Friday, June 26, 2009

Internet Overload

... because of Michael Jackson's death.

Or so heise.de news says, specifically naming that MJ tweets were 15% of all tweets at one time while #iranelection never exceeded 5%.

Sounds good at first glance... now think one step ahead.

Comparing MJs death to the "popularity" of Iran elections is totally unfair for various reasons:


  • MJ was a popular singer, a controversial one, but a celebrity
  • death is always something to deplore in our society, so noone can make a mistake when writing about MJ's death
  • "we will miss you" is so much easier and less offensive than writing against one's own government, or attacking another one
  • the Iran democratic issue is going to be around a long while, a celebrity's death is soon forgotten, so it has to be made into posts quickly


You can expand the list on your own.

Keep thinking!