Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

A maelstrom of sorts, the Internet has risen to dominate culture and society in less than a decade. Its power comes from being able to hold so much information and to provide that information in record-breaking time. Today, it seems all-powerful. It's definitely a force to be reckoned with...and followed.

In my opinion, the Internet has become something that we NEED. We need it to stay connected not only to each other, but to vital information. So, who in this world could bring down this force that has been guiding our lives for years now? Bill Gates? Ben Cope? Ken Eudy? The Transformers? God?

Well, believe it or not...it was Michael Jackson. Yes, the King of Pop.

As Michael Jackson's living reign came to a close on June 25, he brought down some of the Internet with him. According to CNN.com, for almost two hours Google had trouble pulling up search results for Jackson-related queries. Blogs (such as TMZ and Perez Hilton, which first broke the news) had several outages and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was down for approximately 40 minutes. With an astounding 30% of tweets related to the incident, it's not surprising the crash-prone Twitter-verse sputtered out.

Google Trends rated the Jackson story as "volcanic" as web teams tried frantically to overcome the unprecedented amount of traffic. Wikipedia had close to 500 edits to Michael Jackson's entry in less than 24 hours, causing a "temporary overload."

Not only was this social media/Internet overload unprecedented, it was a milestone for mobile Internet traffic. Because it was mid-afternoon on a Thursday, many used their cell phones to figure out what was going on. It was a news "feeding frenzy." Busy twitterers sent Michael Jackson-related terms to the top of the site's Trending Topics list while news networks were clamoring to be the first to get any tidbit of information. People feel a need (or hunger) for such information. Many have recognized that being involved in social media is becoming more of a necessity than a personal preference.

So, when did you find out what happened? For those not connected to the social media world, the information may come much later. I realized this as I spoke with a family friend who was shocked when I broke the news to her that night. I was shocked, too. The world was a-buzz with the news but she had heard nothing about it. She revealed to me that she prided herself on not watching the news because she was tired of hearing "depressing crime stories." She refused to get on Facebook or any other social media site because she didn't want to make herself accessible in that way.

Now, this may be far-reaching but compare Michael Jackson to a natural phenomenon such as a hurricane, tornado, flood, snowstorm, etc. (in my opinion he was just as big ). Following a natural disaster, people who don't get the story in time could be in grave danger. Those who knew what was coming would quickly evacuate, leaving those "living under a rock" behind.

The digital divide is becoming wider and more polarizing everyday as the world becomes smaller and more connected. Social media has created a grade school-esque milieu. Those not connected are like the playground loners who wonder what everyone else is whispering about.

The digerati should focus on helping to connect people that are not able to be connected (those in remote areas and developing communities). The unconnected should help themselves by embracing social media to listen in on what everyone is talking about.

No matter how you try to balance it, this equation is bad news.

And if it's happened to you, most likely it is now happening to you every day. And if you're like me, it's really, really starting to work your nerves.*

A good while ago I saw the big red banner and heeded the warning from Google to disable firebug for gmail. In all the smoke and confusion after Google's gmail upgrade I can't remember if I saw a performance spike of any persuasion. But I do remember that shortly thereafter Firefox started to bail out on me every time I browsed away from my gmail. I can open a new tab and move on from there without a hitch. The problem seems to arise with any navigation away from gmail to anywhere else. I've killed every plugin I have save firebug, to no effect. They just will not play nice.

So why don't I just check my gmail in Safari, you ask? Hmmm. Good point.

But no! if you've cared enough to pore over dry, dusty fields of dead-end forum threads for what seems like eons in the browser/plugin paradigm, then you know that this is just not an acceptable solution. In fact, it's no solution at all - it's a farce!

Of COURSE I'm checking my gmail in safari now. But I don't feel good about it. I'm a problem solver by trade. By genetic make-up, even. This just doesn't sit well with me. Yet the intertron offers nothing. I'm willing to go with the open-new-tab-and-close-gmail-tab option, which is also merely a sidestep. I just want to know the cause, and I want to see a solution.

I hesitate to even bring this up, because I know I'll just be called a hater. The reason I fell in love with firebug in the first place was because it offered me x-ray vision, with which to peer inside the jacked-up mess that is CSS support for Internet Explorer. Of course, now I am a power user and find it difficult to remember how I was even remotely competent at my [web dev] job without it. Give firebug lite a try - I'm going to throw it on my red-headed stepchild IE 6 machine as soon as I get back to work tomorrow. 

Beyond that, I don't really see a solution for the moment. If you've googled any number of the same keywords I have, you have no doubt traveled down some of the same dead-end roads. To maybe ease your burden a bit, here are a few of the highlights:

this google groups thread offered a hodge-podge of solutions that fell short  

http://groups.google.com/group/firebug/web/faq-about-firebug

http://groups.google.it/group/Gmail-Problem-solving/msg/b45d82b372db8585  

Now, don't get me wrong. It's frustrating, sure. But I want you to know, Google, that I'm not mad at you. And I'm not going anywhere. And Firefox, you know I'm on your side. You're my browser Obama. We - and by we I mean you two - are just going to have to work it out. It's no good, living with all these windows open. I pose the question to the rest of the class:

Who's problem is it? Gmail? Firefox? Firebug? ...Ajax??

Finger-pointing and wild speculation abound, but I can't find a clear answer anywhere. Insights and links are welcome... 

 

 

*Really.