4 ms·

Okay, I'm bored with the wikileaks hype machine now. If you're gonna leak something go ahead and leak it, don't build it up for months on end and then reveal so

by hugh3 16y ago

Okay, I'm bored with the wikileaks hype machine now. If you're gonna leak something go ahead and leak it, don't build it up for months on end and then reveal something disappointingly prosaic, like you have the last few times.

abi 16y ago
While I agree with you that the content of the last few releases have been fascinating but mostly inconsequential. The reason given for staggering the releases is a good one: if you released it all at the same time, each individual issue would not get as much attention. Assange also states that Wikileaks makes a promise (among other promises such as to protect their identity) to its informants to try to achieve the maximum possible impact on the world due to their leak.
- FirstHopSystems 16y ago
  It could also be a way to spread the ideology of leaking information. I'm sure there is more than just a strategy to leak the information they have, but to add momentum to the whole idea. Undertaking such a controversial objective could be backed up by a belief. It seems giving the sensitive nature one would assume there are larger objectives involved than the attention created, or it could be as simple as that. You can stop an organization, but an idea........
- MrFlibble 16y ago
  I also see it as following the motion picture marketing model. Build interest months before the release, develop buzz, and then increase that to a countdown ramp-up. Seems to work quite well, and indeed you are correct it does keep individual issues from getting lost in the release process quite well.
- ntoshev 16y ago
  Building hype and waiting and releasing information in parts also dilutes the Wikileaks brand as a publisher of important information, so there is a trade-off involved.
FirstHopSystems 16y ago
Wikileaks is now creating a channel and noise surrounding the release of sensitive information. This can now start planting the meme of disclosing information. It once was a abstract thought, now it can hold onto the possibility of action.
pigbucket 16y ago
Wikileaks takes some time to assess stuff before releasing it. That's probably not a bad thing, despite the boredom of anticipation. The general reason for the delay is dealt with in the first question in the interview (to which the article links). Forbes: To start, is it true you’re sitting on [a] trove of unpublished documents? Julian Assange: Sure. That’s usually the case. As we’ve gotten more successful, there’s a gap between the speed of our publishing pipeline and the speed of our receiving submissions pipeline. Our pipeline of leaks has been increasing exponentially as our profile rises, and our ability to publish is increasing linearly.
nodata 16y ago
This looks like a political move to me. By the time the US responds to the current leak, the bank leak will be ready or nearly ready. The public will see it as a response to the bank leak and ask who is really in charge.
rms 16y ago
The Wikileaks mission is not just to release information but to release it in such a way as to maximize political impact. The hype machine is not going away anytime soon.
rorymarinich 16y ago
> prosaic You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Apparently detailed reports of the US spying on its allies, or reports that the US deliberately concealed the civilian death count in Iraq to make the war look better, is prosaic? Because I find shit like that very interesting.

by hugh3 16y ago

abi 16y ago

While I agree with you that the content of the last few releases have been fascinating but mostly inconsequential. The reason given for staggering the releases is a good one: if you released it all at the same time, each individual issue would not get as much attention. Assange also states that Wikileaks makes a promise (among other promises such as to protect their identity) to its informants to try to achieve the maximum possible impact on the world due to their leak.

FirstHopSystems 16y ago
It could also be a way to spread the ideology of leaking information. I'm sure there is more than just a strategy to leak the information they have, but to add momentum to the whole idea. Undertaking such a controversial objective could be backed up by a belief. It seems giving the sensitive nature one would assume there are larger objectives involved than the attention created, or it could be as simple as that. You can stop an organization, but an idea........
MrFlibble 16y ago
I also see it as following the motion picture marketing model. Build interest months before the release, develop buzz, and then increase that to a countdown ramp-up. Seems to work quite well, and indeed you are correct it does keep individual issues from getting lost in the release process quite well.
ntoshev 16y ago
Building hype and waiting and releasing information in parts also dilutes the Wikileaks brand as a publisher of important information, so there is a trade-off involved.

FirstHopSystems 16y ago

Wikileaks is now creating a channel and noise surrounding the release of sensitive information. This can now start planting the meme of disclosing information. It once was a abstract thought, now it can hold onto the possibility of action.

pigbucket 16y ago

Wikileaks takes some time to assess stuff before releasing it. That's probably not a bad thing, despite the boredom of anticipation. The general reason for the delay is dealt with in the first question in the interview (to which the article links). Forbes: To start, is it true you’re sitting on [a] trove of unpublished documents? Julian Assange: Sure. That’s usually the case. As we’ve gotten more successful, there’s a gap between the speed of our publishing pipeline and the speed of our receiving submissions pipeline. Our pipeline of leaks has been increasing exponentially as our profile rises, and our ability to publish is increasing linearly.

nodata 16y ago

This looks like a political move to me. By the time the US responds to the current leak, the bank leak will be ready or nearly ready. The public will see it as a response to the bank leak and ask who is really in charge.

rms 16y ago

The Wikileaks mission is not just to release information but to release it in such a way as to maximize political impact. The hype machine is not going away anytime soon.

rorymarinich 16y ago

> prosaic You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Apparently detailed reports of the US spying on its allies, or reports that the US deliberately concealed the civilian death count in Iraq to make the war look better, is prosaic? Because I find shit like that very interesting.