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Tag: twitter

  • Office for Public Works extends consultation period on gigs at the Iveagh Gardens 

    Office for Public Works extends consultation period on gigs at the Iveagh Gardens 

    By Elio Bonelli

    Irish comedians and musicians are speaking out at the prospect of commercial events at the Iveagh Gardens being shut down. 

    According to event organisers and locals in Dublin, a small group of people are campaigning against events being held in The Iveagh Gardens, which is already having a negative effect on the use of this space. There were no clear reasons as to why they were campaigning against them. 

    The Office for Public Works (OPW) is running a consultation into these events happening and will run until Friday, 6 October, having been extended from its original date of 29 September. 

    In the deadline set by the OPW, words of support must be sent to them by this date. 

    Source: Office for Public Works

    Stuart Clark is the Deputy Editor of Hot Press, and he took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice his opinion.

    Sharon Mannion is a comedian, actor and improviser and she echoed the same sentiments. 

    “We will definitely miss the events at this venue. It would be such a shame if one of Dublin’s best gigs were to go. The festival here is a highlight for the community and a highlight for comedy.” 

    “It would be a loss for the comedy scene in Ireland if gigs stopped here and what would that mean for us?” she concluded. 

    “I will miss coming here if the gigs are cancelled, especially with how easy it is to get to.”

    Nellie O’Neill, Social care worker

    Nellie O’Neill is a social care worker and has attended events at the Iveagh Gardens at least once a year over the last decade.  

    He said, “The gigs have become part of my summer with a lovely venue in the city centre of Dublin. There is great public transport with great access to the heart of the city.” 

    “The thoughts of that venue not being allowed to run just because some small group of people had other ideas of what this park should be used for, worries me. Stephen’s Green is just over the road and there are no problems there!”

    “I will miss coming here if the gigs are cancelled especially with how easy it is to get to,” he added. 

    In a statement, the Office for Public Works (OPW) said: 

    “A public consultation about how the Iveagh Gardens accommodates all visitors is taking place. This consultation has been extended to Friday, 6 October.”

    “This consultation is inviting all visitors to share their experiences of the gardens and their views on how the gardens are used. We are seeking to gather a wide range of views on how visitors enjoy the Iveagh Gardens to balance the needs of all visitors.” 

    “This is to ensure that all visitors can share their views on our events. The views received will help inform the role this wonderful historic garden plays in Dublin in the coming years,” the statement concluded. 

  • ‘Twitter Blue’ paused after large corporations net shares drop

    ‘Twitter Blue’ paused after large corporations net shares drop

    By Sadhbh McDonnell

    On the 9TH of November, Twitter launched its brand-new premium subscription service ‘Twitter Blue’.  Since its launch it has caused major controversy on twitter and big problems for large corporations.

    The new subscription service allows users to pay $8 (7.50 eur) per month in exchange for a verification blue tick beside their Twitter handle. The subscription is part of Elon Musk’s new vision for Twitter, after buying the platform for $44 billion (42 billion in eur) last year. 

    However, the subscription’s arrival has not only caused a stir on twitter but seems to have resulted in large corporation’s net worth plummeting.  According to Twitter user @rafael shimunov, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co’s net worth significantly dropped after a fake account with a similar handle to the company tweeted “We are excited to announce insulin is free now.”

    Graphical user interface, application Description automatically generated

    Via Twitter

    Due to the fake account’s subscription to twitter blue, the verified blue check allowed many to believe it was the official real Eli and Lilly twitter account.  The company has since apologised on their actual twitter account, “to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account.” 

    Graphical user interface, text, application Description automatically generated

    Via Twitter

    The misleading posts have subsequently caused the pharmaceutical company to lose billions of dollars, as their net shares continue to plummet.  Several other accounts posing to be large corporations have been created since ‘Twitter Blue’ and many brands have filed complaints against Twitter, and Elon Musk personally. 

    Graphical user interface, text, application Description automatically generatedVia Twitter

    A Twitter spokesperson nor Elon Musk have come forward with a statement on the matter, however the subscription service has since been paused. 

    A person in a suit Description automatically generated with medium confidence

    Via Twitter

  • East Wall Protests sparks controversy online

    East Wall Protests sparks controversy online

    Many residents of East Wall took to the streets on Saturday night to protest the arrival of a busload of male asylum seekers into the old ESB building in East Wall the night before. 

    The news, which first broke via a video on Twitter, has sparked controversy both politically, and online. 

    Protesters are taking issue with the fact that no prior discussion took place and they were not made aware that they would be receiving a large number of male refugees. 

    However, many Twitter users have taken issue with the nature of these protests, condemning them as xenophobic attacks. 

