Twitter, trolls and the hardly normal - 2

This post continues the round-up that began with Twitter, trolls and the hardly normal - 1.

In a comment on the last post, Rod Holland wrote:

Regarding the Trolling that goes on on:

Get off your high horse Jim and get a real job. Your regular drivel complaining about trolls makes me sick. And you smell funny.

That was a bit too easy!

Yours Anonymously,
Rod Holland.

Mmm. Actually, Rod's comment does capture one element of trolling, emotional engagement. Perhaps I should get a job and stop the drivel.

Winton Bates wrote:

Hi Jim
I wonder how Gerry can complain about low internet sales at the same time as he complains that internet sales by foreign competitors are hurting his business. Perhaps he needs an internet spin doctor!

Re the Express, if you can get the content free on line, there isn't much incentive to buy the paper. Perhaps the strategy is to charge for content after customers get hooked on the online version. Meanwhile, the price of Fairfax shares continues to decline.

Before responding, Winton is onto the last chapter of his book (smile, but also sigh because he is so far in front of me), but is suspending blogging until he finishes. I thought that kvd's comments on Winton's last post, What fantasies are associated with the modern pursuit of happiness? were incisive. kvd, you do get around! I know that our little group of bloggers would be much poorer without your presence.

Because this is a round-up, I don't want to comment in detail at this point on Winton's comment. My concern is that in their desire to defend what they have, both Harvey Norman and Fairfax have lost sight of one most basis thing, the customer or reader.

The Shire - and a Farmer Gets a Wife

Back in July (What did you think of The Shire?, Are critics of The Shire just showing their age?) I responded to Channel Ten's new reality show set in Sutherland Shire in the south of Sydney. I finished my second post With these words: "I think it time to return to a more fulfilling topic, the economy".

I was interested in The Shire because reality TV is one way in which I track changes to popular culture in Australia and sometimes beyond. Yes, I accept that this is part excuse for watching things that I shouldn't watch, but I am prepared to defend my position! Well, the show has now been canned after a ratings collapse. In the meantime, the Australian version of The Farmer Wants a

Wife has gone from strength to strength.

This links to a post I wrote a little earlier, Musings and directions, where I referred to the rise of Romance.

In a piece in the Brisbane Times, Are romance novels as bad for relationships as porn?, CityKat writes in part:

Forget 50 Shades, it’s Farmer Wants a Wife that is the real warm, fuzzy, dreamy, creamy, M-rated, well-produced, internationally successful “pornography” for women.

I won't say more. I leave it to you to read Katherine's piece. Like me, she is a professional people watcher. I really liked it.

Well, on this Saturday morning I have a list of to do things as long as my arm. This includes getting the garden bed set up for another photo of kvd's and now Legal Eagle's chairs (kvd's chair). Have a good one. I suspect that I will be talking to you during the day.

Postscript

The first post in this series, Twitter, trolls and the hardly normal - 1, has got a useful comment thread running that will generate a purely professional post in due course. Feel free to comment there or here.

Over on skepticslawyer, sckepitclawyer's Credit where it’s due reports on a flame case with a happy ending. Well done Perth Now.

I am not going to post tomorrow to see if either of the Twitter etc posts attract further comments.