Ever live blog an event? If so, check out this story from Lakewood, WA:
Lakewood City Councilman Walter Neary operates a blog with community information and his commentary on events and issues.
But his blogging live during a June 2 council meeting drew criticism. Some people at the public comment period complained about the Clover Park School District’s choice of superintendent.
Neary’s post about their concerns was on the Internet before the meeting ended, including his questioning the depth of their involvement in schools.
When someone complained that he should be paying attention instead of typing on his laptop, Neary agreed not to blog until after meetings.
Here’s my question: if he’d just been taking notes and then posted them after the meeting would that be OK? I’d think so. In other words, I think people were upset he was live blogging. If the blog post was accurate, and the article doesn’t say it wasn’t, then I’d take that as proof he was paying attention.
It is never the action, but the content that upsets people. They just like to make the issue the act because it is easier than confronting the truth.
Here’s my question: if he’d just been taking notes and then posted them after the meeting would that be OK? I’d think so. In other words, I think people were upset he was live blogging.
I don’t know about that. Personally, I’d be more annoyed by someone typing on a laptop during a meeting than someone taking notes. Why? Laptops are noisier (the tick-tick-tick of a keyboard can get irritating when you’re trying to speak or to listen to someone else), and my assumption is that when someone’s on a laptop they’re at most only halfway paying attention to whatever event they’re at. Maybe that’s just because I’ve seen far too many college students checking their e-mail, IMing, and working on other projects on their laptops instead of taking notes during a lecture. Taking notes is admittedly no more of a guarantee that the person is paying attention, in some ways, but at least a pad of paper and a pencil offer far less ready-made distraction potential than an Internet-connected laptop.
Just my two cents.