“My name is ___, and I’m leaving Facebook.”

Posted on July 8, 2010 by herrhorn| 2 Comments

A good friend of mine just sent around an email, announcing that he will quit Facebook. He agreed that I put it up. Maybe somebody wants to use it as a template for announcing his or her own withdrawal from the social network. Also, I’m hoping to update this post later once my friend told me how he’s dealing with his new-found isolation/liberation. If you’ve gone through similar experiments, please share your experience. Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest contribution, Social Networking

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The promises and obstacles of process journalism

Posted on June 21, 2010 by herrhorn| 3 Comments

Process journalism somehow reminds me of cell membranes becoming more permeable.

I’ve been lazy about this blog, I know. No excuse, really. I wrote the last post after appearing on a DRadio Wissen radio show where I discussed virtual communities. Yesterday, I went back on that show to talk about process journalism. And again, the discussion – this time with Julia Hildebrand, Ulrike Langer, and Lorenz Matzat – triggered a number of interesting thoughts that are worth writing down. Continue reading if you would like to find out why process journalism is great and what obstacles it’s still facing. Continue reading →

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Posted in Journalism, Media Power

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Peaceful co-existence – Social networks and niche communities

Posted on March 8, 2010 by herrhorn| 1 Comment

Last Saturday, I went on a Deutschlandradio Wissen talk show to discuss online communities. The other two speakers were Sarah Krohn, moderator at hungrig-online.de, and Mark Ralea, community and marketing expert. What it came down to was an interesting discussion of large social networks versus smaller niche communities. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture, Social Networking, Virtual Communities

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Metropolis – 83 years later and we’re still afraid of machines

Posted on February 28, 2010 by herrhorn| 1 Comment

Yesterday, I watched Metropolis, one of the most influential German silent films of all times. To be honest, I had hardly ever heard about it until recently, when an almost original version of the 1927 film was discovered in Argentina. Having seen it now, I can now understand why there’s been so much fuzz about it. With its special effects and high production cost, it must have been the equivalent of today’s Hollywood blockbusters. But more importantly, it’s a historical artifact that reflects an aspect of the modern Zeitgeist that is still with us today – the paradox of technology as progress and technology as enslavement. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture, Technology

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Privacy and innovation – two parts of the same story

Posted on February 14, 2010 by herrhorn| 2 Comments

The information society has given birth to a popular new German word – “gläserner Mensch”, meaning a human being made of glass or simply “transparent individual”. It encapsulates Germans’ widespread fears that Google, Facebook, the state and others record every bit of information about them. Unfortunately, this disproportionate emphasis on privacy and data protection threatens to suppress innovation. A call for a more balanced discourse. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture, Politics, Technology

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