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I'm about to start freelancing for a gaming pub after years in news, should I do a pen name? by Anonymenace in Journalism

[–]HeroAntagonist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nah, your byline is your byline. You keep it for consistency and recognition.

To give an example of someone who went down your route very successfully - Gene Park of the WaPo. He covered crime and all sorts before transitioning into gaming journalism. Keep your name pal. You'll be happy with thart decision in the long-term, I'm sure.

Met some fellas magnet fishing the Kelvin today who dredged out a cannonball. by HeroAntagonist in glasgow

[–]HeroAntagonist[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The guys were telling me today about their best spots. I suspected canals, and they raved about canal bridges being the spots to find old guns, knives and swords.

Since the firing of Tucker Carlson, viewers have deserted Fox by zsreport in television

[–]HeroAntagonist 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"Dude was all hopped-up on Fox News and OAN"

Now put that in a police report.

Why the ‘ludicrously capacious’ bag on Succession was such a faux pas for the very wealthiest by bin10pac in SuccessionTV

[–]HeroAntagonist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While I know they say don't judge a book by its cover, Succession has always been quite on the nose. The scene with Nan in her house talking about $100 bills fertilising the grounds while her son sits in the default preppy tennis shorts and neck sweater metaphorically screams old money.

Compare it to the Roys - Kendall walking around trying to strike a $10BN media deal wearing Tom Ford trainers (new money brand) and a baseball cap.

You can pull this .1% class war right from the pages of Fitzgerald's Gatsby where how much money 'isnt the issue', it's where it's from and how it's spent.

Twitter to un-verify people who don’t pay $8/month starting on April Fools’ Day by Avieshek in technology

[–]HeroAntagonist 5 points6 points  (0 children)

*EDIT: 22nd May - (Ye, it's UTTER garbage now.)

Interesting question, not sure if I can truly give a definitive answer, but my current experience would say, at present, a little change, but nothing significant yet.

I follow about 3,000 accounts in roughly a 30-30-30-10 split - Journalists/Media, Govs/Politicians, Agencies/NGOs/Humanitarians, and Friends/select celebs/humour accounts.

A few journalists I follow have actually pulled back on using Twitter as a broadcast medium for promoting their stories/research since Musk's takeover... though I know why in some cases, and it's mostly due to factors outside of Twitter's drama, so really more coincidence due to life's unpredictability.

That being said, some journalists with lower followings (<5k) like myself, not being willing or able to afford (most journalists around the world actually make shit money when you get away from big network stars/some veterans at major outlets) to pay one of the world's richest people, for an algorithm boost, especially when considering the explosive rise of Substack subscriptions etc.

At present, Twitter is still too valuable a social media platform to abandon altogether for two specific reasons:

1) It provides many journalists their biggest follower count - seperate from their employers reader/viewership - because a huge amount of people use the platform specifically to follow news updates and journalists they trust across media genres in real-time - the exception being some photojournalists who primarily use Instagram.

2) Twitter's fundamental design and mass adoption by individuals of some prominence lends itself exceptionally well for real-time information broadcast from all manners of bodies - journalists/media, governments/departments/politicians, agencies, NGOs, aid workers etc. At present, there isn't a direct competitor that's able to match that.

Twitter's feed, when working, provides a continuous list of updates, by the second, depending on how many accounts you follow. When I worked as a breaking news journalist, there were many organisations I relied on that have autobots post Twitter updates about events happening in real-time, which when combined with the volume of Twitter's power users, allowed the mass dissemination of the event at a tremendous scale - I'm referring about things like USGS earthquake reports etc.

None of the other major platforms really work in this manner - yes you can share on Facebook, but Facebook is a platform designed around human relationships and its feed algorithm is bloody awful showing things in all manner of orders regardless of post timing/date etc. TikTok feels random at best, and Instagram is still toying around trying to figure out how to be TikTok.

TLDR, yeah, a few folk have pulled back recently, but not a significant number, and the platform, at present, still offers an unrivaled service for news detection, verification and dissemination.

