to go on with their day in ignorance regardless. Half of them seem to be angry at Wikipedia for taking away their free reference material the day before their papers are due, rather than angry at the governme…
From just a "users dont read" UX perspective, the wikipedia blackout page does the worst job of communicating why they are blacked out.
There's only one sentence at the end of the paragraph explaining why: "For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn More"
The more page has a very detailed explanation in a FAQ format, but noones going to read this much text to figure it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn...
Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#19...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
Honestly, I think these organic responses are valuable and eye-opening. They are coming from "common people" who don't heavily involve themselves in internet issues/browse reddit and therefore hadn't heard of any of this. I am so used to reading about SOPA on HN that I sort of forgot that most people who use the internet don't visit these corners.
I understand the point of that twitter account is to be funny (and it is) but I do think it holds value as proof of:
A) The public unawareness of this legislation
B) The potential public outrage were it to pass
Re: SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr
#20Following the tweets through one service, I mostly saw pissed off college students with papers due within hours who lambasted Wikipedia for doing this.
And the worst thing is that they still don't know why Wikipedia is doing it. They just see the blacked out screen and their immediate reaction is not to read but to go complain on Twitter.