    Panti Bliss, owner of thePantiBar on Capel Street and LGBTQ+ activist, said: “I live in an apartment building in ‘working class’ Dublin 1. Everyone who lives in my building is ‘unvetted’ including all the ‘single males’ and the ‘foreign’ ones. The protests in East Wall are racist.” 

    Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera pantibliss@mastodon.ie 

    @PantiBliss 

    I live in an apartment building in “working class” Dublin 1. Everyone who lives in my building is “unvetted” including all the “single males” and the “foreign” ones. The protests in East Wall are racist.

    The protests which have now been taking place for over 5 days have been growing in size due to the volume of social media attention that they have received. 

    There have been concerns from Twitter users that certain individuals may be using these protests to further their own agenda and what may have started as a peaceful protest is now being used as a Trojan horse for certain individuals to promote racism. 

    The General 

    @Garbhannn 

    People are right to protest in East Wall at the moment. However it is being hijacked by far right grifters who have never been to the area and are not locals, only individuals that are trying to force their agenda on a working class community. 

    Many politicians and TDs have spoken out against the protests. Sinn Fein’s Eoin O’Brion spoke to RTE News in an attempt to redirect the protestors’ anger, “If you’re angry with the Government… get out and protest against Government policy, not against other vulnerable individuals”. 

    Many Twitter users seem to share this sentiment, that the issue lies with a lack of planning from the Government on immigration. 

    Twitter user @VinnyMourinho tweeted, ‘The piece you are missing here is the process. Your annoyance should be directed at the government’s lack of foresight on immigration. No plans- No

    accommodation / poor facilities flimsy vetting – no transparency. Labelling people of East Wall as Racist is inconsiderate at best.” 

    Vincent Osborne 

    @VinnyMourinho 

    The piece you are missing here is the process. Your annoyance should be directed at the government’s lack of foresight on immigration. No plans- No accommodation / poor facilities, flimsy vetting – no transparency. Labelling people of East Wall as Racist is inconsiderate at best.

  • Environmentalists on Twitter respond harshly as Amazon deforestation reaches all time high

    Environmentalists on Twitter respond harshly as Amazon deforestation reaches all time high

    As the Amazon jungle reaches a new high in levels of deforestation, Conn Mc Gillion explores the reactions and the statistics on Twitter.

    Wikimedia Creative Commons

    Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has reached a peak between August 2019 and July 2020, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

    The new statistics released to the public have sparked a heated debate among many environmentalists on Twitter, who only added to the damning evidence provided by the INPE. 

    In those 12 months, this graph indicates a whopping 11,088 square kilometres were destroyed- which is the highest level since 2008, and has risen over 9.5% since the 2018-2019 period. 

    There were also many who pointed to recent images and videos that have been taken of the Amazon- showing the forest in burning, or scorched ruins. 

    The hashtag #Bolsonaro has been used to direct the backlash towards far right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He has been frequently criticised for his open support of both logging and his defunding of agencies working to prevent illegal logging and land development. 

    Greenpeace spokeswoman Christine Mazzetti and Guardian correspondent Tom Phillips among others, were quick to condemn the president’s regime.  https://twitter.com/tomphillipsin/status/1333558982003335170

    US President-elect Joe Biden also pointed the figures out in the presidential debate in September, noting that he would be “making sure we had the countries of the world coming up with $20 billion to say ‘here’s $20 billion, stop tearing down the forest and if you don’t, you are going to have significant economic consequences.’”

    Bolsonaro is yet to address the figures on social media, but did reject Biden’s offer in a tweet posted September 30th. 

    Forests such as the Amazon are the most important parts of the Earth’s fight against global warming, due to their absorption of carbon from the atmosphere. The Amazon itself sucks in billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. 

  • Is social media doing enough to combat abusive content?

    Is social media doing enough to combat abusive content?

    By David Stapleton

    Twitter defends response to harmful content, saying it’s “educating” users rather than banning them.

    Twitter has disputed claims it hasn’t done enough to deal with abusive content on its platform after being questioned about racist abuse directed towards a mixed race couple living in Ireland.

    Meath-native Fiona Ryan (33), her fiancé Jonathan Mathis (32) and their 22-month-old son Jonah were victims of a torrent of online abuse via Twitter after appearing in an advertising campaign for supermarket chain Lidl.

    Harmful tweets were removed by Twitter after being reported by Lidl Ieland and other users, but the situation continued to escalate leading to the family leaving Ireland.

    Appearing on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show last Friday, the couple said they made the decision after receiving death threats.