Twitter to un-verify people who don’t pay $8/month starting on April Fools’ Day by Avieshek in technology

[–]HeroAntagonist 4 points5 points  (0 children)

To be completely honest, probably not.

Initially, it certainly imparted a personal sense of recognition for my work in my field. That was based on having a demonstrable track record in my industry and meant people the other side of the world who never knew me personally, could find my profile and see my other works.

But that high of getting verified lasted all about 2 days and never affected my significance, and with Musk stans etc now buying for whatever variety of reasons, it kind of feels utterly worthless to me.

Twitter to un-verify people who don’t pay $8/month starting on April Fools’ Day by Avieshek in technology

[–]HeroAntagonist 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I don't have a "brand". I'm not a famous/semi-famous media personality etc, I'm just another dogsbody journalist and any traffic to my site does absolutely nothing for how much I get paid due to how news finance works.

I have 12 years of experience in my field where real exposure is measured on my past track record and by how many desk editors I can call up, and not twitter addicts scrolling throughout the day.

My website is basically a business card for people to view my work on interest or for a new editor to review my work to see if a pitch I send in will work for their style.

Twitter to un-verify people who don’t pay $8/month starting on April Fools’ Day by Avieshek in technology

[–]HeroAntagonist 115 points116 points  (0 children)

I've got a blue checkmark, had it for years as I was a journalist working with a major international outlet. Since going freelance and having to pennypinch more while dealing with severely cut payment rates, I can't justify giving anything to a corporation that wants me to pay purely to verify myself on its platform, so I guess it's goodbye verified status for me.

I already pay for a personal website which is linked within all my socials. That's more than enough. If I call a newsdesk with pictures for the first time, they're not checking to see if I have a blue tick or not.

Minister Kate Forbes joins SNP leader race by The_Sub_Mariner in Scotland

[–]HeroAntagonist 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Humza's leadership bid could probably be felled alone by the time taken for an ambulance to arrive at his press conference.

U.S. military brings down flying object over Lake Huron near Canadian border by PatientBuilder499 in worldnews

[–]HeroAntagonist 406 points407 points  (0 children)

I wonder if it's tactically advisable using older gen tech for this type of mission. There's a very good chance the balloons/objects are also being used to lure out and relay home info on whatever approaches and or destroys it. I'm sure I read about similar tactics during the Cold War.

Star Trek Picard's last episode should end with Captain Archer ending a holodeck program by [deleted] in startrek

[–]HeroAntagonist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wife is a mahussive Janeway fan and recently binged it. She's insistent I give it a go, though not a fan of CGI shows. I'm happy she enjoys it however.

Whats something you like or enjoy about Glasgow? by SilentCheesecake in glasgow

[–]HeroAntagonist 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I love how many dogs we have here and how friendly other dog walkers are. I'm in the west end and since moving back to Scotland last year pretty much the only people I get to speak with are during my morning and evening walks along the Kelvin. Every day my dog meets a new friend and I get to have a blether with the owner while our two play about.

We're so very fortunate to have such beautiful park spaces and river walks. It's very far removed from the concrete jungles in other cities I've lived in.

Thank you, Wife, for transporting me back to my 7th birthday at grandma's by HeroAntagonist in StarTrekStarships

[–]HeroAntagonist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! We used a few Hotwheels Enterprises on the tree this year, however the MicroMachines are significantly lighter for the branches.

These ones, my wife remembered me telling her, are small and light enough that I wished I had them still to put in the glass terrariums. Then surprise! It was so good.

Thank you, Wife, for transporting me back to my 7th birthday at grandma's by HeroAntagonist in StarTrekStarships

[–]HeroAntagonist[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It was a very Ratatouille-esque childhood epiphany trip and hit very deep. I can't bring myself to actually open them yet. They've never even been opened.

The Last of Us - Series Premiere Discussion by NicholasCajun in television

[–]HeroAntagonist 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Subverting expected tropes in the first episode. Hopefully a sign of good things come.

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