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The so called "developing world" is developing. It's doing it's thing, you know, just progressing along some path of least resistance. You are coming in with no

by jeb 16y ago

The so called "developing world" is developing. It's doing it's thing, you know, just progressing along some path of least resistance. You are coming in with no idea at all how their world is developing, and trying to impose an idea that developed along the path of least resistance in YOUR WORLD, into THEIR world. A farmer does not know how to read well, and he does not know how to read the complicated stuff that is written in the west about farming. The people in the developing world who use twitter are not using it for research or anything like that, they are usuing it to see what Chris Brown and Lady Gaga are up to. Yes, seriously, go on twitter and search for your appropriate third world members. You know why? It's because this is a young person medium. Some dude who has been farming his whole life is not going to start twittering suddenly. Young people will, but then they will look for what young people care about. Your idea is idealistic, but ultimately pointless. The 3rd world is developing but they are interested in messaging (Blackberry Bold), SMS, mobile pages. Not really in twitter or in talking to some people who barely understand them, or reading some academic papers they don't understand. I don't think you understand your audience. You really think a person who is advanced enough to understand twitter needs a hand-crank? That's a bit silly, is it not? The third world has power supplies - how are all those billions of mobile phones being charged?

karpj 16y ago
jeb, Thanks for the (sort of harsh) comment. The use of Twitter in what I'm doing is not for idle fun - it's to give people a way to communicate to the outside world that doesn't depend on anyone else. A farmer will be able to ask a question about crop rotation; a college student can ask about what it's like to attend a Western institution - a tribal leader can tell the world about how aid workers are raping women in their remote village. Right now, it simple isn't possible to expose the world to what's happening. Five billion people on earth do not have internet access, and communication is not the same via cell phone.
- whopa 16y ago
  > it's to give people a way to communicate to the outside world that doesn't depend on anyone else. Well, it depends on Twitter itself, which doesn't have the best availability record. Frankly, Twitter is a poor place to actually have an extended conversation, which all your examples would really benefit from.

by jeb 16y ago

karpj 16y ago

jeb, Thanks for the (sort of harsh) comment. The use of Twitter in what I'm doing is not for idle fun - it's to give people a way to communicate to the outside world that doesn't depend on anyone else. A farmer will be able to ask a question about crop rotation; a college student can ask about what it's like to attend a Western institution - a tribal leader can tell the world about how aid workers are raping women in their remote village. Right now, it simple isn't possible to expose the world to what's happening. Five billion people on earth do not have internet access, and communication is not the same via cell phone.

whopa 16y ago
> it's to give people a way to communicate to the outside world that doesn't depend on anyone else. Well, it depends on Twitter itself, which doesn't have the best availability record. Frankly, Twitter is a poor place to actually have an extended conversation, which all your examples would really benefit from.