    “The situation continued to escalate leading to the family leaving Ireland”

    Appearing before an Oireachtas committee yesterday, representatives from Twitter, Facebook and Google were questioned by TDs about how they address harmful content on their platforms — the meeting was held as part of a wider discussion to see if there is a need for stricter legislation in this area.

    Referring directly to the Ryan family case, Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers asked if just deleting a tweet was a “weak” response.

    Karen White, Director of Public Policy at Twitter’s EU headquarters in Dublin, said that while she could not comment about specific individuals, she would sympathise with anyone who has experienced targeted abuse or harassment.

    White said that Twitter has robust policies in place with a range of enforcement actions available, and that it had moved towards a system of “educating” abusive users rather than outright banning them.

    “Progress in this area in relation to the type of behaviour that you’re talking about is incredibly tough and I think there is a wider societal issue that needs to be addressed here,” she added.

    Responsibility

    All three of the social media giants present maintained the stance that they are not publishers and it’s up to legislators to decide if there should be stricter regulations put in place.

    “Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers asked if just deleting a tweet was a ‘weak’ response”

    Fine Gael TD Colm Brophy accused the companies of not accepting that they are publishers in an attempt to make more profits and avoid legal action against them.

    Brophy suggested that social media platforms “probably have more impact on the world today than print and broadcast media combined,” yet their current response is to remove the content after the damage is done.

    When asked directly about the Christchurch shooting incident, and artificial intelligence failing to detect the footage as it was filmed, Dualta Ó Broin, head of public policy for Facebook Ireland, said they are “learning everything we can to ensure that won’t ever happen again”.

    He noted that artificial intelligence I is already successfully used by Facebook to detect and delete harmful content related to terrorism and child sexual abuse.

    He acknowledged that Facebook is subject to rules and regulations as it currently stands but suggested that it’s open to stricter regulation and that the Government should tell Facebook where they want them to go further.

  • Enda Kenny feels period pain in Repeal The 8th Twitter storm

    Enda Kenny feels period pain in Repeal The 8th Twitter storm

    Many women in Ireland are frustrated with the Government’s lack of action on abortion reform and now some have taken to Twitter to take this frustration out on Taoiseach Enda Kenny himself.

    Led by London based Irish comedian Grainne Maguire, women from all over Ireland are tweeting descriptions of their menstrual cycles to Enda Kenny’s account. The City caught up with Grainne to find out what inspired her to make her uterine activities public.

    “I just thought that since the Government thinks that they can control my body, they should just have all the facts and all the information. So I thought that I should just live tweet my menstrual cycle to the Taoiseach, and since he’s in control of what happens and it’s not my private business, I thought they might as well just know everything.”

    And Grainne wasn’t the only one who was comfortable sharing their period stories with our Taoiseach. The #repealthe8th hashtag on Twitter was filled with gory stories of cramps and moon cups, a response that delighted and surprised Maguire.

    “It was just an idea that popped into my head and I thought this’ll be a bit of craic, although I thought it might be a bit weird, but then I was just tweetin’ away… and everybody got involved and I’m absolutely thrilled. I’m so, so happy… and relieved.”

    Screen Shot 2015-11-05 at 15.37.42Some people have expressed the cynical opinion that, while this is a cute idea, it’s useless overall because Enda Kenny doesn’t run his own Twitter account and is unlikely to see any of these tweets. However Maguire rejects the idea that the tweets are futile.

    “It’s so important to have a sense of humour about something like this even if it is a gallows humour and I just think that it’s anything that reminds people that women aren’t going to go away.

    “We aren’t going to just forget and whether it’s tweeting Enda Kenny or whether it’s campaigning… anything that reminds people that it’s still an issue that a lot of the population is very passionate about is a good thing.”

    Screen Shot 2015-11-05 at 15.35.31The pride is palpable in Maguire’s voice as she describes how Irish women are the funniest in the world, mentioning specifically Tara Flynn and Roisin Ingle who have also thrown their weight behind the abortion debate.

    “They’re incredible women doing great work and I’ve never been so proud to be Irish.”

  • How social media has changed our daily life

     

    Although people certainly still meet others at social venues like clubs and parties, it is safe to say that tools like Facebook and Twitter have profoundly changed most people’s lives and how they interact with each other and the world around them.

    Social media have forever changed the way society works, for instance the way people share ideas, the communication of news or how we express an opinion.

    They also have benefits for business owners, as it allows them to reach out to their customers and get the attention of more people at lower cost and with more targetting than traditional advertising. For media companies and journalists, there are no longer overnight trips, nor will they need to communicate by phone or meet people in person, as social media provide more means to get in touch with sources.

