Wednesday News: Twitter tinkers with timelines, Adobe clarifies views on Gamergate, book option deals, and does reading affect relationships
Publishing NewsAdobe / algorithms / Facebook / film adaptation / Gamergate / reading / Relationships / timeline / Twitter39 Comments
If you don’t like algorithmic filters, you’re probably not going to like the future of Twitter – So it looks like Twitter is, indeed, starting to model itself a bit more after Facebook, at least with its anticipated move to algorithmically filtered timelines. Ironically, this change seems to privilege intermittent users more than frequent users, which seems somewhat counterintuitive, although the change will apparently allow new users to adapt more quickly to the service. Personally, I don’t like or use Facebook, so anything Facebook-ish is not appealing at all to me,
The company is doing its best to make it sound like this is not a big deal, and that the reverse-chronological timeline will remain intact. But the reality is that for many users, the ability to curate their own experience on Twitter is a crucial feature — just take a look at the survey we did in September, which was 87-percent negative on the idea of an algorithmically-curated feed. The idea of someone else deciding what’s important in their stream appears to be anathema to many users.
Of course, for Twitter this probably feels like just another enhancement that they think will make the feed better for some — primarily new users and those who don’t log in very much, which is a key market for the kind of future growth Wall Street wants to see. And the stream has already been disturbed by things like promoted tweets and other forms of advertising, which show up out of sync with the timeline. What’s the big deal about one more disruption? –Gigaom
After controversial tweet, Adobe says it’s ‘never been aligned with Gamergate’ – Another day, another company caught up in the ugliness that is Gamergate. Adobe has now attempted to clarify its non-support of Gamergate and it’s non-sponsorship by descrying bullying after having its logo removed from Gawker so as not to suggest they were “sponsoring” Gawker. I understand that some people think all of these corporations are firmly in opposition to Gamergate, but I am so not convinced of that.
Last week, though, Gamergate condemned Gawker Media specifically because of facetious tweets from current writer and former Valleywag editor Sam Biddle, who called to “bring back bullying” in response to the movement. Adobe has further confirmed what it had said in its tweet: it wasn’t actually a sponsor of Gawker, but after Gamergate supporters repeatedly asked it to drop ads, it requested that the site remove its logo in order to avoid confusion. “As a result of our logo having appeared on the Gawker website, we received tweets that accused us of condoning bullying,” it says. “One of our employees innocently responded to one of these tweets.” –The Verge
Book News: 2 Popular Books May Be Coming To TV – Although Ann Leckie is quick to point out that having a book be optioned for film or television is not the same as having the project in production, it looks, at least, like Ancillary Justice might be coming to television via Fox and Fabrik. Details on the second option deal are below:
Joining Ancillary Justice on the roster of TV options — at least, according to The Hollywood Reporter — is Karen Russell’s St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. The former MacArthur fellow’s debut story collection reportedly will be adapted for ABC by some of the minds behind Sex and the City and The Walking Dead. A word of warning from personal experience, though: Try not to think too long about what a mash-up of those two series might look like. –NPR
Have You Ever Had a Relationship End Because of a Book? – An interesting exchange between Zoë Heller and Anna Holmes about whether a book negatively affected a relationship. While Heller takes the position that “[t]he value of agreeing with one’s friends about books has always seemed to me overrated,” Holmes documents some pretty strong reactions that men in her life have had very strong reactions to her reading habits and preferences.
The contours of a more recently failed relationship were also defined, in part, by how much I read, both for work and for pleasure. The times, of course, had changed: Instead of college textbooks or physical copies of Harper’s Magazine or 1,000-page sci-fi novels, I lost myself in the illuminated screens of, in no particular order, my laptop, iPad and iPhone. But the effect my love of reading had on the relationship was the same — a resentment so vicious and ultimately intolerable that it prompted me to flee ever deeper into that which was supposedly creating much of the conflict: my love affair with the written word. (It may also say something that I refused to mingle my books with his, preferring to keep mine on a bookshelf in a room that he rarely entered.) –New York Times
Nothing to do with the content of the book, but I did question a relationship when he borrowed my book and returned it with handwritten notes in the pages. (In the end, I loved him enough — and the book not enough — to just give the thing to him so I could stop feeling like my book was violated. His defence was that the book was more valuable with notes, and he really did believe that so I had a bit of an emotional dilemma.)
