Does The Internet Need Better PR?

from the not-such-a-bad-place,-after-all dept

If you didn't use the internet, but just read news stories about it all the time, you might think it's a pretty bad place. There's all these scams and identity theft and porn and spam to deal with. Why would anyone bother. That's why one guy thinks that the internet needs better PR. For example, he points out that most television characters never seem to use the internet for anything other than hacking into government computers. So, he's suggesting (tongue-in-cheek, I hope) a TV show that portrays the internet in a positive light. Any time characters have problems, the show's Baboon (don't ask) points them to a website that can help them. While, he's joking about the show (I think... or, rather, I hope...) it does make something of a point. While all the bad stuff makes news, all the good stuff doesn't make news because it's just there, and it works (mostly). That's just not particularly newsworthy.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Beck, 11 Mar 2004 @ 2:01pm

    ScreenSavers

    Does that make Leo Laporte a baboon?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    euman, 12 Mar 2004 @ 2:47am

    game show

    I was once part of a pilot for a sort of game show based on the proposition that aliens were about to destroy the earth but would save people who could demonstrate the usefulness of their websites.

    Never got commisioned of course but I had a fun day making my segment. (Filmed by someone who subsequently has become a quite well known UK TV personality)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2004 @ 6:45am

    No Subject Given

    Parallel: When was the last time you saw positive depection of an aircraft in a Movie? Our attention is only drawn to them when they blow up, are hijacked, etc. Even more true of "light" aircraft, which never seem to make the trip...

    Yet people still fly (most people anyway).

    To extend this parallel: Remember "Sky King", "Whirlybirds" and "Ripcord"... these were positive depictions of airplane, helicopter, and skydiving; they aired during the "Techno-enthusiasim" era... but don't air (and nothing like them) anymore. Where's the equivalent point the hype curve for computing?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    ConceptJunkie, 12 Mar 2004 @ 2:14pm

    As usual, The Simpsons leads the way

    "The Simpsons" has regularly portrayed characters using the Internet in a positive (or at least non-destructive) way:

    http://whatbadgerseat.com

    Homer doing on-line investing at the Internet cafe ("Fox?! Undo! Undo!" )

    Lisa looking up the symptoms of leprosy on a virtual doctor website.

    Homer creating his successful gossip column online

    "Dancing Jesus"

    "bin Laden in a Blender" and the Bartoons

    I'm sure there are many others.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.