    In social media you just choose the people and groups that you want to follow on Twitter, Facebook, or other social networks.  In doing this, you know who is recommending the news, and can easily communicate with that person about it. But that is not all.

    Adrianna Murto is a Spanish student who is currently studying in Ireland. She says she uses Facebook to be in touch with her family and friends in Spain.

    “For me, Facebook is really good and helpful. It is hard to imagine growing up without social media. All my family is on Facebook, so I am studying here in Ireland we communicate with each other every day, and we get to know each other’s news, rather than using phone calls, which are quite expensive.”

    Adrianna adds that for students, social media make life easier.

    “It really helps us as students, we have a Facebook page where we share all class information about exams, subjects, homework and among others.”

    On top of all that, social media has been the source from which many people around the world get their news.

    For many people, before they check Yahoo or Google news or an online newspaper site in the morning, they first look at the stories their friends and people they follow are sharing via Twitter or Facebook.

    They are also quicker and easier ways to reach an audience rather than using press releases: you can just do a Facebook post with some images and it reaches an audience quicker.

    “Facebook makes my work easier as I work for an environmental organisation and we do quite lots of press releases — we can reach an audience directly without needing to go via journalist, newspapers or magazines” says Jack Jackson, an environmental lawyer. “We can put up regular posts on Facebook and they can be shared and liked by lots of people. We can reach more than 10,000 people with decent posts.”

    Jackson says he uses Facebook even more for personal reasons: keeping in touch with friends and family, and that Twitter is a work tool. “With Twitter I can keep in touch with lots of issues that are happening around the world and keep updated in terms of news and development in the area I work in.”

    Even if social media make life easier, you need to think twice before posting anything online.

    Andrew Jackson, the National Anti-Bullying Coordinator says social media is good for everyone’s daily life, but beware of oversharing: “You need to think twice about everything you put online because it will never get deleted, it gets shared or retweeted. So only put online what you would not mind your grandchild seeing in the future. Do not share online images or posts you will in the future be embarrassed about.”

    Parents are often the worst culprits, Andrew adds. “Today we see children who cannot walk or talk but they have massive digital images shared by their parents. Before sharing their photos, parents should think about what type of information their children want to see about themselves online at a later date.”

    Sharing children’s information online, Andrew says,  can put a child at risk in the present and in the future.

    A recent US study found that 63 per cent of mothers use Facebook; of these, 97 per cent said they post pictures of their children; 89 per cent post status updates about them, and 46 per cent post videos.

    Social media, for all the positive things they bring, still need to be handled with care.

    By Seraphine Habimana

     

  • From the Frontline

    From the Frontline

    Hamas Rally in Damascus
    Hamas Rally in Damascus

    “Syrians have come to believe that the world knows what’s happening to them and just doesn’t care.”

    Two leading journalists in the field of war corresponding and foreign affairs were in Dublin last night to speak about the conflict in Syria and the challenges of reporting it. The Guardian correspondent Martin Chulov and freelancer Rania Abouzeid were the guest speakers at a From the Frontline talk hosted by the Clinton Institute, UCD in partnership with the Irish Times.

    The civil war in Syria is almost 3 years old and both journalists spoke eloquently of the way the story has failed to galvanise popular opinion and the role of journalism in combating this.

    “It is getting harder to get stories published”, said Abouzeid, “there is this emotional fatigue people have. The rising doesn’t seem to invoke the same passion. We haven’t seen any popular mobilisation and I don’t know what as a journalist to do about it.” She went on to recount that Syrians have become more reluctant to talk to journalists as the conflict has worn on, “the Syrians have come to believe that the world knows what’s happening to them and just doesn’t care.”

    As the war has dragged on so have the dangers in reporting it increased. Some 56 journalists have been killed and over 30 kidnapped. Both speakers recounted how their ability to report had been curtailed by the difficulty of gaining entry to Syria. Ramia Abouzaid told how, barred from getting a visa, she must smuggle herself across borders, substantially increasing the dangers she is exposed to.

    “The issue of safety has become so vexed, especially in the last 6 months”, said Chulov.

    Both guests had interesting and challenging things to say on the issue of social media and its role in journalism.

    “Twitter can be useful…but it is also a bubble which some people tend to live in instead of the real world…there is no substitute to being there” said Abouzeid.

    Martin Chulov sounded a similar note of caution,

    “Twitter can be an echo chamber. It’s a value add but must be handled with care. It’s easy to get burnt if you rely on it.” In a succinct summing up he said “social media is information and journalism is what you do with that.”

    Neither journalist had any optimism that there was any end in sight to the civil war or the suffering of the Syrian people. Martin Chulov was particularly downbeat in his analysis,

    “There is a real danger of a potential Balkanisation of the region, with divisions along sectarian lines and that is the nightmare scenario…something simply must be done.”