Oh, twitter.
I suppose there is still just a possibility it could be an opt in/out thing. If it’s really aimed at new users, that might make sense. But I haven’t seen one single current user excited about the change.
@Kat: I am wide-eyed with horror that he would do that. I’ve had relationships with men who resented that I read constantly and they didn’t last long. Like not being fond of cats, it was a sign we weren’t compatible. Happily married for decades to a man who adores cats and thinks being bookless is an emergency situation.
@Kat: Wow. I don’t think I could ever have trusted him again.
@Ros: I just see it as a logical consequence of going public and having to answer to Wall Street now. Heavy users who aren’t big follower magnets (and who use 3rd party clients) aren’t their target audience. They need new users and ad revenue, and new users reportedly have trouble figuring out how to use Twitter in a way that works for them. The non-representative surveys, the outcry when Twitter changes something that heavy users like, all of that is noise from people like us. They need more people, not necessarily people like us, and they want to monetize everything they can.
As for turning into Facebook, I’m sure they’d love to make themselves as necessary to their users as FB has become for theirs. Twitter users are also on Facebook, but the reverse isn’t true.
My husband is a non-reader, which even after 14 years of marriage (plus 3 years of dating), still surprises me sometimes. However, his lack of love for reading does allow me to own and fill ALL of the bookshelves in the house.
On Match, there was a guy who seemed interesting. Then I saw he listed his favorite book as The Fountainhead. Any interest I had in him was immediately gone.
Though for things you learn on online dating about someone, I wonder what would have happened had I met him, liked him, and learned about The Fountainhead on date five, say. Would it be enough to end a relationship?
@Kat: Yeah, no, that would be a big issue for me. He wants to write notes, he can get his own copy instead of defacing mine.
Gah.
Re: Twitter: this is why I waffle about signing in. All the cool kids do it, but the more it tries to become facebook, the more it puts me off.
@Jane Davitt: When I was in my twenties I was involved with a guy who hated cats and didn’t read anything but road signs. I was such a dummy…..no books or kitties for two years…..even now, happily married to a cat loving bibliophile I can’t think of that time without cringing.
@azteclady: I was tempted to sign on with twitter when the EC/DA stuff started…..but cooler heads prevailed. I’m not on facebook either……it’s all too “clever” for me.
My husband reads, but not as much and quite different things than I do (more NF, technical books and magazines than I do, e.g.). He also travels a lot for his job so when he’s home, he feels neglected if I’m spending most of my time reading instead of paying attention to him. That’s understandable, I think. We respect our differences and needs to like other stuff but still need to engage as human beings without the distractions of our separate hobbies getting in the way. Someone liking a book (or genre) that I despise wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me. Trying to force their tastes on me and denigrating my own would be a whole other matter.
Heard about a recent Tinder experience where the guy contacted the gal with the phrase “Winter is coming…” (which was probably about the show rather than the books). He got mad when she didn’t respond with the right line back. Sheesh.
I really do hope Twitter offers the “opt out” option. Then they can track how many of their users prefer to navigate on their own.
Is it just me or is DA experimenting with new formatting? FWIW, I preferred the blog with just the headers so I could easily page down and revisit previous entries and catch up on comments, etc.
@Ros: We had words. He knows the rules now. :) He was honestly baffled when I told him it was An Issue.
@azteclady: Luckily, I was not attached to the book (and had no plans to read it myself).
@Lada: *raising hand* (regarding the formatting when viewing the site as a blog)
@Lada: me too with the blog post formatting. Took a loooot of scrolling to get to yesterday’s post on mental illness and ableist language. I also noticed the font is different/ bigger.
