8 ms·

SOPA/PIPA: More than 250k tweets / hr

133 points by huangm 15y ago

Achshar 15y ago
Well today, i feel great. I am essentially glad that the community can stand as a whole and keep aside their mutual competitive agendas. Today will defiantly be seen as a special day when they teach "internet history" to the next generation. And it feels great to be a part of it and witness it first hand. Plus seeing my non-geek friends posting about SOPA is not very bad either.
- juiceandjuice 15y ago
  We're mad as hell, and we're not gonna take this anymore! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - corin_ 15y ago
    For anyone about to click the above YouTube link: if you haven't yet seen the 1976 film Network, don't click the link, watch the film instead. Watching it probably won't do much to spoil the film, though it is a great scene that's made greater by context - and it's a fantastic film, that more people should watch.
grandalf 15y ago
This means nothing b/c if there were a vote, less than 10% of the people would show up at the polls over this issue... that's actually probably very very optimistic.
wcgortel 15y ago
As wonderful as this is, we've got to remember that tweets are only a symptom of success. We've got to continue translating virtual action into actual action, like the NY Tech Meetup did today. Even with that, I'm familiar with at least one SOPA agnostic who walked right by without noticing them. This still doesn't feel life and death to the Bobs and Marys around the country.
PedroCandeias 15y ago
...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
- missing_cipher 15y ago
  It also shows just how powerful the blackout is. I much rather these people asking what's going on, then going on with their day in ignorance. Maybe a few hundred will learn what's up and phone their representative.
  - danudey 15y ago
    The fact that most of them seem to be completely ignorant of the reasons (which are spelt out right there on Wikipedia's blackout page, with a link to even more details) implies to me that these people are going to go on with their day in ignorance regardless. Half of them seem to be angry at Wikipedia for taking away their free reference material the day before their papers are due, rather than angry at the government for putting a lot of time and money into destroying the internet.
    - dmix 15y ago
      From just a "users dont read" UX perspective, the wikipedia blackout page does the worst job of communicating why they are blacked out. There's only one sentence at the end of the paragraph explaining why: "For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn More" The more page has a very detailed explanation in a FAQ format, but noones going to read this much text to figure it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn...
    - bad_user 15y ago
      That feed is filtered. Saying "half of them" is not telling the truth. Here's a saner stream of tweets: https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23wikipediablackout https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23wikipediablackout
drhowarddrfine 15y ago
Following the tweets through one service, I mostly saw pissed off college students with papers due within hours who lambasted Wikipedia for doing this.
- felipemnoa 15y ago
  If they are using google a quick search will let them know how to gain access to Wikipedia. Hint, disable javascript or hit Escape.
- reidmain 15y ago
  And the worst thing is that they still don't know why Wikipedia is doing it. They just see the blacked out screen and their immediate reaction is not to read but to go complain on Twitter.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
agscala 15y ago
Others were mentioning before today that "Twitter should black out because it's one of the few services the people in the government use, so they would experience the impact of SOPA." Twitter is a sounding board for the internet, and I think by having it available, SOPA is getting much more attention than it would have gotten than if it was blacked out. 250k/hr regarding one topic sure is nothing to sneeze at!
- IgorPartola 15y ago
  Those messages would have come through tomorrow. And what is better: a few million tweets most of which are inarticulate or a single well presented page that EVERY TWITTER USER would read?
  - CrazedGeek 15y ago
    That depends, how much of Twitter's userbase uses the web clients?
justindocanto 15y ago
About 600 of them we're generated from people using my site: http://www.piparollcall.com/ http://www.piparollcall.com/ =)

133 points by huangm 15y ago

Well today, i feel great. I am essentially glad that the community can stand as a whole and keep aside their mutual competitive agendas. Today will defiantly be seen as a special day when they teach "internet history" to the next generation. And it feels great to be a part of it and witness it first hand. Plus seeing my non-geek friends posting about SOPA is not very bad either.

juiceandjuice 15y ago
We're mad as hell, and we're not gonna take this anymore! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- corin_ 15y ago
  For anyone about to click the above YouTube link: if you haven't yet seen the 1976 film Network, don't click the link, watch the film instead. Watching it probably won't do much to spoil the film, though it is a great scene that's made greater by context - and it's a fantastic film, that more people should watch.

grandalf 15y ago

This means nothing b/c if there were a vote, less than 10% of the people would show up at the polls over this issue... that's actually probably very very optimistic.

wcgortel 15y ago

As wonderful as this is, we've got to remember that tweets are only a symptom of success. We've got to continue translating virtual action into actual action, like the NY Tech Meetup did today. Even with that, I'm familiar with at least one SOPA agnostic who walked right by without noticing them. This still doesn't feel life and death to the Bobs and Marys around the country.

PedroCandeias 15y ago

...And some of them highlight just how steep a hill it is to bring tech matters to the general public's attention: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia

missing_cipher 15y ago
It also shows just how powerful the blackout is. I much rather these people asking what's going on, then going on with their day in ignorance. Maybe a few hundred will learn what's up and phone their representative.
- danudey 15y ago
  The fact that most of them seem to be completely ignorant of the reasons (which are spelt out right there on Wikipedia's blackout page, with a link to even more details) implies to me that these people are going to go on with their day in ignorance regardless. Half of them seem to be angry at Wikipedia for taking away their free reference material the day before their papers are due, rather than angry at the government for putting a lot of time and money into destroying the internet.
  - dmix 15y ago
    From just a "users dont read" UX perspective, the wikipedia blackout page does the worst job of communicating why they are blacked out. There's only one sentence at the end of the paragraph explaining why: "For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn More" The more page has a very detailed explanation in a FAQ format, but noones going to read this much text to figure it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn...
  - bad_user 15y ago
    That feed is filtered. Saying "half of them" is not telling the truth. Here's a saner stream of tweets: https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23wikipediablackout https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23wikipediablackout

drhowarddrfine 15y ago

Following the tweets through one service, I mostly saw pissed off college students with papers due within hours who lambasted Wikipedia for doing this.

felipemnoa 15y ago
If they are using google a quick search will let them know how to gain access to Wikipedia. Hint, disable javascript or hit Escape.
reidmain 15y ago
And the worst thing is that they still don't know why Wikipedia is doing it. They just see the blacked out screen and their immediate reaction is not to read but to go complain on Twitter.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

agscala 15y ago

Others were mentioning before today that "Twitter should black out because it's one of the few services the people in the government use, so they would experience the impact of SOPA." Twitter is a sounding board for the internet, and I think by having it available, SOPA is getting much more attention than it would have gotten than if it was blacked out. 250k/hr regarding one topic sure is nothing to sneeze at!

IgorPartola 15y ago
Those messages would have come through tomorrow. And what is better: a few million tweets most of which are inarticulate or a single well presented page that EVERY TWITTER USER would read?
- CrazedGeek 15y ago
  That depends, how much of Twitter's userbase uses the web clients?

justindocanto 15y ago

About 600 of them we're generated from people using my site: http://www.piparollcall.com/ http://www.piparollcall.com/ =)