  • Blog to basics

    Blog to basics

    blog_awards_irelandThroughout the history of blogging you can find news outlets writing its obituary, citing dramatic declines from reports and statistics that hold no true value, only standard data manipulation. I could name but a few said publications, but their readership continues to drop as blogging seems to be still finding its feet. Like everything new, it’s become that much more accessible and the market is over saturated with contenders vying for your attention.

    According to WordPress, over 358 million people view more than 11.3 billion pages each month. Furthermore, users produce about 47.2 million new posts and 68.7 million new comments each month. And that’s just WordPress.

    Furthermore there are numerous places to host your own personal blog from Blogger to Tumblr and so on and so forth until we look at the microbloggers taking over Twitter and other such mediums.

    Statistically speaking, people have never blogged more in their lives. Now that’s not to say that the stigma against blogging isn’t unwarranted, but that stigma isn’t leading to blogging’s own funeral march.

    Said stigma comes from peoples weariness of blogs, and the consistent approach of people to define themselves as experts on certain subject matter when they have no such qualification of experience in the area, but the mere ability to Google. But that’s not to say that you won’t find something exceptional among the droves of voices taking over the internet.

    Claire Kane of web award nominated website Music and Everything stated “some bloggers are being recognised as thought leaders in their specialist subject; like Suzanne Jackson of So Sue Me who is about to release a book, or Nialler9 who has one of the most respected opinions in music. I already think blogs are better than “bigger” sites. Typically they aren’t attempting to fit a certain bill, image or popular thought so I think people see them as more reliable and down to earth.”

    But that said, even the established bloggers have their own critique of the platform.

    Niall Byrne of Nialler9 is one of the most recognised names in Ireland when it comes to music. He is the voice behind one of the longest running and most consistent sites in the country, receiving recognition from across the globe.

    Byrne stated himself that “I think the concept of blogging is something that’s not fresh and new anymore so it’s kind of less celebrated or a thing than it was five or six years ago and therefore there are less people starting blogs. People are expressing themselves in so many ways these days – via Tumblr, Twitter or Pinterest – that blogging in its personal form is left to the writers and hobbyists.”

    nialler9newlogo

    Byrne adds, “It does seem quaint to think in terms of blogging vs. traditional media these days. It’s either online or offline and blogging big and small is a part of that. Bottom line is: if you want blogging to be more than a hobby in Ireland then a one-person blog is probably not big enough scope to make a living from. It’s still a great way to get noticed by established media: online or offline. “

    Blogging serves a function for many writers, whether it is a way to keep yourself in practice or a means of enabling a hobby, and for many who are good at it, it is a means of making a steady income.

    Ireland recently played host to its own Blog Awards where numerous categories played host to even more nominations. It is not assumed that it can serve a purpose beyond just personal blogging. Twitter is increasingly a point of breaking news.

    “I think it is more important – it’s becoming increasingly influential as well as being used as a news source. Take the fact that the traditional news media weren’t covering the recent Atlas blizzard in the States and how it affect farmers and their livestock there, it was blogging and Twitter that got the word out and in turn, people were then able to send their support to those affected.”

    “Apart from anything else, blogging gives individuals a voice plus it helps them to connect with like-minded people and communities”, Lorna Sixsmith of the Blog Awards team told us.

    Blogging’s growth has been phenomenal over the years. And yes, you will have to wade through a lot of the bad to find anything of value. People spew out opinions like there’s no tomorrow. It’s not journalism, it’s not always factual, and most of the times it’s not even right, but blogging is a platform of expression.

  • Snapchat refuses to be bought

    Snapchat refuses to be bought

    Snapchat was rencently offered three billion dollars in cash from Facebook  and turned it down.

    Web pundits since, have been debating how insane this idea actually was.

    As John Herman of Buzzfeed observed yesterday, one reason analysts are struggling to understand Snapchat is that we don’t have much data on how the service is actually used.

    All we know, as Herman summarizes, is:

    • Snapchat users collectively receive 400 million “Snaps” a day
    • 88% of these ‘snaps’ are sent to just one other person

    The question on everyone’s tongues is how will Snapchat monetize itself to justify this offer with many people arguing online that this kind of action may mean we are right back in the “tech bubble”.

    In its infancy, a lot of talk about Twitter was around the same argument, and now it is one of the larger success stories of recent years. The same was said of Facebook, and Google and….

    One thing is for certain, Snapchat has a reasonable chance of becoming just as successful if it comes out with a clearly laid out plan for making money.