@Lada: Thanks for mentioning the format issue….I agree
*raising hand* (regarding the formatting when viewing the site as a blog)
Me too!
I really don’t think Ancillary Justice is going to translate well to TV or film.
@Lada: During the last week we just highlighted the two posts of the day. If you like that format, just hit “blog” and bookmark that.
@Lostshadows: I’m having trouble imagining that as well.
@Jane: I use the blog bookmark. What’s happening right now for me is that the posts don’t have the “more” code–I see every line and image of each blog post on the main page, instead of the smallish image and intro (for lack of better) that is the norm for me.
@Jane: I’ve had the blog bookmarked and this is the page I get, even after re-bookmarking it.
@Jane: I’m in the blog section (my preferred format for viewing DA) and the entirety of each post/article is appearing (less the comments) where before the first few sentences of each post appeared followed by a ‘more’ link to open up the rest of the post. Makes for a lot of scrolling down to visit earlier posts, even from earlier in the same day.
I use the blog bookmark. What’s happening right now for me is that the posts don’t have the “more” code–I see every line and image of each blog post on the main page, instead of the smallish image and intro (for lack of better) that is the norm for me.
Me too!
@Sunita: I know, I know. I don’t have to like it, though!
I noticed the full blog post thing too. It’s definitely a change from the image and excerpt that used to show on the main blog page. It looks like a setting was changed.
It’s doing it on my iPhone (safari) and in Firefox on my MacBook Pro.
FYI, it’s back to normal now.
FYI, it’s back to normal now.
YaY – me too!!
@Lostshadows: @Mandy: Maybe it’s a lack of vision on my part, but I’m not seeing it, either.
This link is for Jennifer Lohmann and everyone else, really, but specially for Jennifer. Read it and you will see why ;-) http://www.buzzfeed.com/isaacfitzgerald/do-you-even-alice-munro-bro
@Brie: *especially…
@Brie: I know I’m missing something. Obviously, I have no idea what.
@azteclady: Ack! I didn’t mean to be so vague, sorry! You have to scroll down to see what those women say about men who name The Fountainhead as their favorite book. Some of the things are: “cheered for Hobby Lobby” and “*pulls panties back up*” so Jennifer isn’t alone!
I honestly don’t understand the relationship problems buying/reading books can cause, much less content.
My hubby is a non-reader,not even magazines, but has never complained in any way about my book buying or reading.
I don’t drive and am a SAHM, so for 28ish years he has driven me to bookshops up to 400km away,book sales for Lifeline and similar and I have brought home many a carload of books. He built the bookcases along the hallway and in the bedrooms,I have boxes of books everywhere,including his shed lol.
He is glad that I am reading more ebooks now than paperbacks as it saved buying a ‘book shed’ for storage,although we could still probably use one.
When I tell him about friends who hide their books from their partners and how they read only when alone,he doesn’t understand it either. He says that reading makes me happy and he gets the side benefit of that so it’s a win-win situation,especially if I read an erotic romance lol.
Re mingling book collections, I cannot recommend too highly Ann Fadiman’s wonderful essay on “Marrying Libraries” in her book EX LIBRIS: CONFESSIONS OF A COMMON READER.
Really, the whole book is just perfect, but for a taste of that essay: http://www.fsgbookkeeping.com/revisiting-the-backlist-marrying-libraries/
I loved Ancillary Justice but I think it would take a very creative team to translate it to television well.
@Janine: Agreed. I saw that news and immediately wondered whether it would turn out as badly as Ender ‘ s Game. It just feels too cerebral for television.
@Kat: Did he dogear the pages? Because that’s a relationship extinction event IMO.
Hubs is a reader but he spends more time gaming than reading – which works for us because when we’re not spending time together, he plays while I read and neither of us begrudges time or $ spent on our respective hobbies.
@Brie: This was my favourite:
“The Hobbit will probably take you on lots of fun adventures.”
…
“He definitely goes down.”
…
LOLOLOL